Free Traffic Legal Advice
Live cases legal advice => Private parking tickets => Topic started by: ceegol on May 01, 2025, 09:53:36 am
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Thank you
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Even better that the vehicle is registered in the business name. There is no way the business could be the driver!
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Do nothing, ignore everything from debt collectors, and come back here if you get a formal Letter of Claim.
You could tell Smart that you’re not going to pay, but honestly you run the danger of identifying the driver and they’ve got form for falsely claiming they comply with PoFA so they’ll only reply with this falsehood.
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Thank you @jfollows and @b789, really appreciate your feedback.
Regarding the postal error, the vehicle is registered in a business name and the business office is in a building with many other businesses, so the post box scenario can get very complicated. This letter found its way to the wrong box - simple human error unfortunately.
Totally on board with the approach, I know these firms are big time scammers!
What would you recommend for the next steps?
Thanks
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@ceegol, thankfully you did not proverbially blow both your feet off with a single shot in your silly attempt to contact Smart Parking. Never, EVER reveal the identity of the driver to an unregulated private parking company, especially one as incompetent as (not so) Smart Parking!!!!!
The Keeper is under no legal obligation to identify the unknown (to Smart) driver to an unregulated private parking company. They only know that you are the Keeper. You do not blab the drivers identity by saying silly things like "I did this or that". You always refer to the driver in the third person, so you say "the driver did this or that".
The Notice to Keeper (NtK) is not compliant with all the requirements of PoFA which means that if the unknown driver is not identified, they cannot transfer liability for the charge from the unknown driver to the known keeper.
What is this "postal error" you are talking about? Explain it further.
Nobody who is here receiving advice pays (not so) Smart Parking so get the notion that you should pay a firm of scamming bottom-dwellers out of you head. You can safely ignore all debt recovery letters as they are powerless to actually do anything except to get the low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree to pay up out of ignorance and fear.
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If you’ve missed their appeal deadline, your position is unchanged, do not respond in any way to debt collectors, but wait for a Letter of Claim and follow the process of filing a defence for court, it is most likely that the case will eventually be discontinued, but even if not, you will win.
Stick to the points of never identifying the driver and that you - the registered keeper - are not liable because Smart failed to comply with the requirements of PoFA to transfer liability to you.
You will get help here if you post up whatever you receive.
Do not contact Debt Recovery Plus in any way.
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Smart is up to its usual tricks.
Date of incident: 8 March
Date of issue of notice: 20 March
Presumed date of delivery of notice: 24 March (2 business days later)
The notice has to be delivered within 14 days of the incident in order to make the registered keeper liable.
Do not identify the driver. You appeal as registered keeper of the car.
Appeal on the basis of non-compliance with PoFA 2012, someone will probably be along shortly with a template you can use.
Smart will probably reply that since the notice was posted within 14 days, it complies with the requirements of PoFA. It does not, they are not telling the truth if they say this. They will reject your appeal but provide a POPLA code to appeal to POPLA on exactly the same basis, and the notice will be cancelled.
Smart does this (including telling lies) because they want your money and hope you give up and pay them rather than using POPLA. Stay the course and you will pay nothing.
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Hi all,
I wonder if someone can offer me some advice please.
I have received a parking charge notice from Smart Parking, but unfortunately due to a postal error I have only just received the letter that contained the 'notice to keeper - parking charge'.
The parking charge is for '05A - paid for insufficient time (ANPR)'on Tower Road - Newquay
I simply could not find any contact number for the company anywhere to speak to someone so I emailed them and they have responded to say 'Due to the length of time the PC has been open, this has now been referred to Debt Recovery Plus Ltd, who are now handling this on our behalf'.
I do not dispute the amount of time the vehicle stayed in the carpark, however I feel the charge is unfair and excessive for the 'minutes' it was over, plus now it has been passed on to a debt recovery makes it even more excessive and unfair especially when I reacted as soon as the letter was received.
Any help or advice would be very much appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
(https://imgur.com/a/A1OUSqU)
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