Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi,

So another letter received telling me my case has been escalated, final warning and I have lost the right to appeal and I owe £170.

They will advise their client to start legal action next week now if I do nothing.

They will submit evidence that 5 contact attempts have been ignored and my charge may rise to £235 including court fees if unsuccessful in court.

letter attached for the record.

How is it looking from your perspective about likely hood it will go to court? 

thanks

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Hello,

I see you are away - anyhow for the record I have received today another letter with more threats

copy attached.

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Hi,
Thanks so much for your feedback - so of course I will keep ignoring until some other communication comes my way (and I will notify you) or not get anything hopefully!

kind regards
PO

Thank you for your time and advice.

regards PO

I got this reply today from 'Smart Parking' :

Parking Charge Notice : TC85150466


Thank you for your recent communication.

As per the Private Parking Single Sector Code of Practice June 2024 (clause 8.4.1a), all appeals must be submitted within 28 days of the Notice to Keeper being issued. Clause 10.1. also notes that if a driver, keeper or hire company does not respond to a notice, subsequent correspondence or a parking charge has not been paid in full, the Parking Charge then becomes overdue after 28 days. Due to the length of time the PC has been open, this has now been referred to Debt Recovery Plus Ltd, who are handling this on our behalf. Please contact them directly if you wish to discuss this further.

Furthermore, would like to make you aware that we have no hold over the Royal Mail postal services, however we can confirm that the PC was issued to you on 03/01/2025  and promptly posted (please find copy enclosed).
 
Debt Recovery Plus: 0208 234 6775 or 0141 301 2355

We note the comments made within your appeal however, we cannot rescind the Parking Charge  on this basis. When using the car park in question you must adhere to the advertised Terms and Conditions, and it is the responsibility of the driver to ensure they acknowledge the signage upon entering the site. We can confirm that there is signage on entrance to, and around the car park grounds. All signage is BPA approved and compliant with The Private Parking Single Code of Practice.

All signs on site are compliant with the British Parking Association (BPA) and The Private Parking Sector Single Code of Practice June 2024.  Signs and Surface markings must be designed, applied and maintained in such a way as to be visible, legible and unambiguous to drivers. Clause 3.1.1, of the single code states that "An entrance sign must be displayed and maintained at the entrance to controlled land to inform drivers as appropriate whether parking is permitted subject to terms and conditions, including payment, or is prohibited, unless: subject to terms and conditions, including payment, or is prohibited". It also states in clause 3.1.3 a) that signs must be placed within the controlled land, such that drivers have the chance to read them at the time of parking or leaving their vehicle. There are several signs situated around the car park that advise of the tariff, terms and conditions, we can confirm all signage on site is BPA approved, and compliant with The Private Parking Single Code of Practice. Please be aware all signs are set to a standardised height, regulations and written in clearly and intelligible language. There is no ambiguous language or jargon on any of the Smart Parking signs at this site.

The car park is sited on private land, and the owners allow access to the public, with use subject to the Terms and Conditions of parking, which are advertised on signs situated around the site. The PCs are enforceable under Contract Law; upon entering and remaining upon the car park you agree to the terms and conditions which are clearly stated on the signage. Your vehicle was parked in breach of these terms and conditions therefore we must advise the PC was correctly issued and remains outstanding.

We wish to inform that the car park in question is operated by an ANPR cameras system which captures images of your vehicle entering and exiting the site, which subsequently calculates your total stay duration- this is calculated from the time of entrance to the time of exit. This information is then compared with the terms and condition of the site, along with any validation we have with regards to your Vehicle Registration Mark (VRM), to establish whether or not terms and conditions have been breached without authorisation.

We can confirm that the convention occurred due to overstaying the maximum free parking time. As stated on the signage, there is a maximum stay period of 120 minutes. This restriction is in place for all motorists.  However, your vehicle remained on site for 228 minutes, which resulted in an 108  minute overstay. As your vehicle remained on site in excess of the maximum free parking time, we can confirm that the advertised Terms and Conditions were breached, and the PC has been correctly. The Terms and Conditions of the car park are clearly advertised around the site and must be adhered to by all drivers

Yours sincerely,

Smart Parking Ltd

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They don't mention about having sent any other reminder letters and there was no 'copy enclosed' in the email response (no attachment or in the body).  So their only letter was posted 'promptly??' on 3rd Jan and it took 10 days??? 

Of course I won't be contacting the debt recovery people.  I look forward to your thoughts and advice.

many thanks

My communication was, hope it was OK :
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I am writing to give you a formal letter of complaint.

Date of alleged contravention was on 28/10/24, the letter date of issue was 6/11/24 and this was received in post on 13/1/2025. No other letter has been received, before or after.

(Date of contravention + two working days after the date of issue = deemed date given to me) . It was over 14 days, so it is not PoFA compliant.  To be clear, your Notice to Keeper was delivered after the 14 day deadline.

In order to be able to hold the Keeper liable, I require evidence from you of the actual date it was entered into the postal system, as required by the PPSCoP section 8.1.2(e) Note 2.

Also, I will require evidence that Smart hold a valid contract flowing from the landowner permitting you to issue Parking Charge Notices (PCNs) at the location.

Regards

Hi again,

I have uploaded the 3 letters.

kind regards

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Hi,

Many thanks for your reply, the date of contravention was on 28/10/24, letter date of issue was 6/11/24 and received  in post on 13/1/2025.

I didn't appeal and I did not get a POPLA code - will this now be a problem? 

many thanks