Smart Parking Ltd charge notice & DRP letter.

[bigbadmad]

hi all.
I'm brand new to forums so please bear with me.
my wife received a PCN from Smart Parking Ltd for a 15min stay in one of their carparks (£45) when it was actually me that was driving her car at the time. I always pop into Sports Direct to pick some tennis balls up for my dogs and never had a problem? recently they've installed ANPR cameras so when i made my frequent visit i was snapped by the cameras and my wife was sent the PCN.
I went into Sports Direct and spoke with the manager & showed him my receipt of purchased goods but he said it wasn't up to him and the carparks are run by private firms now?
I've not contacted Smart Parking while i summed up what coarse of action to take as family and friends told me to "ignore it and it'll go away" but looking at this forum that isn't the right action to take so I'm wondering whats best to do?
Today i received the 2nd letter through the post regarding the PCN and the price has jumped from the original letter of £45 to now a demand for £160 from DRP (Debt Recovery Plus Ltd)

Please, advice on how best to challenge this?

many thanks

[mystery1]

Re: Smart Parking Ltd charge notice & DRP letter.

Either continue to ignore unless/until a letter before action or court claim arrives or name yourself as the driver and appeal from there.

The notice to keeper is probably flawed and your wife should not be found against in any court case as she wasn't driving so if it were me, i'd ignore for now.

M1

[bigbadmad]

Re: Smart Parking Ltd charge notice & DRP letter.

thanks for your reply M1.
It turns out my wife sent them a letter on 08/09/15 stating that she was not the driver, and that she was under no legal obligation to disclose who was actually driving on that occasion. She also mentioned that the car park had been used by the driver at the time to shop within Sports Direct with a shop receipt for goods bought and that the charges they were trying to impose for a 15min stay were excessive. She never got a reply back from them until she received the letter from DRP demanding £160?
Last night i was looking through the threads after id submitted this post where you've advised past people on how to tackle these crooks so i penned a letter on behalf of my wife and sent it via recorded mail this morning, it went like this,.........


Dear Sirs


Re: PCN No. ************

*****************

I have not received a reply to my first challenge against this PCN dated 06/09/2015, so i now send this second letter with a formal challenge and ask that the points below are addressed immediately.

******************

I challenge this 'PCN' as keeper of the car, on these main grounds:


a) As keeper of this car this does not mean i was driver of this car and as such no assumptions can be made.
b) The sum is disproportionate and does not represent a genuine pre-estimate of loss.
c) The sum demanded is extravagant and cannot be justified.
d) There is no evidence that you have any interest in the land.
e) I believe that the signs were not seen/are ambiguous and the predominant purpose is to deter so there is no contract
to pay this charge, which is a penalty.


Formal challenge:
There will be no admissions as to who was driving and no assumptions can be drawn.


You must either;
1) Cancel the notice
2) Pursue the driver and stop pursuing the keeper.
3) Reject this challenge and provide a POPLA code


Yours faithfully,



most of the points were previously mentioned in other posts on this page that you have helped with in the past so i hope i did the right thing in starting the appeal process on behalf of my wife?
if theres anything else you can share or advise which may help in any way id love to hear it? like what to expect now? will they possibly send a rejection letter? how to tackle it going forward if they do?

many thanks for your time, much appreciated.

[mystery1]

Re: Smart Parking Ltd charge notice & DRP letter.

Who did you send it too ?

M1

[bigbadmad]

Re: Smart Parking Ltd charge notice & DRP letter.

Who did you send it too ?

M1

both letters sent to Smart Parking Ltd address on bottom of the PCN. but this time I've sent on behalf of wife and its gone via recorded delivery.

[mystery1]

Re: Smart Parking Ltd charge notice & DRP letter.

That's ok. I had a feeling you sent it to DRP.

See what they say.

M1

[bigbadmad]

Re: Smart Parking Ltd charge notice & DRP letter.

[MENTION=5354]mystery1[/MENTION]
Hi, today my wife received a reply letter from Smart Parking which basically went like this....................

