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Smart Parking Deliberate Scam
Posted by
JimmyJ
on 12 Feb, 2026 08:36
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Hi all,
So my wife has received a Final Reminder from Smart Parking Ltd, demanding £145 and stating we ignored the initial letter. Well the fact is we never received the initial letter, it never arrived at the same address the Final Reminder did.
So far i've done two things, one requested the formal complaints procedure for the shopping retail park, and i've tried to contact Smart Parking for their formal complaints procedure.
No names other than my own have been given to SP.
Now surely they've removed the right to appeal and the right to pay the initial lower fine, that must be a breach of their own procedure, and obviously I am not paying the elevated fine because this is a tactic, from what I am reading on other sites, Smart Parking use.
Also, there is a caveat, the car that would have been caught, we no longer have. lol but I am sure they would trace it via the DVLA. We part ex'd it a few weeks back.
They are threatening court action if we ignore the letter etc, which I was expecting etc, but any guidance to how their lack of care can be used against them would be appreciated.
I find it absolutely disgusting that in a big shopping area, where there are god knows how many shops, my wife went there to do all the Christmas shopping , and went over the "free" allowance, which I also find disgusting as that centre always used to be free, we don't go there from year to year, now has this vile smart parking system in place, and she gets this treatment. Can't enjoy anything at your own pace anymore.
Anyway, thanks in advance.
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#1 Reply
Posted by
RichardW
on 12 Feb, 2026 10:56
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You can send a complaint to Smart, which they are required to treat as an appeal. Something along the lines of disputing their charge as the reg keeper and they have not delivered a Notice to Keeper as required by POFA to transfer liability. Don't identify the driver. You can request that they send on the original PCN with proof of posting. They will most likely reject the appeal without really reading it, and they look to be IPC so secondary appeal will be to IAS (which will also most likely reject it).
After that you are waiting out the debt collectors letters and the court claim, which is often discontinued as long as you defend it.
If you are a genuine customer, then going via the retailer might yield a cancellation, but it's often difficult on a multi store retail park. Where was it?
It's not a fine, BTW, but a speculative invoice for alleged breach of contract.
If you get the original PCN post it up, there may be flaws that mean there is an easy defence.
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#2 Reply
Posted by
DWMB2
on 12 Feb, 2026 11:19
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Welcome to FTLA.
A quick preliminary matter, which may sound pedantic, but isn't - from a legal perspective there is no "we" in this case. If your wife was the registered keeper of the vehicle at the time, and the letter(s) are addressed to her, then the dispute is between her and Smart, so anything formal will need to be done in her name. I mention this now at the start because we've seen cases where people are trying to help a friend/relative, and end up inadvertently making things worse by submitting court defences in their own name etc.
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#3 Reply
Posted by
JimmyJ
on 12 Feb, 2026 11:35
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I haven't mentioned wife or me , I just used the term we, which could refer to me or anyone tbh. As I lodged the complaint with them, they , i'd assume , would be obliged to reply to me. In fact, reviewing the email I sent, it infers I am the one fined and keeper, therefore with not reference to the letter or any reference numbers, they must ask me for that first, so far they haven't replied at all.
If they wished to rectify the issue with the "appeal / lower fine amount" they'd ask for the PCN.
The email was deliberately vague tbh, I just want initial contact. If they don't respond.
But also, I might add, the reason I do the emails is that English is not my wifes first language, so it's easier for me to do all correspondence.
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#4 Reply
Posted by
DWMB2
on 12 Feb, 2026 11:41
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But also, I might add, the reason I do the emails is that English is not my wifes first language, so it's easier for me to do all correspondence.
I appreciate that, my point is just to make sure you're aware that if this proceeds to a court claim (which, with Smart Parking, is a fair possibility), then all court submissions/correspondence etc. will need to be in your wife's name, as she will be the defendant.
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#5 Reply
Posted by
JimmyJ
on 12 Feb, 2026 13:07
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Oh yeah 100% anything Official I will use her name. Just so far it's been in mine as they don't know who they are talking about yet.
Plus I want to see if they actually reply or not. So far, nothing
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#6 Reply
Posted by
roythebus
on 12 Feb, 2026 23:47
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Make sure you don't name who was driving at the time, no 'I", "we", "us". Just "the driver".
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#7 Reply
Posted by
JimmyJ
on 13 Feb, 2026 07:13
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We don't even have that car anymore lol But I know they could trace it via the DVLA.
But yeah I won't state who was driving.
I will repeat the emails to their info and complaint email addresses they give on their site, if they don't reply, I shall ignore any further communication and await the court case.
