HELP REQUIRED: Smart Parking - Court claim

Cookie_Dough123

Hi all,

I received a PCN from Smart Parking Ltd on the 12th of Jan 2024. I appealed the claim, but did not get a response so I ignored further communications. I have now received a Court Claim and need some help on where to go from here.

The details - I was taking my child to his swimming lesson. They had not long replaced their old system with a new ANPR system. Before you reach the area of the car park where you can actually park, there is a drop-off area. We were running late, so I stopped there and let my son out (he has possible ASD/ADHD so rushing is not his forté). Once he was out and got his swimming bag, etc I drove into the parking area and had to drive around to find a space, parked up and ran in as his lesson was starting. I then paid on my phone, but the signal wasn't great, so it took about 5 minutes for it to actually go through, plus it was the first time I'd used RingGo for that car, so had the added time of setting it up on the system I then received a PCN through the post asking for £170 as I'd overstayed 15 minutes (to put it into perspective, it's 80p for an hour stay). Unbeknownst to me, the ANPR camera is situated BEFORE the drop-off zone...before you reach any place where you can actually park.

I appealed the claim and mentioned that parking was limited and I had to drop off my son and that there was no clear signage on where the camera is situated. I also mentioned the Grace Period that was clearly mentioned on their website. I heard nothing back from my appeal, just more letters asking for money. I have now received a County Claim letter and don't really know where to go from here. I've looked through the forum, but can't really find the answers I'm looking for.

Do I need to reply? I'm guessing I do. I have no record of my appeal as I didn't think to copy it thinking I'd get an email summary, or at least a response. The court claim is now demanding £288.20 for essentialy a 20p parking cost.

What is the best course of action?

Please help!

Thank you

Gr1pr

Firstly, calm down, no need to rush

Now Post the Issue date from the top right of the claim form below

Also post a redacted picture of the POC from the lower left of the claim form below after hiding the VRM details first

Then we will tell you what to do

Cookie_Dough123

Here's the redacted photos. Is this the correct info?

Thanks for your help

Le_Kirk

As @Gr1pr writes no need to rush; with an issue date of 20/05/26 and providing you complete(d) the AoS before or on 08/06/26 your defence deadline date is 4.00 p.m. on 22/06/26

Gr1pr

Thats correct, thank you

Login to MCOL via your government gateway account and complete the AOS online stage next week,maybe on tuesday,26th

Then use the Smart Parking defence template defence by member meltof posted on 12th April in the group thread by member sluzz, NOchanges

Copy and paste into the MCOL defence box, save it, then submit it later on

Meanwhile study the 8 steps in the defence template thread in announcements near the top of the forum and study post 2 in the newbies sticky thread in announcements near the top of the forum too, especially regarding how to complete the AOS online stage next week

ChirpyChicken

As above thats it

Cookie_Dough123

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82008774#Comment_82008774

I have just logged in and attempted to respond to the claim, but it is not accepting the claim number and/or password 🤔😭. What do I do in this situation? 😫

Gr1pr

Probably a typo by you, so human error

You are putting in a O or 0 or mistaking a lower case L for i or 1.or something similar, its case sensitive too

Cookie_Dough123

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82011887#Comment_82011887

I've tried all variants and it wouldn't work 😕. I'm away this weekend, but I'll try again when I'm home.

Gr1pr

You only get 19 days from the issue date to submit your AOS to the CNBC in Northampton

If you have to, download the AoS pdf form from the government website and fill it in and save it

Then attach it to an email and send it to the AoS email address listed in the first post in the defence template thread in announcements near the top of the forum

Its better to use MCOL, but emailing the downloaded documents is a good plan B

ChirpyChicken

People often mistype it if there is an i or an L in it