Smart Parking never responded to appeal, BPA won’t help

Piglet34

Hello,

I was hoping someone may be able to help me with two PCNs I received from Smart Parking in July 2023. They were both for parking at a leisure centre in Bristol, but I was a customer of the leisure centre both times so should not have been issued these PCNs.

I appealed both PCNs using Smart Parking’s online appeal system as soon as I received the notice letters (August 2023) and received standard emails back from them ‘acknowledging my appeal’. These emails confirmed that all action would be suspended pending appeal decision.

In October 2023, I have now received two letters from debt collectors requesting £170 per parking ticket, however I still never received any response to my Smart Parking appeal. 

I emailed smart parking to let them know I never received a response and they came back to me stating they sent two appeal rejection letters via post in September 2023. However, I can categorically say that I never received either letter. A they included a screenshot of the supposed letter in their email to me which conveniently cropped out the letter date and postal address, so I presume they are lying about sending these letters. The POPLA codes are visible on the screenshot but it would be too late for us to use these now.

At the start of November 2023, I complained to the BPA outlining the above situation and they have come back to me saying ‘we are unable to become involved in matters relating to correspondence as we are unable to ascertain what was sent/received by either party’. 

Any help greatly appreciated on where I can go from here - is there someone in the BPA this can be escalated to? as seems highly unfair we have to pay these higher fines when we never received a response to our initial appeal (and would have appealed via POPLA if we had)

Many thanks!

Fruitcake

Plan A is always a complaint from the keeper to the landowner and the keeper's MP. If you haven't already, then do that now.

The good news is that Smart don't issue court claims. Whilst they could in the future, it is fairly unlikely.

Debt collectors are powerless and can safely be ignored.

Since you have appealed, other than complaints, you can now ignore Smart. 

Coupon-mad

Cheerfully ignore.

Come back just as cheerfully if you get a claim to defend. Tell them if you move house of course, as you must check all letters to be sure they are just £170 threatograms.

Piglet34

That’s great to hear - thanks both for your help !

curiousmind123

Piglet34 said:

That’s great to hear - thanks both for your help !

Hello - I have the same problem. I was wondering what has happened? Has the debt recovery agency sent you any further letters / emails? Thanks 

Coupon-mad

curiousmind123 said:

Piglet34 said:

That’s great to hear - thanks both for your help !

Hello - I have the same problem. I was wondering what has happened? Has the debt recovery agency sent you any further letters / emails? Thanks 

You don't have a problem.

Cheerfully ignore.

Come back just as cheerfully if you get a claim to defend.

Tell them if you move house of course, as you must check all letters to be sure they are just £170 threatograms.

You have read NEWBIES PLEASE READ THESE FAQS FIRST (top of the forum)?

StayStrong

I had a similar experience in that after my appeal I never received an update of the outcome. I was certain of this as I repeatedly checked my in box and spam/trash/junk folders. Then a letter stating I owe £170 arrived from Debt Recovery Plus. I was in shock and rang DRP to explain and try and get this resolved. This was an unhelpful and stressful experience. I then sent recorded delivery letters of explanation to Smart Parking and received no response. I then sent a formal complaint that they had not followed the BPA codes of practice because they had failed to update me after my appeal. In response they sent an email with an attachment which was a picture of a letter which they claimed they had sent to me 22 days after my appeal. There was no email information on this letter showing date, time of sending, email addresses or proof of postage. Instead they sent a picture of a little table which someone at SP had created containing a date that the email had supposedly been sent. This was NOT proof of sending. SP said that they were closing my complaint. I believe these attachments were fabricated to put pressure on me to pay £170 or face court action. I have written to my MP with my concerns. This industry needs to be independently regulated NOW

Nellymoser

@StayStrong you've posted on an old thread. Best you create yourself a new thread and copy your post above in. Posters can help steer you in right direction if you ask but first have a read of NEWBIES Announcement thread.

Coupon-mad

StayStrong said:

I had a similar experience in that after my appeal I never received an update of the outcome. I was certain of this as I repeatedly checked my in box and spam/trash/junk folders. Then a letter stating I owe £170 arrived from Debt Recovery Plus. I was in shock and rang DRP to explain and try and get this resolved. This was an unhelpful and stressful experience. I then sent recorded delivery letters of explanation to Smart Parking and received no response. I then sent a formal complaint that they had not followed the BPA codes of practice because they had failed to update me after my appeal. In response they sent an email with an attachment which was a picture of a letter which they claimed they had sent to me 22 days after my appeal. 

There was no email information on this letter showing date, time of sending, email addresses or proof of postage. Instead they sent a picture of a little table which someone at SP had created containing a date that the email had supposedly been sent. This was NOT proof of sending. SP said that they were closing my complaint.

I believe these attachments were fabricated to put pressure on me to pay £170 or face court action.

I have written to my MP with my concerns. This industry needs to be independently regulated NOW

So what happened when you then complained to the BPA?