Smart Parking Yet Again

TerryCTR

Hello, I usually ignore correspondence from these jokers but a friend told me that in recent times the rules had changed and after some digging, I decided to go on the offensive and contact them using the advice from this forum.

For context, I reside in Scotland but allegedly my car was spotted in the Lake District at a hotel/restaurant and certainly more than 14 days later a notice to keeper parking charge arrived.

I responded with the following:

Dear Sirs,

I have received your Parking Charge Notice (Ref: XXXXXXXX) for vehicle registration mark XXXXXX, in which you allege that the driver has incurred a parking charge. I note from your correspondence that you are not seeking to hold me liable as the registered keeper, under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 ("The Act"). You have chosen not to issue a Notice to Keeper in accordance with The Act, and it is now too late for you to do so.

There is no obligation for me to name the driver and I will not be doing so. I am therefore unable to help you further with this matter, and look forward to your confirmation that the charge has been cancelled. If you choose to decline this appeal, you must issue a POPLA code.
I look forward to hearing from you within 28 days.

Yours,
Terry

I quickly got the usual we do not monitor this email to which I quickly replied less than politely telling them that I would not engage any further. I then received an email response a few days later stating:

Good Morning,  Thank you for your recent communication.  The Private Parking Sector Single Code of Practice clause 8.4.1) “requires the parking operator to respond to appeals within 28 days or, where a decision on the appeal is not concluded within 28 days, requires the parking operator to acknowledge the appeal and confirm the timeframe for concluding it, including the supply of additional information.”  We can confirm that an appeal has been received. As stated in our appeal acknowledgment email, we have received your appeal, and we will endeavour to respond within 28 days of the date receipt. If your appeal is unsuccessful the Parking Charge will revert to the amount outstanding at the point of appeal and the payment period will be extended.

Kind regards   Smart Parking LtdEmail: info@smartparking.comWebsite: www.smartparking.com

I logged back into my email today (one I rarely use) and have now subsequently received the following from Smart Parking although I note the email as follows: donotreply@citysmarti.co.uk, this was attached:

Thank you for your recent communication.
Having considered your appeal in detail we have decided to uphold the Parking Charge (PC) as we
believe that it was correctly issued in accordance with the terms and conditions advertised within the
area concerned. As your appeal was received within the initial discount period, we have extended the
discount period until 10/06/2026.
The PC was issued because the vehicle was parked in breach of the terms and conditions displayed
on signage at the location. After carefully reviewing the information you have provided, we are satisfied
that the PC was issued correctly and therefore your appeal has been unsuccessful.

You have confirmed that you are the registered keeper of the vehicle but have declined to identify the
driver at the time of the parking event. As the keeper, you were invited to provide the full name and
serviceable address of the driver if you were not the person in control of the vehicle on the date in
question. You have not done so.

While the provisions of Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 Schedule 4 relating to keeper liability do not
apply at this location, this does not prevent us from pursuing the individual who was responsible for the
vehicle at the time of the contravention. In the absence of driver details, and based on the information
available, we are entitled to reasonably infer that the keeper was also the driver. This position has been
supported in case law, including Elliott v Loake, where the court accepted that keeper responsibility
may give rise to a reasonable inference as to the identity of the driver when no alternative explanation
is provided.

You have not produced any evidence to demonstrate that you were not the driver, nor have you provided
the details of the person who was driving. Accordingly, we are satisfied on the balance of probabilities
that you were the driver at the time of the parking event and remain liable for the outstanding charge.
We can confirm that the Parking Charge was issued due to insufficient paid time. Our payment system
shows that no valid payment was made for your vehicle registration for the 62 minutes that your vehicle
remained on site.
As clearly stated on the car park signage, all motorists are required to purchase a valid ticket by entering
the full and correct vehicle registration mark into the payment machine or by using an approved
alternative payment method. A payment must be made to cover the full duration of the stay from point
of entry to point of exit. As no payment was recorded for your vehicle, the Terms and Conditions have
been breached.
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.
Alternatively, your 3 payment options are:
• By Post: Please send a cheque or postal order (payable to Smart Parking Ltd) to Smart Parking
Ltd, Unit 43, Elmdon Trading Estate, Bickenhill Lane, Marston Green, Birmingham B37
7HE.
• By Web: To make a payment online with a debit or credit card, please visit
www.smartparking.com and have your Parking Charge number to hand.
• By Phone: Pay via our 24 hour automated telephone payment service on 0330 057 6230.
Please have your Parking Charge number to hand. Please note that calls to this number cost
up to 7p per minute, plus your phone company’s access charge.

Yours sincerely

Smart Parking Limited

Apologies for all the bold, I am hoping that it breaks out my long winded story and doesn't strain the eyes.

From reading on here, they have not provided a POPLA code as they should have and rather than respond, I have saw a few responses on other threads saying to ignore from this point on?

As an aside to all of this, but perhaps related, in the last week or so I first received a text suggesting I need to pay a parking fine but it quickly vanished. I received another today asking for immediate payment today (lol) from an outlook account which I also deleted and reported.

Maybe coincidental, but it's funny how this all started with Smart Parking and now I am receiving junk texts. My mobile is not something I give out so no idea where it came from.

Advice please, have I made a mistake somewhere along the way and should have taken my usual approach of IGNORE, IGNORE, IGNORE.

Thanks

Terry

Gr1pr

The advice for Scotland is currently ignore, especially because POFA2012 is currently not on the menu in Scotland, so no idea why you used that POFA template

Also, only the driver can take it further in Scotland

Next, Smart Parking are now an IPC AOS member so no chance of a POPLA code

No blabbing about who was driving, Ignore them

Keep studying the advice for Scotland and also regarding which trade body a company uses

Things will change next year when Scotland should fall under POFA2012 and a statutory Code of Practice, regulation

TerryCTR

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82011546#Comment_82011546

Hello Gr1pr I was hoping you were one of the members who would pick this up. I thought because it happened in Cumbria that it would fall under the English rules otherwise I would have ignored from the outset.

Thanks for the reply.

Gr1pr

Maybe it would, if somebody foolishly told them who was driving, plus if they knew how to litigate a Scottish citizen under the simple procedures justice system

Given that nobody would be foolish enough to reveal who was driving and that they don't litigate in Scotland using the Scottish justice system, plus they tend to discontinue cases in England & Wales, I just can't see it happening

Coupon-mad

Of course there's no POPLA Code. Smart are in the IPC which offers no genuinely independent / impartial appeals service.

"I reside in Scotland."

Right, so search the forum! Covered weekly. We answered one just the other day.

TerryCTR

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82011585#Comment_82011585

Thanks for the additional attitude just what I was after.