Took SMART PARKING to Court and Won.

ChiChi888 · 7 April at 11:50AM

I wanted to share my experience of taking on Smart Parking in court, as it may help others in a similar situation.

A parking charge I had already paid in full continued to be chased by Smart Parking and their agents DCB Legal, despite Smart Parking confirming multiple times in writing that the payment had been received. They issued court proceedings anyway. I defended the case, filed a counterclaim and made a formal application to the court.

The judge found that Smart Parking had behaved unreasonably by continuing to pursue a debt they knew had been settled, ignoring my requests to drop the case, and only backing down when I fought back. As a result the court ordered them to pay my costs (nearly £2k).

A separate interesting point came up at the hearing. Smart Parking sent someone from a company called ELMS Legal to represent them in court. This person was not a qualified solicitor or barrister. The judge found that this person did not have the legal right to appear in court on their behalf and was therefore not permitted to speak at the hearing.

The judge thought the case was significant enough to write a formal judgment on both points, which is quite unusual for a small claims case of this nature.

The wider message I take from this is simple. Parking companies like Smart Parking rely on people being too scared or too busy to challenge them. In some cases the charges they are pursuing may not be ones you are legally obliged to pay. If you receive a parking charge or court claim from Smart Parking or a similar company, do not simply pay without looking into it first.

Coupon-mad · 7 April at 12:07PM

"The judge thought the case was significant enough to write a formal judgment on both points, which is quite unusual for a small claims case of this nature."

Oooh - please show that judgment (redact your name only).

And please show how you pleaded your counterclaim as that can help others.

Congrats!

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!