"As per British Parking Association code of practice (paragraph 22.7), all appeals must be submitted to us within 28 days of the Notice to Keeper being issued. Due to the length of time your PCN has been open we have now referred this to a debit recovery company (debt recovery plus) who are handling the matter on our behalf. Please contact them directly if you wish to discuss this further."

So they are dismissing our letters as outside the 28 day time frame when the 1st letter was sent and dated within the 28 days with no reply received and the second letter then sent as stated above?

any advice on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated.

regards

[mystery1]

Re: Smart Parking Ltd charge notice & DRP letter.

Without a route to appeal all you can do is see if they go to court or pay.

If you appealed as soon as possible then a compliant to the BPA may help but i'd not hold my breath.

M1

[bigbadmad]

Re: Smart Parking Ltd charge notice & DRP letter.

hi [MENTION=5354]mystery1[/MENTION]
so even though my wife sent a letter within the 28 day notice to keeper letter they still say that we're out of time for appeal and they never acknowledged that letter?
what happens if it goes to court? can i submit an appeal if it did go to court as i can't really allow my wife to get a CCJ when it was myself in the car and she wasn't even aware of the charge?
what route would you best recommend please? is there any other appeal options open to us?

[Kati]

Re: Smart Parking Ltd charge notice & DRP letter.

you can either complain or wait for court papers IMO

Did you send the first appeal recorded/signed for? (IE: have you proof you responded within the timescales?)

- - - Updated - - -

If it went to court (V. unlikely) you'd get lots of help and advice here

[bigbadmad]

Re: Smart Parking Ltd charge notice & DRP letter.

[MENTION=49370]Kati[/MENTION]
hi kati
thanks for the reply, my wife sent 1st letter which was inside the 28 days but unfortunately no proof, only a copy of the letter sent saved to documents on computer?
when you say "wait for court papers"? is there anything i can do when court papers arrive or is it just a waiting game to see if they go down the court route & only pay if they do to prevent the CCJ? Im lost for words as it wasn't even my wife driving so not sure how they can charge her or give her a CCJ when she wasn't even there?
I'm definately going to write a complaint to Smart Parking demanding they acknowledge the 1st letter my wife submitted, but i can't see them offering much assistance so is there anyone else i can complain to that may look into the action of Smart Parking as i think they are acting underhand.

advice is much appreciated.
regards.

[Kati]

Re: Smart Parking Ltd charge notice & DRP letter.

@Kati
hi kati
thanks for the reply, my wife sent 1st letter which was inside the 28 days but unfortunately no proof, only a copy of the letter sent saved to documents on computer?
when you say "wait for court papers"? is there anything i can do when court papers arrive or is it just a waiting game to see if they go down the court route & only pay if they do to prevent the CCJ? Im lost for words as it wasn't even my wife driving so not sure how they can charge her or give her a CCJ when she wasn't even there?
I'm definately going to write a complaint to Smart Parking demanding they acknowledge the 1st letter my wife submitted, but i can't see them offering much assistance so is there anyone else i can complain to that may look into the action of Smart Parking as i think they are acting underhand.

advice is much appreciated.
regards.

[MENTION=5354]mystery1[/MENTION] is the best person to advise, but ... from what I've worked out you appealed in the 'registered keeper's' name, not the 'driver'?

Could you now name the driver and have the appeal process started again (with new time-limits) :noidea:??

[bigbadmad]

Re: Smart Parking Ltd charge notice & DRP letter.

.........Or can i challenge if they do take it to court? Whats the possible outcomes please?

[Kati]

Re: Smart Parking Ltd charge notice & DRP letter.

You can definitely challenge if it goes to court :nod: (IF it got that far) ... and you'd get advice through it all

I was mostly asking M1 if you can re-appeal before that by naming the driver xx

[bigbadmad]

Re: Smart Parking Ltd charge notice & DRP letter.

[MENTION=5354]mystery1[/MENTION] [MENTION=49370]Kati[/MENTION]

hi, if there was a way to now name the driver and lodge an appeal on new time limits id much prefer to go down that route and then lodge an appeal in my name rather than my wife's??? not sure how id go about doing that though? would contacting Smart Parking and naming myself as the driver restart the time limits and enable a fresh appeal??

regards