2 attempts to communicate and being ignored is reason enough to get the fine thrown out. They deliberately blocked the right to appeal and right to pay the lesser charge. And two people willing to testify that the original letter never arrived and they refused to resend it with proof of postage.
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#8 Reply
Posted by
DWMB2
on 13 Feb, 2026 08:55
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2 attempts to communicate and being ignored is reason enough to get the fine thrown out
If it gets to court, you'll need more than that (especially when the attempts to communicate were made by a third party and not the defendant). It's evidence of potential unreasonable behaviour on their part, but doesn't on its own relate to the alleged contractual charges Smart claim are due.
That the notice wasn't received is potentially a stronger point, of course.
If the shopping centre is local to you, I would advise getting some photos of the signage, especially if it is not prominent. You mention that it used to be free without limit - if so, check if there are any prominent signs advising that the terms have changed. Both of these could also work in your favour.
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#9 Reply
Posted by
JimmyJ
on 13 Feb, 2026 10:35
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2 attempts to communicate and being ignored is reason enough to get the fine thrown out
If it gets to court, you'll need more than that (especially when the attempts to communicate were made by a third party and not the defendant). It's evidence of potential unreasonable behaviour on their part, but doesn't on its own relate to the alleged contractual charges Smart claim are due.
This I would disagree with. Third party or not, they do not know who the driver was, what the PCN was, and they should reply asking for these details. Their own procedures are to issue initial fine, offer opportunity to pay lesser fine in 28 days or appeal. This was not given by SP, therefore breach of their own contract. Obviously it's their word against ours , they can say the letter was sent, but we both would deny this. But it wouldn't explain why they completely ignored repeated emails to their highlighted addresses were ignored. Companies have a duty to answer official complaints within a certain timeframe, and in this case with the details , re-issue the original letter and allow for the 28 day appeal or pay the reduced fine. They simply cannot ignore that and just send out final reminders stating we ignored a non existent letter. Also, again, doesn't explain ignoring the emails requesting the initial letter.
There will be no appeal or fight, the £60 will be paid as there is another issue regarding mental health here. If this goes on, it will have an extreme effect on someones mental health (They are ill anyway) and that can be catastrophic long term. But the £145 and any further demands will not be paid.
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#10 Reply
Posted by
JimmyJ
on 24 Feb, 2026 13:34
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So today we recieved the letter from Debt Recovery Plus, with an elevated charge, I spoke to them, stated the issue with the initial letter and got some chopsy obnoxious fool being sarcastic.
Anyway, who are these people ?
I assume this will continue until it either gets dismissed or we go to court ?
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#11 Reply
Posted by
jfollows
on 24 Feb, 2026 13:40
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Ignore debt collectors, your contacting them gives you the opportunity to say something detrimental to your subsequent defence.
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So today we recieved the letter from Debt Recovery Plus, with an elevated charge, I spoke to them, stated the issue with the initial letter and got some chopsy obnoxious fool being sarcastic.
Anyway, who are these people ?
I assume this will continue until it either gets dismissed or we go to court ?
Do not contact these people - all they want is your money.
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#13 Reply
Posted by
JimmyJ
on 17 Mar, 2026 09:02
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OK so I need to update this case.
The PCN has been cancelled by the land manager ( Savills.co.uk ) the soliticors firms tasked by the land owner to employ the parking companies.
Didn't take me long to research who actually owns the land and who manages it. Savills didn't take kindly to a) formal complaints b) public humiliation , all done legally.
I spoke with the manager within Savills who deals with many retail parks that they are responsible for and made my feelings perfectly clear and he was very apologetic and cancelled the PCN.
So anyone who gets a retail park PCN, find out who owns or manages the parking, often its a private company, and use the likes of trustpilot and their own formal complaints procedures to make sure they are aware of their responsibility in the death of the high street shopping industry by employing such corrupt parking companies. They won't like it at all.
Incidentally, Smart Parking eventually came back to me and reissued the initial PCN, which still never turned up, and then due to the formal complaint as a "gesture of goodwill" dropped the initial charge to 45 from 60 , which I found hysterical, as I still hadn't been given the right of appeal.
You simply have to laugh at these companies , especially debt recovery plus, who are just hysterical to speak to and easily poked fun at.
I CC'd in my local MP, a futile act but at least it's logged that they are allowing such corruption to go ahead and blatant bullying, as was shown by Debt Recovery Plus, as they repeatedly attempted to "bully" me into paying. Older people may crumble at that , and that bothers me more than anything.
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Winner x 1
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