Smart Parking Ltd

fezzo

Hello.
 So it's been almost a year since my last post. 
This week i received the 'letter before claim' from 'dcb legal' on behalf of their client 'Smart Parking' 
From reading the different threads i know i need to reply to this one... however i could really do with some advice on how to go about it.  
Before i found my way to MSE forum i appealed to POPLA referencing the 2010 Equality Act in my defence, as when i received the fine for an overstay of 15 minutes i was attending to my young baby who needed feeding.  The details of all this should be in the previous threads.  Long story short POPLA rejected the appeal on these grounds and debt recovery letters would arrive like clockwork once a month.  
I have also discovered that since my baby was 8 months old at the time of receiving the ticket i won't be able to reference the 2010 Equality Act in my defence as a mother with young baby who should be treated with more consideration as the Act covers mothers with babies up to 26 weeks after giving birth.  
I could really do with some advice on where to go from here.  
I have read that Smart Parking/dcb Legal have not to date brought a claim against a registered keeper. Is this true?
As part of my appeal to POPLA i have stated i was with the car on the day the fine was issued however i have not stated i was the one driving. 
Smart Parking/dcb Legal state i need to inform them who the Driver was within 28 days  of receiving the PCN or they will hold the registered keeper liable. (Is this the case?) 
Is it too late to inform them that i wasn't driving at the time the fine was incurred and can't remember who was? ( at the time of making the POPLA appeal i was unaware that being the registered keeper as opposed to the driver would make any difference or would have appealed it differently)
On the day the fine was issued i was out with my mother and father and grandmother who were all in the car. My parents would have been in the two front seats of the car while i sat in the rear middle seat next to the baby seat passenger side and my nan sat next to me on the other side.   
I wouldnt be prepared to name one of my parents as the driver anyway so could 'registered keeper not the driver' still be used as a defence some 18 months after receiving the PCN having not previously mentioned it in the POPLA appeal or to Smart Parking up until now?
I've tried to research this myself but any clarity regarding this detail or how i could word this would be appreciated. 
Ive also made note that the fine was incurred on the 29th June 2024 and the PCN was issued on 12th July 2024. 
Have Smart Parking complied with informing me as the registered keeper within the 2 week timeframe? ( as i would not have received this letter until a day later at earliest in the post) 
As i understand it if the registered keeper is not informed within 2 weeks of the PCN being incurred then the Claimant (smart parking/dcb Legal) cannot pursue the registered keeper? 
One other point that i also should have mentioned in the POPLA Appeal was that we were held up from exiting the car park by several minutes by another car trying to park.  
As the overstay was only 15 minutes (minus 10 minutes grace time) the actual overstay amounts to just 5 minutes which could have made all the difference. 
I would not be able to show evidence of this hold up though other than everyone in the car having witnessed it at the time.  
I want to start putting together a reply to the letter of claim which will hopefully dissuade Smart Parking/dcb Legal from taking things further. 
Are there any other defences i can cite to try to do this?
Thanks  in advance for your help.  I will post my Draft reply to the  'Letter of Claim'  on here for approval before sending. 

Kind Regards 

C 
 

Coupon-mad

Forget all of the above. Play the game.

Read post 2 of the NEWBIES thread.

1505grandad

And never refer to the parking event ticket as a "fine"  -  you will never see that word in any of their correspondence  -  it is merely an invoice.