Free Traffic Legal Advice

I'll try and keep it short! Appreciate any help or advice anyone can give.

Went to an event at a country house last summer, their car park has about a 30 capacity, due to the busy event, high-vis staff were directing people to park in a big field. ANPR was on the entrance/exit to the grounds, but as the field was next to the event, this was a good 100m from the car park surrounded by trees with the Smart Parking signs in it. I'm sure i'm not the only one that got done that day.

Went through the classic process of being rjected when i appealed with Smart Parking then POPLA, it's literally pointless appealing even with map evidence. I recieved a letter saying to pay £155 within 28 days. However when i've tried to pay the charge on the Smart Parking website OR using their automated phone system, i recieve the same message.

"Your Parking Charge is currently in a state at which we are unable to accept payment. Please contact the Parking Office."

There is no information on HOW to contact the parking office on the website or the automated phone system. The letter i recieved only gives the automated phone number and the website address.

I have emailed info@smartparking.com several times explaining the issue, that i have tried to make payment several times within the 28 day window, but each time i get a standard reply.

** We are currently experiencing a high volume of emails and aim to respond to your query as soon as possible, please note this means that we may be unable to fulfil the time period stipulated below.**

Thank you for your recent communication.

Your query is being looked into and a response will be issued in due course. Please be advised it may take up to 7 days for a response to be issued or longer during busy periods.

If you have submitted an appeal to this email address, please note this will not be responded to. This email address is for general enquiries only. If you wish to submit an appeal, please follow the correct process outlined on your Parking Charge Notice.

Please note, this email is an automatic response, and your query will be responded to directly in due course.


So what now? Even when i'm tring to give them £155 they don't deserve, they won't accept it. I've taken screenshots and video recordings of trying to make payment, i'm at the mercy of if they want to reply to my email or not! Otherwise it's onto deby collectors, who i don't fancy dealing with.

Keep fighting the good fight guys.

Silly question, but why on earth are you trying to pay?

Because i probably didn't word something exactly in the original appeals, and i don't have the time to fight it, so i want it out of the way.

Could i please have some advice on what my next step should be?

The original situation happened late last summer, following the appeal and the POPLA appeal which was decided sometime in january. The first communication i had after the POPLA decision was a the letter mentioned originall, this was dated 23rd Feb.

FINAL REMINDER
AMOUNT OUTSTANDING = £155

WE HAVE PREVIOUSLY WRITTEN TO YOU ABOUT THE UNPAID PARKING CHARGE DETAILED ABOVE. AS NO PAYMENT HAS BEEN RECEIVED WITHIN 28 DAYS OF THE PARKING CHARGE BEING ISSUES, THE CHARGE HAS NOW BEEN ESCALATED.

FAILURE TO PAY WITHIN 28 DAYS OF THIS NOTICE WILL RESULT IN THE PARKING CHARGE BEING PASSED TO A DEBT RECOVERY AGENT AND AT WHICH POINT ADDITIONAL CHARGES COULD BE ADDED AND YOU MAY FACE POTENTIAL LEGAL ACTION


As mentioned above, i tried to pay this charge on the SmartParking website and automated phone service, several times the 14th and 19th March. Each time i was met with "Your Parking Charge is currently in a state at which we are unable to accept payment. Please contact the Parking Office." So i emailed asking why i wasn't able to pay the charge.

Today, still within the 28 day window, i received a reply to my email from Smart Parking.

Thank you for your email.
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.
Please contact them directly if you wish to discuss this further.
Website: http://www.debtrecoveryplus.co.uk/contact-us/  - Phone: 0208 234 6775 or 0141 301 2355

But they didn't accept payment on their own terms? Surely I have some defence on this as i have the evidence that i've tried to make payment several times.

Appreciate the help guys.

Yes - the advice is in Reply #3

The Letter of Claim will say "Letter of Claim" on it, and will be from a law firm representing Smart.