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Smart Parking - Refusal to consider appeal

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  • Smart Parking - Refusal to consider appeal

    Last year my husband purchased a car for my stepson. My husband is the Registered Keeper on the V5, but the owner and driver of the vehicle is my stepson. The vehicle is kept at my stepson's address - my husband insures the vehicle as a secondary driver in order to ensure that the vehicle is insured as my stepson is not the most responsible parent.

    On 25 February 2017, my stepson (allegedly parked on the Waterworld, Stoke on Trent car park and either overstayed or did not purchase a ticket). I am not sure which applies as we never received a parking notice (ANPR site).

    The first we knew of an offence was at the end of April when we received a letter "Notice of intended court action - unpaid parking charge £160) from DRP dated 20/04/17. This gave the date of the offence as 25/02/17, the vehicle registration, Location and the reason as "overstayed paid time" - so I assume a ticket was actually purchased.

    This was then followed by a "Final chance to pay" - same details provided dated 30/05/17 and an "Offer to pay by installments" dated 05/05/17.

    Then they changed tack and the debt company changed to Zenith - two letters so far, 19/06/17 (contact us now) and 03/07/17, (final warning of legal action with a deadline of 17/07/17).

    Doubting the validity of the charge notice I made a trip to Waterworld. I did not pull onto the car park, instead I parked in the driveway of a vacant business premises as the entire length of the road leading to and from Waterworld is under double yellows. I walked back to inspect the signage. At the entrance to Waterworld are two eye level bright yellow signs belonging, not to Smart Parking, but to UKPS North West Limited.

    We have not made any contact with DRP aka Zenith, but did write to Smart parking stating that my husband had not received a parking notice, and also requesting a copy of the original PCN with photographic evidence showing dates and times and also the proof that a ticket either was or was not purchased at the time. From what I know of other APNR sites that we have used, you have to enter your vehicle registration into a machine to buy a ticket. We also stated that he was not the driver and that had we been given the opportunity to do so we would have disclosed who was driving (no disclosure was made) and that as he had not received a PCN or been given an opportunity to dispute/challenge the charge that he felt that his rights under SOPA had not been adhered to and requested cancellation of the charge or a POPLA number. We have already obtained confirmation from DVLA that an electronic request for Keeper Details was made by Smart Parking on 28/02/17 citing "Breach of T&C's of a private car park"

    Today we received a response from Smart Parking citing paragraph 22.7 of the BPA code of practice and stating that "all appeals must be submitted to us within 28 days of the Notice to Keeper being issued. Due to the length of time your PCN has been open, we have now referred this to a debt recovery (Debt Recovery Plus) who are handling the matter on our behalf. Please contact them directly if you wish to discuss this matter further"

    At no time have we appealed the PCN, we have challenged it which in my world is asking for a reconsideration an is one step below an appeal. However that said, we would rather see them in court than acknowledge and pay a fine that is not our liability.

    To date Smart Parking have:

    1. Not sent us a PCN
    2. Not supplied the Photographic proof of the offence that was requested.
    3. Processed my husband's data without our knowledge or consent by passing it to a 3rd party Debt recovery company (? Contravention of DPA 1998 ?) and...
    4. I assume by their response to our request are saying "we have no intention of giving you your statutory rights or a POPLA number either"

    I am sorry for the length of this post but would appreciate any advice you can offer on where to go from here
    Tags: None

  • #2
    Re: Smart Parking - Refusal to consider appeal

    Hi

    DRP & Z are safe to ignore. They're the oily rags.
    & imho, without ANPR evidence, LessthanSmart are not going to go anywhere with this.
    CAVEAT LECTOR

    This is only my opinion - "Opinions are made to be changed --or how is truth to be got at?" (Byron)

    You and I do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.
    Cohen, Herb


    There is danger when a man throws his tongue into high gear before he
    gets his brain a-going.
    Phelps, C. C.


