Smart Parking PCN issued after 14 days - now Debt Recovery Plus Bailiff letters

davebush123

Hi all

I currently lease a car. I received an email from the lease company to say that I have been charged a £10 admin fee. When I looked into why, there was a scan of a PCN they had received from Smartparking. The incident happened on 25/08/2023 and the PCN was issued on 21/09/2023. I received the email on 5 October 2023. 

I am yet to actually receive the PCN in the post, so my concern is if I were to never check my emails, and to not look further into why I had been charged a £10 admin fee, I would not be aware of this PCN. 

First of all, the PCN seems to be outside of the 14 day statutory time limit. Is this my first defence?

Secondly, do Smartparking need to actually send the PCN to me? Normally, lease companies make a representation that gets the fine sent to the correct place but I am yet to receive anything. 

I have today received a letter from Debt Recovery Plus dated 28/12/2023 saying i owe £170 and to pay now or face court action. 

Can someone help with my options please? I have never received a PCN in the post so do I actually have any debts? As I never received it, does that mean they are out of time in the statutory time limit?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I believe this has been incorrectly handled.

Thanks

Coupon-mad

Complain to Smart (NOT 'appeal' - complain) that you were named as the lessee/hirer by the lease firm in October and yet were never sent a Notice to Hirer to appeal.

DO NOT SAY WHO WAS DRIVING!

davebush123

Thank you for your reply and help, do you have any draft wording to complain to Smart? The issue is they never sent me the PCN, only to the lease company, so I assume i can get out of the PCN because they never sent it to me within the statutory time limit? 

davebush123

Coupon-mad said:

Complain to Smart (NOT 'appeal' - complain) that you were named as the lessee/hirer by the lease firm in October and yet were never sent a Notice to Hirer to appeal.

DO NOT SAY WHO WAS DRIVING!

Thank you for your reply and help, do you have any draft wording to complain to Smart? The issue is they never sent me the PCN, only to the lease company, so I assume i can get out of the PCN because they never sent it to me within the statutory time limit?

troublemaker22

You can get out of it easily provided you don’t reveal who was driving. 

Coupon-mad

davebush123 said:

Thank you for your reply and help, do you have any draft wording to complain to Smart? 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80514282/#Comment_80514282

The issue is they never sent me the PCN, only to the lease company, so I assume i can get out of the PCN because they never sent it to me within the statutory time limit? 

"Get out of"?  You won't be PAYING the scam!

davebush123

Is the below sufficient to complain and get the PCN overturned? 

Dear Smart Parking Ltd,

I am writing to express my dissatisfaction and concern regarding the handling of Parking Charge Notice (PCN) TC77736773, issued by your company regarding an alleged PCN dated 25 August 2023. I recently became aware of this charge through Debt Recovery Plus, and I am disappointed to inform you that I did not receive any notification in the post, which has resulted in the expiration of the statutory time limits for issuing a parking charge notice.

It is crucial to emphasize that timely communication is essential in such matters, and the failure to deliver the notice within the required timeframe is a serious lapse in your procedures. 

Furthermore, to compound my frustration, I have learned that the parking charge notice has been unjustly escalated to Debt Recovery Plus. This escalation is entirely inappropriate, especially given the circumstances of a notice that was not delivered within the statutory time limits. This unnecessary escalation has caused unnecessary stress and inconvenience.

I insist on a reassessment of the parking charge notice, taking into consideration the circumstances and the expiration of the statutory time limits. I request an immediate withdrawal of the case from Debt Recovery Plus, as this action is premature and unjustified given the unresolved issues surrounding the original notice.

I expect a prompt and fair resolution to this matter. Please provide a written response to this complaint within 14 days from the date of this letter. If the issue is not resolved satisfactorily, I reserve the right to escalate this complaint to relevant authorities and consumer protection agencies.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I anticipate your prompt response and resolution.

Coupon-mad

Reads a bit Chat GPT (which we hate here!).  AI writing is terrible.  Bin it.

NONE of that tells them what we said to say about the lease firm's date of involvement & the fact that Smart then failed to send you a NTH.

Surely it's just one paragraph angrily and robustly pointing out that the above dates and that whilst you were expecting a NTH to appeal, instead they went straight to debt recovery and you are gonna report them to the BPA because there is a real pattern emerging.

davebush123

ok thanks does it matter that i received the email from my lease company with an admin fee and a picture of it so i was technically aware of the PCN but have not received it directly from Smart Parking so i didnt want to let on that i was aware but havent acted, or is that not an issue?

I will email to complaints@smartparking.com ? Or does it need to go in the post?

Dear Sirs

I received an email from my lease company to say that I have been charged a £10 admin fee. When I looked into why, there was a scan of a PCN they had received from Smartparking. The incident happened on 25/08/2023 and the PCN was issued on 21/09/2023. I received the email on 5 October 2023. 

I am yet to actually receive the PCN in the post. Instead, I have received a letter from Debt Recovery Plus demanding £170 or I will be taken to court. 

First of all, the PCN was issued outside the 14 day time limit. Secondly, there has been no effort made to send a NTH or the PCN to me and instead you went directly to debt recovery. This is completely unreasonable and I will be writing to the British Parking Association with my complaint. 

Regards

Le_Kirk

You don't want a PCN per se, you want a Notice to Hirer.  I would also be complaining to the lease company that they have fallen short in their procedures (especially if they are members of BVRLA) in that they should just complete the transfer of liability tear-off slip naming you as lessee.  You should tell them NOT to pay the PCN.

davebush123

I have not received a reply to my email but have received a further letter from the debt collectors with threat of further action. How shall I proceed? Chase smartparking with a further email?