Smart Parking Fine - Anyone Else?

[Topmark]

Has anyone had any experience of Smart Parking (name of company) fines?

Van was in one of their car parks briefly to deliver - now they're looking £100.

Are they legit - has anyone not paid?

Searched the forum but no threads related to this company.

Thanks!

 

[Boabybooster]

Unless they're council or police, ignore it.

 

[Topmark]

Interestingly, The Belfast Telegraph published this just 7 days ago... Shock £160 Belfast parking fine for being 15 minutes late - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

It seems they pass on unpaid debts to a debt recovery agent.

 

[jimcupra]

Wipe your hole with it that's all it's good for. PEA are still chasing me almost 6 years after I got a ticket. They are bigger cnuts than the parking vultures that legally walk the streets and they are the lowest of the low.

 

[Topmark]

Mmm my worry would be that they'll go after the people I rented the van off and things could escalate from there.

 

[pablo]

Damn that's a balls alright. Last thing you want is those ****ers on your tail

 

[IL]

How long was it after your stay at the car park was it that you received the letter? I think I'm due one.

 

[jimcupra]

The legislation here in the north does not give them the power to enforce it. They know that but will chance their arm. **** them pay nothing they can't make you unlike in England and Wales. Plus the fine is disproportionate to the offence that you supposedly committed.

 

[IL]

The legislation here in the north does not give them the power to enforce it. They know that but will chance their arm. **** them pay nothing they can't make you unlike in England and Wales. Plus the fine is disproportionate to the offence that you supposedly committed.

Bin it then and don't panic?

 

[jimcupra]

Yes use it as a paper aeroplane. The only enforceable fines are from the cnuts in the red coats. Just 1 thing do not enter into any correspondence with them. Ignore them like all parasites they do go away.
I used to work with a cnut who also worked for pea, he regularly boasted how they intimidated people into paying their fines. He knew fine and well they weren't enforceable but they targeted people normally the elderly and women. After issuing tickets on private car parks they would wait to see who came back to the car, then go over and "encourage"them to pay, normally by debit/credit card there and then. They are scumbags the lowest of the, they get an extra £15 if people pay their "fines".

Bin it then and don't panic?

 

[Topmark]

The legislation here in the north does not give them the power to enforce it. They know that but will chance their arm. **** them pay nothing they can't make you unlike in England and Wales. Plus the fine is disproportionate to the offence that you supposedly committed.

This is particularly interesting.

In fairness, technically I was in the wrong, the offence (I can only assume) was due to me not paying. I was delivering from a van to a business just beside the car park.

 

[jimcupra]

Doesn't matter if you were illegally parked they can't enforce it. They will hound you with letters for a while then it will stop. Just don't engage with them at all ignore everything they send. Do some research on it yourself you will find the same as what I have told you. There is a thread on here about boucher road but I can't remember the name of it.

This is particularly interesting.

In fairness, technically I was in the wrong, the offence (I can only assume) was due to me not paying. I was delivering from a van to a business just beside the car park.

 

[pablo]

some annoying letters is a brave difference from debt collectors landing at your door though.

 

[Gaz]

All the relevant info you could need here.

Shane Retail Park (M&S - Fultons etc)

Ignore them and don't even waste a thought on it, let alone panic.

 

[Gaz]

some annoying letters is a brave difference from debt collectors landing at your door though.

They won't though. This has been well covered. I know numerous people who have ignored these fines and have yet to see a single example of a debt collector acting on behalf of one of these parking agencies landing at anyone's door in NI. And even if they did, it would be an exception to the rule for want of a better term.

 

[Coog]

I'm all for ignoring but having a 3rd party rental agency involved might complicate things.

Presumably the rental agency has received the fine. Have they paid it or referred to you? What have they said and what recourse can you expect from them? I imagine they'll just hit your credit card with the fee plus an admin charge?

Get the rental agreement out and have a read.

 

[Broomy]

some annoying letters is a brave difference from debt collectors landing at your door though.

Release the hounds..

 

[Gaz]

I'm all for ignoring but having a 3rd party rental agency involved might complicate things.

Missed that part.

 

[pablo]

They won't though. This has been well covered. I know numerous people who have ignored these fines and have yet to see a single example of a debt collector acting on behalf of one of these parking agencies landing at anyone's door in NI. And even if they did, it would be an exception to the rule for want of a better term.

did Jim not mention he has had ones out to his house hounding him?

 

[jimcupra]

I did indeed but I suspect it might have been pea themselves as a lot of these parking firms use their own "debt collectors". The debt collections are part of the actual company and not a third party. They must have given up I haven't heard anything since, although my bill was hitting £900 with charges lol. Good luck to them getting a penny from me I don't have a pot to p1ss in or a window to throw it out of .

did Jim not mention he has had ones out to his house hounding him?

 

[Topmark]

I'm all for ignoring but having a 3rd party rental agency involved might complicate things.

Presumably the rental agency has received the fine. Have they paid it or referred to you? What have they said and what recourse can you expect from them? I imagine they'll just hit your credit card with the fee plus an admin charge?

Get the rental agreement out and have a read.

All very useful comments - thank you everybody!

Rental company has referred it to me. In NI I believe the driver must be charged and not the keeper. So rental company shouldn't be liable. They will just pass details on, all of which appear on my driving license.

After speaking to a friend, she was chased by bailiffs and contacted daily by letter and phone (at that stage I would be calling harassment). She also tells me that a work colleague ignored PCN's and in the end it negatively effected his credit rating. I've seen this online too in some cases. Something I certainly do not want.

 

[Terry]

She also tells me that a work colleague ignored PCN's and in the end it negatively effected his credit rating. I've seen this online too in some cases. Something I certainly do not want.

I think that is used as a major scare tactic (and appears to have worked in fairness). Especially if they put a statement like "Failure to reply could result in judgement against you and difficulty in obtaining credit in future bla bla"

For that to happen they would have to file an actual claim against you in court whereby you could still pay then chose to pay or defend your case AND THEN you would have to lose in court AND ALSO not pay the judgement within 28 days (if you pay it within the 28 days it's counted as 'settled' and should not appear on your credit file). That's a fair few more steps before it could make its way to your credit file.

It's very unlikely they'd take it to court but at least you know if they did then you'd have an opportunity to intervene at an early stage (as you would be notified).

 

[lee-r33]

ignore it their probably wrong anyway, ive been getting letters etc from them for 4 months saying that i was over the paid ticket time but i still have the ticket and i was 20 mins under the ticket time so clearly their system is wrong.

 

[Dervhead]

If you think it's going to fry your head, or you would worry about it, I would probably just pay it if I was in your shoes. You'll get over that quicker than thinking about it every time they send you a letter.

 

[jimcupra]

I haven't and won't pay them and there is nothing showing up on my credit report. So that in itself is a load of ballix and a scare tactic they use to get you to pay. **** them give them nothing it's not worth their while to pursue you into court. That would cost more than the fine itself, all for a fine that is disproportionate to the offence. You could represent yourself and get off with it, even though they can't take you to court for it in the north of Ireland.