Smart Parking - No response to appeal - Cancelled after complaint

fivestarsamz

Hello guys,

Just incase this may be useful for someone. I apologise if it's already been mentioned or if its not the right place to make this post. 

RK received a NTK PCN from Smart Parking Ltd for Overstay at the Sovereign Court, West Drayton. 
RK appealed using the newbies thread on this forum (THANK YOU). Got the automatic acknowledgement email straight away. 
RK did not receive any response to the appeal but instead got the Debt recovery plus post for the payment of £170. 

Made a complaint to smart parking ltd about no response.

Got a reply saying it was not sent but it was cancelled. Easy peasy. 

Here is my complaint to SP:

Dear Smart Parking Ltd,

I am writing to formally raise a complaint regarding the handling of Parking Charge Notice (PCN) XXXXXX, issued by you on 22nd July for an alleged "overstay" on 2nd July at Sovereign Court, West Drayton.

I promptly appealed this PCN and received an email acknowledgement of my appeal from you on 8th August 2024, in which you stated that you would aim to respond within 28 days. According to the British Parking Association (BPA) Code of Practice, you are required to respond within 35 days. However, I have yet to receive any communication regarding the outcome of my appeal. Now, I have received a letter from Debt Recovery Plus, dated 15/10/2024, demanding payment of £170 for non-response to the PCN. This action disregards the fact that I submitted an appeal, which you acknowledged, and you have not provided the outcome within the BPA-mandated timeframe. I was never given the opportunity to appeal using POPLA.

Further procedural discrepancies include the following:

1. Non-Compliance with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act (POFA) 2012: The initial parking incident occurred on 3rd May, yet the PCN was issued on 22nd May—19 days later. This exceeds the 14-day limit specified by POFA 2012 (Schedule 4, Paragraph 9, sub-paragraph 5) for serving the notice to keeper. This means that the keeper cannot be liable for the PCN as POFA is not met. 

The handling of this PCN and subsequent escalation to a debt recovery agency without notifying me of the appeal outcome breaches multiple BPA regulations and disregards standard procedural requirements. 

I request an immediate resolution to this matter and an official response (via email) within seven days of this communication. If I do not receive a satisfactory response within this timeframe, I will escalate this complaint to the BPA and the DVLA.

Sincerely, 

Here is their response:

Good Afternoon,

Thank you for your email

Complaint Ref: XXXXXX

We have taken note in the comments raised and offer the following response in reference to your complaint.

After investigation, we can see that an appeal was received on 06/08/2024. This has been looked into by our appeals team and an appeal response was generated to notify of the parking charge notice's cancellation however due to a technical error this was not sent, this has been raised to our technical team. 

Therefore we can confirm that the parking charge notice has been cancelled, and no further action is required.

We must inform you that you have the right to escalate your complaint further with our Accredited Trade Association. They can be contacted at https://www.britishparking.co.uk/Contact-Us-Public 

Please note, you will need to upload a copy of your final complaint outcome from Smart Parking Limited, as part of your evidence submission. Any complaints escalated to the BPA’s AOS will not be considered without a copy of your outcome.

We do not believe that there is any further action required from your complaint and therefore we now consider this complaint closed.

You have now reached the end of our internal complaint’s procedure.

For any future queries, please contact info@smartparking.com via email, who will be able to assist you further.

Kind Regards

 

Smart Parking Limited

Hoo Haa 

Hope it helps!

Coupon-mad

Well done! This happens far too often with Smart Parking:

"After investigation, we can see that an appeal was received on 06/08/2024. This has been looked into by our appeals team and an appeal response was generated to notify of the parking charge notice's cancellation however due to a technical error this was not sent, this has been raised to our technical team."