Smart Parking PCN N.Ireland

PDBENZ

Hi there,

I am looking for some advice regarding a PCN from Smart Parking. The supposed contravention occured at the end of August 2023 and the date of issue of the PCN wasn't for another 3 weeks. The letter arrived another 3 weeks later. 

The car is a lease car and the letter has come directly from Smart Parking.

Previously, I have received correspondence from the leasing company in respect of a previous PCN with Smart Parking but this time I have had no correspondence from the leasing company.  

I live in Northern Ireland and have seen on multiple threads about people just saying to ignore the PCNs. Should I contact the lease company to see if they have been contacted about the supposed offence or just ignore all future messages from Smart Parking?

My concern is that the lease company will pay the fine and will just charge me

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Fruitcake

Contact the NI council. They have an excellent record in seeing PPCs off.

Plan A is always a complaint, in this case from the hirer/lessee, to the landowner and your NI Assembly representative.

You need to instruct the hire/lease company that they cannot be held liable and they must not pay the PCN under any circumstances. Tell them that you are now dealing with it.

Normally it is safe to ignore a PPC/PCN in NI, but not when a hire/lease company is in play. You need to contact Smart and tell them you are the hirer/lessee and as such you cannot be held liable, the driver's identity will not be revealed, so they should cancel now and save themselves money. 

PDBENZ

Thanks Fruitcake.  I couldn't find the landowner. Or I'm not too sure where to look, nothing mentions landowner on the signage.  These cameras have only been erected in the last few months.  

I'll contact the lease company tomorrow and contact Smart Parking. I have looked through the newbie feeds for templates for contacting Smart Parking but wasn't sure which one to use. Are there any templates for letters to council/assembly members?  

Should telling them that 
" I am the hirer/lessee and as such you cannot be held liable, the driver's identity will not be revealed, so they should cancel now"  be enough?

I'll also contact consumer council NI and local assembly member regarding the fine.

Thanks again

Coupon-mad

You aren't appealing. You can safely ignore it or send a response like this:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80335688#Comment_80335688

Add to the POFA paragraph that keeper liability does not apply anyway, and you know that they have no genuine contemplation of litigation in NI.

Fruitcake

PDBENZ said:

Thanks Fruitcake.  I couldn't find the landowner. Or I'm not too sure where to look, nothing mentions landowner on the signage.  These cameras have only been erected in the last few months.  

I'll contact the lease company tomorrow and contact Smart Parking. I have looked through the newbie feeds for templates for contacting Smart Parking but wasn't sure which one to use. Are there any templates for letters to council/assembly members?  

Should telling them that 
" I am the hirer/lessee and as such you cannot be held liable, the driver's identity will not be revealed, so they should cancel now"  be enough?

I'll also contact consumer council NI and local assembly member regarding the fine.

Thanks again

It's not a fine so please don't call it that, especially not in communication with landowners and government officials who should know better but sadly think an invoice and a fine are the same thing. You don't want anyone to be assuming a PCN has an air of authority.

"Should telling them that 
" I am the hirer/lessee and as such you cannot be held liable, the driver's identity will not be revealed, so they should cancel now"  be enough?"

In my opinion yes, although you will need to change "you" and "they". As C-m says, you are not appealing, you are telling Smart that neither you nor the keeper can be held liable and you won't be naming the driver, so they might as well give up now. Once you have had a response and therefore know it has been received, you can ignore everything from that point on.

PDBENZ

Thanks guys,

I contacted my lease company and they have passed liability on to me so they say they have nothing else to do with the case now.  

I am going to send an email to Smart Parking today using an amalgamation of the consumer council NI template and the link that coupon mad attached.

If they respond to it I will ignore all further correspondence from them as mentioned by Fruitcake.

I'll update again if I hear back from Smart Parking.

Thanks again 👍

UncleThomasCobley

Have you received an NtH from (not so) Smart Parking? If not, wait until that arrives before proceeding.

PDBENZ

Thanks Uncle Thomas Cobley,

I've only received the standard PCN from Smart Parking, they haven't sent a NtH.  

Smart Parking contacted my lease company at the end of September, the lease company passed my details on as the hirer.  I then received their standard PCN notice, it wasn't a NtH letter.

Should I still wait for more correspondence from them?  I haven't seen any samples of NtH's from Smart Parking so not sure if they will actually send one. 

Or just continue and send the email, I can post a draft of the email for critique.

Thanks 👍

Umkomaas

The requirement to send a NtH (and associated hire agreement etc) is part of Schedule 4 of PoFA. As PoFA does not apply in NI, you're unlikely to get one. 

UncleThomasCobley

In which case, if you are going to bother communicating with (not so) Smart Parking you may as well tell them:

As the Hirer of the vehicle, there can be no liability for whatever it is you are alleging. As PoFA does not apply in NI, I suggest you go communicate with the driver. Good luck.

Coupon-mad

The PCN they sent is their (bad) effort at a NTH, so now is the time to appeal.  Don't wait.