Smart Parking ANPR PCN - Haven Parks Retail *Won at POPLA*

[tim banwell]

For PNC's received through the post [ANPR camera capture]

 

please answer the following questions.

 

1 Date of the infringement 28/10/17

 

2 Date on the NTK [this must have been received within 14 days from the 'offence' date] 22/11/17

 

3 Date received 24/11/17

 

4 Does the NTK mention schedule 4 of The Protections of Freedoms Act 2012? [y/n?] no

 

5 Is there any photographic evidence of the event? yes - car entering and leaving site

 

6 Have you appealed? {y/n?] post up your appeal] yes on keepers liability only being enforceable if issued within 14 days

Have you had a response? [Y/N?] post it up

 

7 Who is the parking company? Smart Parking Ltd

 

8. Where exactly [carpark name and town] Havens Retail Park, Exeter

 

For either option, does it say which appeals body they operate under.#popla

 

There are two official bodies, the BPA and the IAS. If you are unsure,

please check HERE

 

If you have received any other correspondence, please mention it here none

[tim banwell]

another ticket for this car park...[problematic]

 

Visited Exeter to buy car, on the way out of the city dropped into this retail park for a nose about.

Stayed 30 mins

Didn't see any signs, didn't see and pay and display machines.

Did go in one of the shops , nothing apparent regarding validating free parking.

 

 

3 weeks later received a PNC:

 

please answer the following questions.

 

1 Date of the infringement 28/10/17

 

2 Date on the NTK [this must have been received within 14 days from the 'offence' date] 22/11/17

 

3 Date received 24/11/17

 

4 Does the NTK mention schedule 4 of The Protections of Freedoms Act 2012? [y/n?] no

 

5 Is there any photographic evidence of the event? yes - car entering and leaving site

 

6 Have you appealed? {y/n?] post up your appeal] yes on keepers liability only being enforceable if issued within 14 days

Have you had a response? [Y/N?] not yet

 

7 Who is the parking company? Smart Parking Ltd

 

8. Where exactly [carpark name and town] Havens Retail Park, Exeter

 

For either option, does it say which appeals body they operate under.#POPLAicon

 

There are two official bodies, the BPA and the IAS. If you are unsure,

please check HERE

 

If you have received any other correspondence, please mention it here none

[DragonFly1967]

Nothing to worry about on this one.

 

They have 14 days for you to receive the NTK from the day after the parking event. As you received it at 27 days (or 13 days too late) this is a bit of a non starter for them right from the get-go.

 

I'd waste a bit of their time and money though, just for kicks & giggles, and appeal it on some really random grounds... Ie, "the sky was blue that day, so the driver thought it was free parking" (never say who was driving), which obviously they'll reject. But then, they have to issue you with a POPLA code, then you go to town on them with your proper (full) defence.

 

But it wastes their time and money.

 

Even if POPLA find against you (unlikely but not unheard of), they'd just be throwing more money away if they decided to try and take you to court. You have a cast iron defence! They haven't complied with the Protection of Freedoms Act (POFA) and therefore there can be no keeper liability. They can only go after the driver, and as you're not going to name the driver (you have no obligation to do so), all they can chase is their own tails.

[tim banwell]

thanks for this.

 

I like the idea of playing the [EDIT] along and draining their resources.

 

Unfortunately I have already appealed with the "too late" reason.

 

But I will still be interested to see if they ever reply.

[ericsbrother]

I hope your username is a reference to a place rather than your name.

 

When people rely on a lack of keeper liability they have to be careful about things like this as some parking co's try and tie an event and a posting together with their target.

 

However, smart parking really arent and have taken a few hits recently so they appear to be easing up on the court front thanks to their lawyers costing them money on wild goose chases.

 

Now, there are other postings on this place so keep an eye on them as well,

 

they give a pretty good idea about the state of the signage and how poor it all is.

[tim banwell]

thanks for the heads up.

 

Banwell is a lovely village in Somerset.

[ericsbrother]

I dont actually have a brother called Eric it is a name given to me by my schoolfriends trying to guess my middle name and then deciding if it wasnt Eric then he must be my brother

[tim banwell]

I have received another letter considering my appeal from Smart,

they obviously believe the grounds of the appeal aren't correct.

 

Would like to honour the discount period etc,

feels like a standard letter as it mention

"comments which led to the contravention" from my appeal but i didn't include any.

 

they also mention laughably that the T&Cs are "clearly advertised around the site", judging by my experience and the other threads this isn't true.

 

Tells me I can lodge an appeal with POPLA, is this worthwhile?

 

Interesting it doesn't include any information regarding how I will be punished if I don't pay....

 

I presume that I just have to ignore and expect more spurious correspondenced in the future?

 

cheers Tim

[honeybee13]

Yep, ignore unless they start talking about a court claim, or if you get anything from a real court. I think you've got the measure of these people.

 

HB

[tim banwell]

thanks for the confirmation.

[silverfox1961]

Hi,

You know it, Smart Parking know it and POPLA certainly know that this is out of time. All members of the BPA are expected to follow the guidance AND POFA 2012.

 

POPLA have slipped slightly into IPC territory and refusing appeals that ought to be a slam dunk. You could appeal to POPLA and hope they uphold your appeal or just ignore Smart Parking altogether. The chances of this going anywhere near a court are slim but (not so) smart parking play the numbers game by threatening court action. Most people cave in at that point but if you were to do some basic checks you will find that of the 275,000+ tickets issued, only 18 cases were taken to court. No idea how many were won or lost as those figures are not available.

 

My opinion? Ignore then ignore some more. The only time to act is if court papers hit the mat.

[tim banwell]

done a POPLA appeal just to try and move things on.

 

But I love the odds of 275K to 18 cases.

 

I am willing to go to court anyway and pay if I lose but I am not willing to make it an easy ride for such cowboys.

 

cheers Tim

[tim banwell]

Hi

Just had a message from POPLA - and my appeal has been upheld. See below. Just going to chase Smart for a written confirmation as I could see them still pursuing their claim against me.

 

cheers

 

Tim

 

"Thank you for submitting your parking charge Appeal to POPLA.

 

An Appeal has been opened with the reference 8513547156.

 

Smart Parking have told us they do not wish to contest the Appeal. This means that your Appeal is successful and you do not need to pay the parking charge.

 

Yours sincerely

 

POPLA Team

 

ET6116/001"

[silverfox1961]

Well done. While I would have ignored them, you took them on and won. Smart Parking tried it on in the hope you wouldn't notice that the NTK was out of time. The blinked first!

 

I will edit the thread accordingly.

[tim banwell]

i was in the right, took two minutes on this forum to work that out.

 

I will hope to post Smart's confirmation on here when I get it.

 

thanks for everyone's help

[DragonFly1967]

To be honest, I doubt you'll get anything out of Daft Parking. And honestly, I'd leave them to it. If they did make the mistake of trying to take this same case forward to court, you'd be able to buy a holiday on what they'll have to pay you in damages