Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hello,

I hope you can help me with a parking charge notice from Smart Parking dated 09.01.26.

Image of letter sent by smart parking - https://ibb.co/R4kNS3RV

An appeal was sent along with a copy of the Ringo payment VAT and email with was dated at the time the vehicle had arrived.

"I am writing to formally appeal the Parking Charge Notice issued by Smart Parking in relation to my visit to Willen Lake on the stated date and time.

Upon arrival, I located a parking space and paid for one hour of parking using the RingGo app. I did not exceed the paid-for parking duration. Payment was successfully made, and the attached VAT receipt confirms that the correct parking tariff was paid in full.

After receiving the Parking Charge Notice, I reviewed the RingGo transaction and noted that while the time and duration of the session are correct, the date recorded does not correspond with the date of my visit. RingGo has historically defaulted to the current date when initiating a parking session, and I followed the standard process to purchase parking. The receipt confirms a date of issue of 29 December 2025, which matches the date of my attendance. My email confirmation also the same date and was received at the same time as the app parking notification.

At the time of payment, I was unaware of any discrepancy in the date field within the app. There was no attempt to avoid payment or fail to comply with the terms and conditions. The correct tariff was paid in full.

As payment was made in full for the relevant period, there was no loss whatsoever to the landowner.

Any alleged breach is purely technical and arose despite a genuine attempt to comply with the advertised parking terms.

Under the BPA Code of Practice, operators are required to act reasonably, proportionately, and fairly where a driver has made a valid attempt to pay.

Pursuing a charge in these circumstances is contrary to the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which requires contractual terms and enforcement to be fair and transparent.

Smart Parking is put to strict proof of full compliance with the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4, should you seek to pursue keeper liability.

Given that valid payment was made and no material breach occurred, I respectfully request that this Parking Charge Notice be cancelled.

If this appeal is rejected, please provide a POPLA verification code so the matter may be referred for independent adjudication.

I look forward to your confirmation that this charge has been cancelled."

Smart parking have now rejected the appeal (14.02) and have signposted to IAS for further appeal. Is this something you can help with or is it now worth paying the discounted rate.

Thanks in advance.

It was response with the help of Chat GTP. I was the driver. Apologies for any confusion.

Search the forum for “Willen” and you’ll find similar cases.
Smart would have rejected your appeal even if you had not identified the driver, as would the IAS. They don’t care about technicalities like the requirements of the law.
Since you identified the driver, you can still file a defence if you follow the process, and it’s likely that although the court process will be started, it will eventually be discontinued. Just not one on PoFA 2012 because you have made this irrelevant.
Your choice as to whether you deal with the paperwork and end up paying £0 or pay up now and be done with it.
If you want to know more, search the forum for Smart, IAS and DCB Legal. Plenty of examples here.

Do nothing, and you will get letters from debt collectors which you can ignore, followed by a Letter of Claim, probably from DCB Legal. To which you need to reply, and for which you should get advice here.

Oh yes, you can appeal to the IAS if you want. It will cost Smart something like £23 if you do. The IAS is extremely unlikely to uphold your appeal, it boasts that it upholds 4% of appeals received.