    "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance!"
    The last words of John Sedgwick

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Smart Parking - Refusal to consider appeal

      Thank you Charity

      I was just wondering. My husband never received a PCN or a Notice to Keeper. We did request that they provide us with this and the photographic evidence. As Smart are the company who supposedly manage this site, although the signage at the entrance lead you to believe otherwise, are they under any obligation to provide it on request or would we have to wait until this goes court - assuming they ever prosecute?

      I would be really interested to see this as I don't believe this company actually works within the POFA regs

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Smart Parking - Refusal to consider appeal

        Do not name the driver, not wise. Your husband has not received within 14 days the Notice to Keeper which would have allowed Smart to claim the parking charge from him whether he was driving or not. So a letter to Smart (who can be quite smart and give up when firmly challenged).

        Letter from the registered keeper stating that they were not the driver at the time of the incident but they cannot possibly invoke keeper liability as there has been no notice to keeper received within the required time frame of 14 days (or indeed at all) the keeper cannot be held liable for the charge because of this failure by Smart. As there is not any liability it is distressing that you are continuing to be harassed by their debt collector agents and you demand that your personal details are now removed from their records with immediate effect, and similarly their agents. You are to be notified that this has been done within 21 days as required under section 10 of the DPA

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Smart Parking - Refusal to consider appeal

          Just an update really.

          I sent a Cease and Desist letter after my Denial of Liability, quoting Section 10 of DPA and advising that if they failed to remove and stop processing my data, I would seek redress under Section 13 of DPA.

          Some moron in their offices sent me another letter advising me to contact Debt Recovery Plus Ltd and make payment. Nuts........

          Today we received the next installment - letter from Gladstones dated 25/07 and rcvd today 05/08 giving us 14 days to pay - an exact copy of another received and posted here recently.

          I have today written back to Gladstones informing them that Parking Eye -v- Beavis does not apply in this instance and advising them of what information was received and what was subsequently requested (PCN with photographic proofs) and their client's response. SFA

          They have also been asked to inform their clients that will be held jointly and severally liable for harrassing my husband and that they have 3 alternatives.

          1. Cancel the PCN
          2. Give us our appeal rights or
          3. Take us to court.

          They have 14 days to comply

          I have also informed them that I intend to obtain via FOI, a copy of Smart Parking's KADOE contract, file a formal complaint against Smart Parking with DVLA and also the ICO.

          By the way Smart's Data Processing record is due for renewal. It will be interesting to see if it gets amended and made more in line with ANPR recording.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Smart Parking - Refusal to consider appeal

            Today we received the next installment - letter from Gladstones dated 25/07 and rcvd today 05/08 giving us 14 days to pay - an exact copy of another received and posted here recently.
            & in the body of the letter, who do you contact to make a payment?
            Wouldn't be DRP by any chance?
            CAVEAT LECTOR

            This is only my opinion - "Opinions are made to be changed --or how is truth to be got at?" (Byron)

            You and I do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.
            Cohen, Herb


            There is danger when a man throws his tongue into high gear before he
            gets his brain a-going.
            Phelps, C. C.


            "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance!"
            The last words of John Sedgwick

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Smart Parking - Refusal to consider appeal

              Yes - DRP. And.... Postal address, none other than High Leigh Golf Club. My word they must do a lot of business at the nineteenth hole��

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Smart Parking - Refusal to consider appeal

                How old is the stepson?
                CAVEAT LECTOR

                This is only my opinion - "Opinions are made to be changed --or how is truth to be got at?" (Byron)

                You and I do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.
                Cohen, Herb


                There is danger when a man throws his tongue into high gear before he
                gets his brain a-going.
                Phelps, C. C.


                "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance!"
                The last words of John Sedgwick

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Smart Parking - Refusal to consider appeal

                  He is in his 30's but a very irresponsible 30's which is why my husband got him the car and insured it for him to run around in (3rd party) while his car was off the road.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Smart Parking - Refusal to consider appeal

                    Well, it would appear that Smart aren't very litigious, but I wouldn't like to give any false expectations, particularly if Gladstones are involved (though it would appear only indirectly at the mo).
                    http://www.bmpa.eu/companydata/Smart_Parking.html
                    CAVEAT LECTOR

                    This is only my opinion - "Opinions are made to be changed --or how is truth to be got at?" (Byron)

                    You and I do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.
                    Cohen, Herb


                    There is danger when a man throws his tongue into high gear before he
                    gets his brain a-going.
                    Phelps, C. C.


