Smart Parking Charge

nasbeva

Hello, forum members!

I overstayed in Smart Parking B&M at Doncaster. They allowed 90 min, and I was there 17 min over the period. They sent me a parking charge to pay.

I disputed it using the form provided on the forum as a registered keeper, and today I received the following reply:

Thank you for your recent communication.

We can confirm that the above parking charge was issued under Protection of Freedoms Act 2012

(POFA 2012). The parking contravention occurred on 06.09.25, the registered keeper details were

received on 15.09.25, after which the PC was promptly issued within the 14 days required under POFA

2012. If you were not the driver at the time of the parking event, please provide us with the driver’s full

name and current postal address using the contact details below. In the event that you fail to provide

these details, we will use the provisions under POFA, 2012, and continue to pursue you the registered

keeper, for the outstanding balance.

Please send the details requested above via email to:

COD@smartparking.com

In the event that you fail to provide these details, we will use the provisions under POFA, 2012, and

continue to pursue you the registered keeper, for the outstanding balance.

Meanwhile we have extended the current charge period until 31.10.25 to allow sufficient time for this

information to be received.

We cannot rescind the Parking Charge on this basis. When using the car park in question you must

adhere to the advertised Terms and Conditions, and it is the responsibility of the driver to ensure they

acknowledge the signage upon entering the site. We can confirm that there is signage on entrance to,

and around the car park grounds. All signage is IPC approved and compliant with The Private Parking

Single Code of Practice.

Any advice on what to do in this case, please?

nasbeva

The rest of the letter:

All signs on site are compliant with the International Parking Community (IPC) and The Private Parking

Sector Single Code of Practice June 2024. Signs and Surface markings must be designed, applied and

maintained in such a way as to be visible, legible and unambiguous to drivers. Clause 3.1.1, of the

single code states that “An entrance sign must be displayed and maintained at the entrance to controlled

land to inform drivers as appropriate whether parking is permitted subject to terms and conditions,

including payment, or is prohibited, unless: subject to terms and conditions, including payment, or is

prohibited”. It also states in clause 3.1.3 a) that signs must be placed within the controlled land, such

that drivers have the chance to read them at the time of parking or leaving their vehicle. There are

several signs situated around the car park that advise of the tariff, terms and conditions, we can confirm

all signage on site is IPC approved, and compliant with The Private Parking Single Code of Practice.

Please be aware all signs are set to a standardised height, regulations and written in clearly and

intelligible language. There is no ambiguous language or jargon on any of the Smart Parking signs at

this site.

The car park is sited on private land, and the owners allow access to the public, with use subject to the

Terms and Conditions of parking, which are advertised on signs situated around the site. The PCs are

enforceable under Contract Law; upon entering and remaining upon the car park you agree to the terms
and conditions which are clearly stated on the signage. Your vehicle was parked in breach of these

terms and conditions therefore we must advise the PC was correctly issued and remains outstanding.

We wish to inform that the car park in question is operated by an ANPR cameras system which captures

images of your vehicle entering and exiting the site, which subsequently calculates your total stay

duration- this is calculated from the time of entrance to the time of exit. This information is then

compared with the terms and condition of the site, along with any validation we have with regards to

your Vehicle Registration Mark (VRM), to establish whether or not terms and conditions have been

breached without authorisation.

We can confirm that the convention occurred due to overstaying the maximum free parking time. As

stated on the signage, there is a maximum stay period of 90 minutes. This restriction is in place for all

motorists. However, your vehicle remained on site for 107 minutes, which resulted in an 17 minute

overstay. As your vehicle remained on site in excess of the maximum free parking time, we can confirm

that the advertised Terms and Conditions were breached, and the PC has been correctly. The Terms

and Conditions of the car park are clearly advertised around the site and must be adhered to by all

drivers.

If you wish to submit a complaint, we refer you to our complaint policy at

https: //www.smartparking.com/uk/uk-complaints-policy, which advice you of how you can submit your

complaint.

You have now reached the end of our internal appeals procedure and therefore you now have two

options, you can pay or appeal further with IAS – you cannot do both.

The Appellant has the right to appeal to an Independent Appeals Service, (IAS) using the instructions

below. Please note, should you decide to appeal to the IAS, and your appeal is subsequently rejected,

the option to pay a discounted amount will no longer be available and the full amount of the PC will be

due.

If the appellant decides to appeal to the IAS, they will need to visit the website, https: //www.theias.org/

where further details of how to appeal can be found. The appellant has 28 days from the date of this

letter to submit an appeal to IAS.

Gr1pr

Do not tell them who was driving 

You can try an appeal as keeper to the IAS mainly based on non compliance with Pofa2012 and no landowner authority,  putting them to strict proof to the contrary 

A Money Claim is where these cases are settled 

Meanwhile,  try plan A in the newbies sticky thread in announcements near the top of the forum by coupon mad 

Namely,  COMPLAIN about it to the landowner or landlord or retail park management company,  direct   ( B & M will be tenants   )

nasbeva

Gr1pr said:

Do not tell them who was driving 

You can try an appeal as keeper to the IAS mainly based on non compliance with Pofa2012 and no landowner authority,  putting them to strict proof to the contrary 

A Money Claim is where these cases are settled 

Meanwhile,  try plan A in the newbies sticky thread in announcements near the top of the forum by coupon mad 

Namely,  COMPLAIN about it to the landowner or landlord or retail park management company,  direct   ( B & M will be tenants   )

Could not find any B&M details to complaint. 

Is there any procedure for IAS appeal?

