Hi all,
Looking for some advice on what to do next, I appealed with Smart parking (they rejected), then I appealed with popla. They also decided to go in smart parkings favor.
My reason for appeal was, I had ordered from Mc donalds and the order took ages, then it was incorrect. Used my laptop in mc donalds for some work, then felt unwell so had to use the restroom overstayed by 30 mins. Supplied my receipt etc as evidence that I did actually use the mc donalds and not just left my car there.
Now I have a letter to pay £170 to a debt collector agency, and threatened if it went to court it would end up a CCJ if I lost.
My question is where do I go next? I feel if I felt unwell I do have a chance if I went to court?
So you have 2 options: pay; or wait for the court case and defend it. This forum generally supports the latter option.... Worst case is you lose the court case and have to pay - and as long as you do this within 30 days it will not affect your credit record. With assistance from here, it is most likely the case will be discontinued before the hearing. You may well have made it harder with your appeals as it seems likely you have identified the driver - this probably doesn't matter as they will most likely use template application to the court that will be unclear about whether they are claiming against you as driver or keeper. If / when you get a letter of claim come back and post it up and advice should follow.
What did McDonalds say when you complained to/brought the issue up with them?
Thanks for the reply's, I will add pictures of the info in the thread by the end of the day (what I have received so far). I don't think I have confirmed I was the driver directly, but I would have defended as if I was in the car I suppose.
I have not brought the issue up with mc donalds, do you think I should do this? to try and get them to cancel it from their side?
I have not brought the issue up with mc donalds, do you think I should do this? to try and get them to cancel it from their side?
Absolutely. It costs nothing to try.
Here is the paper trail
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The rest
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Smart’s PCN is deemed to have been delivered 24/2, which is more than 14 days after the parking event, and thus the provisions of PoFA 2012 (
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/9/schedule/4) can not be used to transfer liability from the driver to the registered keeper, provided the driver has not been identified.
Smart’s PCN is deemed to have been delivered 24/2, which is more than 14 days after the parking event, and thus the provisions of PoFA 2012 can not be used to transfer liability from the driver to the registered keeper, provided the driver has not been identified.
Thank you for the advise! I do not think I have directly stated I was the driver so I will get back to Smart Parking with the above, I have also contacted mc donalds and awaiting their response! Thanks again all much appreciated!
Smart will ignore you, or simply tell you it’s too late to appeal and your appeal was rejected anyway.
It’s something you can use in your defence, in some way, when they take you to court. It’s likely that the case will ultimately be discontinued if you defend it, with advice here to help you. Personally I wouldn’t contact Smart to give them advance notice of a defence point now.
In due course Smart will lie and say that their PCN complies with the requirements of PoFA 2012, they have form for this.
If you’d used it as a POPLA appeal point, there’s a fair chance your appeal would have been upheld, which is why Smart no longer uses POPLA but the totally non-independent IAS which is in cahoots with them, but we are where we are now. The POPLA ship has sailed.
I wouldn’t hold out much hope for McDonald’s but it’s worth a try. They usually disclaim responsibility in one way or another.
OP, there is nothing for you to do now. Trying to contact (not so) Smart parking would be even dumber than they are.
The appeal was wasted because you did not point out to the assessor that the PCN was no PoFA complaint and there was therefore no Keeper liability. As long as you did not identify the driver will statements such as "I did this or that", instead of "the driver did this or that", this would have been a successful appeal at POPLA.
Too late now. Come back when you receive a Letter of Claim (LoC). We do not need to see or know about useless debt recovery letters which you can safely ignore. Debt collectors are powerless to do anything except to try and persuade the low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree to pay up out of ignorance and fear.
This is easily winnable when defending in a court claim, which will never actually reach a hearing as it will be struck out or discontinued before the claimant has to pay the £27 trial fee.
Got in touch with Mc donalds, they didn't want to know. As a previous post said worth a try.
I haven't contacted Smart Parking as the previous post have said from others, I will wait for the court letter if it goes that far. Thanks for all the advice guys and girls! Will keep you updated!
Agree x 1
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