Failed appeal for Smart Parking PCN where ticket had incomplete number plate Options

[FartParking]

Hello, my elderly neighbour asked to help with a PCN he received due to the ticket machine not taking the first four characters of his number plate. This meant he ended up with a ticket showing just the last three characters and they sent a PCN demanding £60 with photos of his car saying there was no ticket matching this plate. He still had the ticket so I went through the appeal process on their website and uploaded a photo of it along with an explanation. They have now sent another letter saying that they will reduce the fine to £20 but that it was his responsibility to ensure the ticket had the correct number on it. I'm not sure whether it is worth risking going through the POPLA appeal process and ending up back at a £60 fine. This is in Scotland by the way.

This is full text from their second letter:

Thank you for your recent communication.

Having considered your appeal in detail we have decided to uphold the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) as we believe that it

was correctly issued in accordance with the terms and conditions advertised within the area concerned. We would like to clarify that the PCN has been issued due to the fact that the incorrect vehicle registration mark (VRM) has been entered when making payment for parking. In instances like this, the BPA Code of Practice stipulates that a reduced amount is offered. Therefore, there is the option to pay the charge at a reduced amount of £20.00 until 08/10/2020. If the reduced fee is not paid by the aforementioned date, the PCN will revert back to the amount outstanding at the point of appeal.

We note the comments in your appeal confirming that when visiting the site in question on the day of contravention, you had made payment for your vehicles stay, however when making payment, the ticket printed out the incorrect Vehicle Registration Mark (VRM) of xxx. We would like to make you aware that the machine would not print out a ticket until the motorist has pressed the green button on the payment machine. It is a motorist's responsibility to ensure that they enter their full correct vehicle registration mark, and then press the green button to confirm what it is that they have entered. Once a motorist has pressed this button, the ticket machine will print out a ticket with the information you have entered.

Please be aware that by entering the incorrect VRM this makes it unable for the payment to be assigned to the correct VRM, which subsequently breaches the advertised Terms and Conditions. As detailed on the car park signage, it is the responsibility of the motorist to enter the full and correct VRM when

using the payment machine, and ensure that a payment is made for the full required stay duration Having checked our system we can confirm that there was no payment made for the correct VRM xxxxxxx for the 56 minutes the vehicle was on site. As a result we can confirm that the PCN was correctly issued and we have no option but to uphold the PCN.

The Terms and Conditions of the car park are clearly advertised around the site and must be adhered to by drivers.

You have now reached the end of our internal appeals procedure and therefore you now have two options, you can pay or appeal further with POPLA - you cannot do both.

The DRIVER has the right of appeal to an Independent Appeals Service, POPLA (Parking on Private Land Appeals) using the POPLA Reference code provided above. Please note, should you decide to appeal to POPLA and your appeal is subsequently rejected, the option to pay a discounted amount will no longer be available and the full amount of the PCN will become due. Please note as the ticket was issued in Scotland only the DRIVER can appeal to

POPLA The verification code you will need in order to appeal is xxxxxxxxxx If the driver decides to appeal to POPLA, they will need to visit the website, www.popla.co.uk where further details of how to appeal (either online or by downloading the relevant forms) can be found. If the driver is unable to access the website, please call us for further information on how to obtain the forms. Please ensure that the POPLA Reference Number as noted above is quoted on all correspondence to POPLA. The driver has 28 days from the date of this letter to submit an appeal to POPLA.

By law we are also required to inform you that Ombudsman Services (www.ombudsman-services.org) provides an alternative dispute resolution service that would be competent to deal with your appeal. However, we have not chosen to participate in their alternative dispute resolution service. As such should you wish to appeal then you must do so to POPLA, as explained above.

If you have any trouble in appealing or cannot access the website please contact us on the number above. Alternatively, your 3 payment options are:

By Post: Please send a cheque or postal order, payable to Smart Parking Ltd to Smart Parking Ltd, Unit 43, Elmdon Trading Estate, Bickenhill Lane, Marston Green, Birmingham B37 7HE.

By Web: To make a payment online with a debit or credit card, please visit www.smartparking.com and have your Parking Charge Notice Number to hand.

By Phone: Pay via our 24 hour automated telephone payment service on 08458054802 Please have your Parking Charge Notice Number to hand.

Yours Sincerely

Smart Parking Limited

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[ostell]

Do they know the identity of the driver? Simple yes or no

There is no keeper liability in Scotland and if they don't know the identity of the driver (and they don't seem to) then they are stuck.

You could ask them why their machine continued to issue a ticket when allegedly a VRM entered did not agree with the known VRMs of the vehicles that had entered the car park.

[FartParking]

The initial letter was addressed to him. I guess because of the appeal process he has admitted it was him as well.

[ostell]

Of course it was addressed to him, he is the registered keeper. They don't have the name and adress of the driver.

Rereading that letter it looks like he did identify himself as the driver. Pay the £20

In future ignore any Letters to Keepers, though this is due to change some time in the future

This post has been edited by ostell: Sat, 26 Sep 2020 - 15:43

[FartParking]

Okay, thanks for the response.

[M267]

I do not understand the suggestion to pay £20.
Their equipment was faulty. The customer paid. why concede ?

[ostell]

Because now they have the drivers details they can now proceed to court and add on extras. Yes, the agreement was breached Unfair I know but probably the easiest and cheapest way out
.
By all means continue to court.

[The Rookie]

Of course this is challangeable in court, however for most people the effort isn't worth £20, and a loss in court would cost a lot more and without other errors I'd give it at best a 67% chance of success.

[Jlc]

I do not understand the suggestion to pay £20.
Their equipment was faulty. The customer paid. why concede ?

The £20 is in line with the BPA's Code of Practice.

They may well show the meter working for other customers around the material time and state the matter is a breach of the contractual terms (to enter the full and correct VRM).

If the meter was truly faulty then he can fight as a matter of principle but he needs to decide whether the effort is worth the potential reward (which is very little).

It's a numbers game. Smart are not particularly litigious but it's guaranteed closure.

This post has been edited by Jlc: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 - 10:25