Gr1pr

nasbeva said:

Gr1pr said:

Do not tell them who was driving 

You can try an appeal as keeper to the IAS mainly based on non compliance with Pofa2012 and no landowner authority,  putting them to strict proof to the contrary 

A Money Claim is where these cases are settled 

Meanwhile,  try plan A in the newbies sticky thread in announcements near the top of the forum by coupon mad 

Namely,  COMPLAIN about it to the landowner or landlord or retail park management company,  direct   ( B & M will be tenants   )

Could not find any B&M details to complaint. 

Is there any procedure for IAS appeal?

B & M are not responsible for the parking, as I mentioned,  they are only tenants 

You complain to the landowner's agent,  the retail park management company  ( or landlord or landowner   )

Study other recent Smart Parking cases over the last 4 months,  and Study the IAS thread  by coupon mad 

Coupon-mad

nasbeva said:

Gr1pr said:

Do not tell them who was driving 

You can try an appeal as keeper to the IAS mainly based on non compliance with Pofa2012 and no landowner authority,  putting them to strict proof to the contrary 

A Money Claim is where these cases are settled 

Meanwhile,  try plan A in the newbies sticky thread in announcements near the top of the forum by coupon mad 

Namely,  COMPLAIN about it to the landowner or landlord or retail park management company,  direct   ( B & M will be tenants   )

Could not find any B&M details to complaint. 

Is there any procedure for IAS appeal?

No. Certainly not a template!

nasbeva

Today I received Landowner reply to my parking complaint:

Hello, and thank you for getting in touch, and I’m really sorry to hear about the inconvenience caused by the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) issued at Friars Gate, Doncaster. I completely understand how frustrating this must be, especially when you're a regular customer and the overstay was minimal. 

To clarify, Tesco does not directly manage all car parks associated with its former or current properties. In the case of Friars Gate / Church View, Doncaster DN1 1RE, the car park is operated by Smart Parking Ltd, who use Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology to monitor entry and exit times. This system records the time your vehicle enters and leaves the premises, not the time spent parked, and unfortunately, does not include a grace period for arrival or departure. 

While Tesco may have historical ties to the site, it appears that Smart Parking operates independently under their own enforcement policies, and the current tenant is B&M Home Store. If Tesco is no longer the active landowner or managing agent for this site, we may not have the authority to intervene directly in PCN disputes. 

That said, we always want to support our customers where possible. If you believe the charge is unfair, I would recommend submitting a formal appeal directly to Smart Parking Ltd, referencing your PCN number and including any supporting evidence (such as receipts or proof of visit). You can also contact Doncaster Council if you believe the enforcement is inconsistent with local parking regulations. 

Warm regards. 

Chinedu - Customer Care

Not sure what to do next as IAS does not look promising

nasbeva

And another one from the Landlord:

Thank you for contacting us. I hope you are having a good day so far. 

I am sorry to learn you received a Parking Charge Notice for over-staying at B&M's.  I can understand why you would be unhappy about this, especially as it was just over the 90 minutes. 

I'm afraid, we do not manage this carpark or have any dealings with Smart Parking.  I would suggest speaking with B&M's who should be able to contact the parking company on your behalf and ask them to kindly waive the charge. 

Again, I'm really sorry I was unable to help, but I hope you get the outcome you are looking for.

Thanks again for contacting us.

Gr1pr

Doesn't look like either of them own or manage the parking there, but someone contracted with Smart Parking, you just have not found the correct entities yet

According to a google search, the land there , Friars Gate DN1 1QE is up for sale with PPH Commercial with Smart Parking holding a temporary lease to operate there until 14 AUG 2025, with temporary planning permission until that August date, but your alleged breach of the parking contract was last month,  after the contract apparently ended

The area is populated with  a mix of office, industrial and retail uses and includes occupiers such as Network Rail and B&M Home Store, with the  Frenchgate Shopping Centre just a short walk away. 

PPH Commercial 

First Floor, Richmond House

Sidings Court, Doncaster, DN4 5JH

01302 341041 pph-commercial.co.uk

Coupon-mad

Clearly you must complain to B&M now.

nasbeva

Here is B&M store reply:

Thank you for your email to our CEO, your concerns have been passed to myself.
 
I am sorry to hear that you have received a parking ticket while shopping at our Friars gate store.
 
It is unfortunate that restrictions and charges need to be imposed due to non B&M customers using the car park, or customers using our car park while they continue shopping for extended periods with other retailers. In many cases, the car park does not belong to us and is owned by our landlord who manages it.
 
We have no direct control over these penalty notices as they are issued and controlled by a third party Car Park Management Company. The company who manage the car parks are open to reviewing parking tickets when a customer is able to provide details of purchases, (receipt or bank statement) in our store at the time the ticket or charge was applied and the parking charge has not been paid.
 
In order for this to be looked into further can you please provide me with images of the letter received from the parking company, so we can clearly see the times you entered and left the car park.
 
We also require a copy of your proof of purchase from B&M for the time the parking fine was issued. When sending an image of your receipt, please include the very bottom of the receipt as this holds the time and date stamp of the purchase. If you do not have the original receipt, we can accept a bank/credit card statement with just the last 4 digits visible of the corresponding card. (If you are sending a bank statement, please confirm the B&M store the item was purchased from.)
 
Once these have been received I can fully investigate your concerns and come back to you to confirm how we can proceed.
 
I am sorry if the charge has been paid we are unable to help further as liability has been accepted.
Thank you in advance for the requested information

The only thing is that I don't have bank receipt or statement (((