Is My Parking Charge Just?

[Essaitch57]

I was recently in Skegness and parked my car in a Smart Parking car park, where I purchased a ticket for two hours and keyed my registration number into the parking machine. On leaving, before the two hours had elapsed I noticed I had added a couple of digits to my reg number so it was not correct, however you would know that I had paid for a ticket? I have now been served with a parking charge for £60 because of the added digits, they are saying a payment cannot be made to their VRM because of the discrepancy. Anyone know where I stand with this, as it seems very steep to pay a fine of £30 each for two additional digits?

[Flonska]

If you still have the ticket and this is the Company concerned . . .

Smart Parking Limited
Unit 43, Elmdon Trading Estate
Bickenhill Lane
Birmingham
B37 7HE

T: [phone]
(Calls are charged at the local rate dependent on your carrier).

Parking Charge Enquiries: [email protected]

Why not get in touch with them?

[Peter Pedant]

yes or no appeal
appeal I mean
I coughed up for going down a buslane and I should have appealed on the frounds that it was not clearly signed BEFORE I turned in

You should say it is clear that you intended to pay and paid
and that therefore a penalty is disproportionate

also I appealed a tkt for obscuring the day but not the year of my blue card - successful

that was the disproportion argument

I also wrote a very strong letter saying how much of a waste of everyones time such a system was. And muhdarm ( the chmn ) chirped ooh no it is meant to work like that !

huh

[fiction-factory]

This must happen quite a bit. Maybe they couldn't or just didn't bother to try to match up their numberplate footage to the reg nos on the ticket machine records. A quick call or email with a copy of your ticket might well get the matter cleared up there and then.

[andy-hughes]

It may feel unfair, but in terms of the law, yes it is just.

I would certainly appeal it though - you have nothing to lose.

[Hymie]

Money saving expert has some good advise on this subject:-

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/private-parking-tickets/

If I were you, I’d be willing to take the matter all the way to a court.
I believe that they would loose such a case – since they could not show that they had suffered a loss due to you entering extra digits on your ticket (after all, you paid for your parking).
Of course they could argue that you had not complied with their rules (entering the correct reg), but it is not like you have entered some random car reg which is nowhere like that on the car parked.

[Peter Pedant]

// It may feel unfair, but in terms of the law, yes it is just. //

rubbish - it feels unfair because it is unfair ( ergo is not just)
You intended to pay and did pay - the paperwork is wrong

clearly from an equitable point of view - you paid - go for it and explain to them why - but dont forget the proportionality bit
I was amazed that my appeal succeeded on that

remember that this is an open forum
so you will get a spectrum of opinions including those which are just plain stupid

[Peter Pedant]

// Of course they could argue that you had not complied with their rules //
that is where their crippy proportionality argument looks in

also stress the lack of loss bit -0 they got their money but didnt allocate it

[bednobs]

but they didnt get their money - the op says the payment couldn't be made

[Flonska]

From the post, that appears to be unclear.

[Mamyalynne]

I post this only as a comparison, a very similar situation (different company) and the Ombudsman dismissed the appeal, Charge was dropped eventually.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3779661/Pensioner-fined-100-mistyped-number-plate-car-park-payment-machine-two-digits-wasn-t-wearing-glasses.html


I do think you should make inroads with the company all the same, let us know how you get on.

[fiction-factory]

It seems the parking company has got the money- they just haven't been able to match it up to a car reg number because that is how their systems work (don't work) so perhaps the money is in a suspense account and they can't use the money.
By the way, Maybe you were joking, essaitch, with the £30 a digit figure but I'm pretty sure it would have been £60 in total however many digits were added in error, so I wouldn't mention that £30 figure in your query

[HansUrbancka]

Ignore the invoice from Smart Parking and ignore any letters from Debt Collection Agencies. There is nothing Smart Parking firm can do without taking you to the Small Claims Court and the same applies to Debt Collection Agencies.

Perhaps there is an AB who is able to put a finger on a recent case reported in the columns of Answerbank involving a lady who was being pursued by, I think it was Excel Parking. The matter went to Court and the Judge threw out the case.

Private Parking Companies are often operating illegally and put 'frighteners' on motorists. It is possible that Smart Parking is such a firm which has been the subject of numerous complaints. :-

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/jul/10/smart-parking-driver-complaints-fines-car-parks

Hans.

[Peter Pedant]

oh, to be clear if you ARE gonna appeal

writing to the address you have been given above for smart will not do an awful lot - they may even not reply - but it will NOT be counted as an appeal and the documentation will NOT be passed onto the appeal office....I imagine they will laugh and throw it in the bin saying another sucker

you have to read the tkt which will specify what to do
you will have to wait until the full nick becomes payable (!) and then appeal
The appeal letter has to be to the right office ( see ticket and above) and you have to repeat everything you have previously rather pointlessly said to any other official
I think you have to label it "representations to the appeal panel" or some such crip
it will all be somewhere on the ticket in small writing

and when you win
writing and telling the full bottomed (fat overpaid) officials what a waster of money it all is, will elicit a triumphant - "oh no it isnt for us! it is meant to be like that"

[BagPussAA]

As much as I would love to say listen to Hans and ignore any fine that comes through your door... please don't. Smart Parking will take you to court and they will win if you don't contest it and they will send High Court Enforcement agents to your house to collect the debt or remove goods. There are a growing number of these private parking services operating in the country but most of them are legitimate companies. My advice is to appeal the PCN and enclose a copy of your ticket clearly showing your registration number being typed incorrectly. If necessary, you can go all the way to court and plead your case. Chances are it will be upheld and you will not have to pay. The worst thing you can do, is ignore it.