                    "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance!"
                    The last words of John Sedgwick

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Smart Parking - Refusal to consider appeal

                      Thanks Charity.

                      http://www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/gladstones-solicitors/

                      I have every intention of standing my ground on this. We have not as yet received a notice of intention to file a CC Claim, but if it goes that far will defend in court, especially as we have never received a PCN and Smart have ignored my requests to them to provide the evidence in question.

                      The original DRP invoice states "overstayed paid time" which considering it was Waterworld - I can only assume my stepson must have bought a ticket as I believe you have to purchase time and input your vehicle reg. Ticket price is £3.50 which according to their website entitles you to up to 8 hours use of their car park and facilities.

                      The parking signage at the entrance to Waterworld also does not belong to Smart - it belongs to UKPS North West. I have yet to go in on foot and photograph the signage in the car park but will do so as Smart appear to operate on throughout the entire site.

                      Also denying us the right to appeal without ever providing us with the information or giving us appeal rights in the first place is a No No.....

                      Sorry - don't mean to vent....... this last letter kind of pushed my buttons. At the moment I am gathering as much information/ammunition just in case........

                      Thanks for the advice given so far and your support

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Smart Parking - Refusal to consider appeal

                        No probs with venting (Good job you can't hear what I often say about these parking co's and their legal reps, lol!).

                        Yes, very important to get pictures of site signage.
                        When you do, could you post some pictures on your thread please?

                        Btw, the info on the link is a bit out of date.
                        One of those directors has recently resigned from United Trade, the other has resigned from Gladstones.
                        I wouldn't mind betting that they both still have significant interests in both companies though.
                        CAVEAT LECTOR

                        This is only my opinion - "Opinions are made to be changed --or how is truth to be got at?" (Byron)

                        You and I do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.
                        Cohen, Herb


                        There is danger when a man throws his tongue into high gear before he
                        gets his brain a-going.
                        Phelps, C. C.


                        "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance!"
                        The last words of John Sedgwick

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Smart Parking - Refusal to consider appeal

                          Sure thing. Need to find somewhere to park first so that I don't get ANPR'd as I don't intend to add to their ill gotten gains if I can help it.

                          Letter done for Waterworld requiring confirmation of who operates car parking and whether the contract requires the operator to operate within the BPA code of practice. I might just SAR Smart Parking as well.

                          All I can say is my job is easy compared to yours Charity - at least I don't have to beat my head against a brick wall of lies from these cretins on a daily basis. I think it would drive me crackers

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Smart Parking - Refusal to consider appeal

                            So the parking signs, as you recollect, say one company and yet you have another company invoicing you and threatening to take you to court. This is a no no.

                            What is the company number on the Smart letters? Get the full details on those signs.

                            Edit: Go down with someone else (your stepson?) and he stays outside on the main road, driving around if necessary, and you walk down the drive to the car park and take pictures of the signs etc.

                            GSV doesn't go down into the car park
                            Last edited by ostell; 6th August 2017, 12:48:PM.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Smart Parking - Refusal to consider appeal

                              Lol!

                              It's folks like ostell, mystery1, Parking Prankster & all the people on forums like Pepipoo, MSE, BMPA, fb groups & the like that should be commended.

                              I do think there are justifications for parking management.
                              But unfortunately there is currently so much at stake financially that many of these companies seriously take the mickey.
                              CAVEAT LECTOR

                              This is only my opinion - "Opinions are made to be changed --or how is truth to be got at?" (Byron)

                              You and I do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.
                              Cohen, Herb


                              There is danger when a man throws his tongue into high gear before he
                              gets his brain a-going.
                              Phelps, C. C.


                              "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance!"
                              The last words of John Sedgwick

                              Comment

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