Private Parking Debt Recovery

[Richard Simm]

I am guilty of not paying a parking fee in a car park in North Wales on 13/08/23. The first communication I have received is dated 17/10/23 and comes directly from Debt Recovery Plus for £170. The company Smart Parking have not contacted me about the offence, but seem to have gone straight to debt recovery. Should Smart Parking have contacted me first, giving me a chance to pay, or is this normal procedure for these type of companies ?

[R0b]

Hello

First and foremost, if your real name is actually your username, that is very naive as you should never publish your personal information online. Parking companies does trawl through this forum and others and have in the past used information against defendants to prove their case.

Second, you should edit your post so that you are referring to ‘the driver’ rather than ‘I’ for the reasons I’ve just given. Never expose who was driving because you are giving parking companies an easy win (and for reasons I am about to explain below).

As to your question, you are right that Smart Parking should have issued you with a parking charge notice outlining the details of the alleged breach. That PCN would usually provide a window to pay the parking charge amount listed in the letter or make an appeal within 14 days. Given that they have done to debt recovery within a week, it would appear that they may not have complied with the legislation to hold the registered keeper liable. Therefore they could only pursue the driver of the vehicle, which is why I would stress that you should take immediate action to edit your post.

Just in case Smart Parking have changed their practices, might be helpful if you can upload the letter so we can see the contents. Make sure that all personal information has been redacted before you do.

[atticus]

And looking at your previous thread, how did your girlfriend get on?