Smart Parking have not responded to my appeal. Update, appeal just accepted

Belenus

Edit:

I wish I had waited an hour before starting this thread as the postman has just delivered a letter from Smart, dated 21st November, accepting my appeal and confirming that the PCN has been cancelled.

Thanks to everyone who has helped me on this matter. It is very kind of you to spend time helping me and countless others on parking matters.

I will leave the original thread below unchanged.

The appeal was submitted Monday 21st October 2024 on their website. That is now 37 days ago. I received a presumably automated response on that same day so I know they received it.

The appeal was one of the standard appeals detailed on here.

As your Notice to Keeper (NtK) does not fully comply with ALL the requirements of PoFA 2012, you are unable to hold the keeper of the vehicle liable for the charge. Etc etc.

Is the below the correct way of now dealing with this situation or is there a better way? Or should I do nothing and wait until I hear further? I know that debt collectors can safely be ignored but I would prefer to nip them in the bud by forcing Smart to either accept my appeal or give me a POLPA code. If I do get a POPLA code I will use the 'no landowners authority' winning text.

Thanks

Dear Sir/Madam,

Formal Complaint Regarding PCN XXXXXXXXXX

I am writing to make a formal complaint regarding your failure to properly respond to the appeal submitted in relation to the above Parking Charge Notice (PCN), which was issued to me as the registered keeper of the vehicle.

No Appeal Rejection or POPLA Code: Despite submitting an appeal as the keeper, no formal appeal rejection or POPLA code has been received, in breach of your obligations under the British Parking Association’s (BPA) Code of Practice. This has deprived me of the opportunity to escalate the matter to POPLA.

Proof of Communication: If you claim to have sent an appeal rejection, simply showing a copy of the response is not proof of sending or delivery. I require:

Proof of Posting: If the response was sent by post, please provide a copy of the "proof of posting" certificate or a signed-for delivery receipt.

Email Evidence: If the response was sent by email, provide a copy of the email including all headers, un-redacted. This is the only acceptable evidence of the email being sent and delivered.

Suspension of Debt Recovery: Given that you have not provided any response to the appeal, I expect that you immediately suspend all debt recovery activity related to this PCN. You must provide the reason for rejecting the appeal and issue a new POPLA code, giving 28 days for an appeal to be submitted. Continuing debt recovery without properly resolving the appeal is unfair and unreasonable.

Pattern of Behaviour: Smart Parking has a reputation for failing to send appeal rejection notices when appeals are likely to succeed, particularly when there is little chance of success at POPLA or in court. I am gathering evidence to demonstrate that this is part of a wider pattern of behaviour, which shows habitual non-compliance with the BPA Code of Practice.

Next Steps: I expect a full and satisfactory response within 14 days, including the requested evidence of communication and a new POPLA code. Failure to do so will result in this complaint being escalated to the BPA, as well as further action to hold Smart Parking accountable for improper conduct.

I expect that you will address this matter promptly and properly.

Yours faithfully,

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Gr1pr

I would wait until next Monday, then complain about no response on the complaints link on the BPA AOS members list 

Coupon-mad

Edit:
I wish I had waited an hour before starting this thread as the postman has just delivered a letter from Smart, dated 21st November, accepting my appeal and confirming that the PCN has been cancelled.

Well done. You'd never have paid it anyway but glad they crawled back under their stone.

  

Nellymoser

That's a very well written complaint.

Gr1pr

I agree, other people with similar problems should use it 

Well done 

Belenus

Nellymoser said:

That's a very well written complaint.

Thanks but the credit is not mine. I got it from FTLA and modified it slightly.

About 8 posts down on this link.

https://www.ftla.uk/private-parking-tickets/parking-fine-(smart)/30/?PHPSESSID=d8rjgdcu6vu8p24r4d2qa128uq