Debt Recovery Plus letters for unpaid Parking Charge Notices that haven't been issued

[joshinkent]

Hello!

I'm looking for some advice..

I have received 4 x 'Pay Now' letters from Debt Recovery Plus, each saying I must pay 170 GBP with regards to unpaid parking charge notices. However, I have never received the parking charge notices in question - these letters from Debt Recovery Plus are the first I have heard of any parking charge notices at all. I did not receive any parking charge notices on the car at the time, nor have I received any notices in the post in the time since the alleged contraventions. Please note that my address on DVLA's records is up-to-date and was up-to-date at the time of both of the alleged contraventions.

The Debt Recovery Plus letters do give information about the parking charge notices, including the parking charge date, the notice number, the vehicle reg, the credit (Smart Parking Ltd), and location. I have looked up the parking charge notices on Smart Parking's website, and they all seem to be issued for parking for around 1 hour 12 mins while only paying for 1 hour.

I have read that Parking Charge Notices need to be issued within 14 days of the incident itself, but I haven't actually received any PCNs (to this day!). But the Debt Recovery Plus letters are of course a bit scary.

Any advice on where I stand here with regards to paying these notices would be really appreciated.

Thanks!

[Bluey4543]

Hi Josh,
Don't respond to Debt Recovery Plus in this matter they are powerless debt collectors who can do nothing but send you letters.
Smart Parking are usually easy to beat, mostly on failing to comply with the Protection of Freedoms Act. To check the Notice to Keeper for compliance you will need to do a Subject Access Request to Smart Parking, Use the reference Numbers in the letters from DRP, your vehicle registration number and the dates of the alleged infringements.
They should then send you all the information that they hold on you, including the original Notice to Keeper.
When you receive them, come back here for further advice.

[MIKE770]

ostell best to advise on this situation

[ostell]

Just have to wait for Smart, who frequently get it wrong.

[joshinkent]

Thanks everyone for the advice! As Bluey4543 advised, I have not responded to any of the Debt Recovery Plus letters.

As an update: I have now received the attached Parking Charge Notice letter from Smart Parking through the post. The letter is dated 27th April 2022 and the contravention was 1st Feb 2022.

I haven't yet received any notices for any of the other parking charge notices that Debt Recovery Plus referred to in their letters.

[ostell]

Dear Sirs,

I have just received your Notice to Keeper xxxxx for vehicle VRM xxxx

You have failed to comply with the requirements of Schedule 4 of The Protection Of
Freedoms Act 2012 namely, but not limited to, failing to deliver the notice within the relevant
period of 14 days as prescribed by section 9 (4) of the Act.

You cannot, therefore, transfer liability for the alleged charge from the driver at the time to me, the keeper.

There is no legal requirement to name the driver at the time and I will not be doing so.

Any further communication with me on this matter, apart from confirmation of no further action
and my details being removed from your records, will be considered vexatious and
harassment. This includes communication from any Debt Collection companies you care to
instruct.

Yours etc

First class post with a free certificate of posting from a post office

If they reject then you should win at POPLA when you include all the other POFA fails

[joshinkent]

Thanks ostell ! I've sent the appeal off now with that your wording. Appreciate it.

What other POFA fails have Smart Parking made in this instance beyond failing to deliver the notice within the 14 day period?

[ostell]

Here's POFA: Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (legislation.gov.uk)

Check what is required against what they gave, especially 9 (2)

[joshinkent]

Thanks ostell. Others might also find the Legal Guidance on POFA helpful as well in terms of interpreting the Act: https://assets.publishing.service.go...ng-charges.pdf

[joshinkent]

Update: 2x "Final Reminder" letters from Debt Recovery Plus saying I have "missed 4 payment deadlines already", and threatening potential court action.

[Lyons692]

Update: 2x "Final Reminder" letters from Debt Recovery Plus saying I have "missed 4 payment deadlines already", and threatening potential court action.

Joshinkent…please keep us updated, have received the same debt recovery plus letter..will send letter as Ostell has advised

[superfr]

Hi , I have similar situation . we suddenly received letter from Debt recovery plus for something dated from November 22 but we never received a parking notice before so we didn't know about this issue. I read the advise in the post above and i just want to understand and make sure i address is correctly .
Do i need to send and email first to "smart parking" ? who do i send it to and what do i need to write in this email?

What's the next step? i wait for them to send me the original notice? and than I appeal ?

Thank you so much for your help

[des8]

superfr

Your first step is to start your own thread and not hijack another's, as that only causes confusion.

You send a SAR (template in SHORTCUTS panel on right) to Smart Parking and ignore Debt Recovery Plus for now