How Can I Challenge A Smart Parking Ltd PCN?

This blog serves to answer the question “How Can I Challenge A Smart Parking Ltd PCN?” It is better to write down your Smart Parking PCN challenge in a word processing software first and then transfer the text on the online formal representation form or on paper, to refine your message and to properly match your evidence material with the grounds for your appeal. The blog contains the 12 lower level parking contravention codes enforced in Smart Parking Ltds car parks.

How Can I Challenge A Smart Parking Ltd PCN?

You need to approach a Smart Parking Ltd PCN challenge by considering the parking contravention code you have been charged with, for instance the contravention code is 95 , parked in a parking space for another purpose than that designated. Here you must show that your vehicle was actually parked for the correct purpose and you had intended to park in the specific parking zone run by Smart Parking Ltd. This can be done by using photographs from the traffic violation scene or video evidence which clearly explains that you planned to visit and park in the specific parking zone.

Similarly parking code 86 not parked correctly within the limits of a parking bay or space also needs you to to show how your vehicle was parked with its tyres at least half within the markings of the zone, which can only be done by using video footage of the scene. So by visually showing Smart Parking Ltd how you did not breach the contravention code, you make a strong appeals case to get your PCN cancelled. 

This evidence basically serves to disprove the evidence provided by Smart Parking Ltd while handing you your PCN, which shows that the traffic contravention took place inside its car park. If Smart Parking Ltd refuses the evidence and sends you a Notice of Rejection, this Notice can be challenged with the Parking on Private Land Appeals service.

In many cases, PCNs are not enforceable and you may be able to win your case and avoid having to pay your fine.

You could begin the process by speaking to an online solicitor for as little as £5. 

What is the procedure for appealing against a Smart Parking PCN?

You can submit a formal representation to your Smart Parking PCN by writing a letter addressed to Smart Parking Ltd or by filling in the online formal representation form on the Smart Parking Ltd website..

You need to brainstorm reasons to challenge a Smart Parking PCN from the day of your parking violation incident and list them down in word processing software or on paper. It is essential to have some authentic evidence to attach with your Parking PCN appeal in the form of video footage of your actions inside the car park or videos of you parking your vehicle within the marking of your parking space. You can make sure to record these each time you visit a Smart Parking Ltd Car Park to have some evidence for challenging a future PCN. You need to save scanned copies of your medical certificates explaining your mitigating circumstances, or scanned copies of your pay and display tickets used at Smart Parking Car Parks. 

The evidence must be matched with the grounds for your appeal before describing the incident from your point of view. Your rough formal representation can be edited for clarity multiple times before it is ready to attach to your online appeal to Smart Parking Ltd. You need to visit the Smart Parking Ltd website to submit a formal representation to your PCN. On this webpage, you have to enter your PCN Number, Vehicle Registration Number and click on “Submit” to fill in the online PCN challenge form.

It is essential to upload authentic evidence material with your Smart Parking PCN challenge to describe your mitigating circumstances to Smart Parking Ltd and for explaining your point of view of the events which took place at the traffic violation scene..The text of your appeal must state the relevant contravention code on your PCN and explain how you attempted to avoid the error (supported by photos or video footage).

Once you have proofread your appeal to eliminate any reasons for your challenge which might convey a disregard for traffic contravention codes enforced in Smart Parking Ltd Car Parks (by mixing up the parking contraventions) or reasons which involve forgetfulness to justify your actions, you can submit your PCN challenge.

Another way to send in your Smart Parking PCN challenge is by mail. You can write down a formal representation on the Notice to Owner document and attach evidence documents or photographs to the form using a stapler or paper clip. Your letter should mention your Smart Parking PCN number, date of issue of the PCN, your vehicle registration number, and personal details. 

Your PCN appeals form and all accompanying evidence documents (enclosed in an envelope) need to be sent to:

Smart Parking Ltd,

United 43,

Elmdon Trading Estate,

Bickenhill Lane,

Marston Green,

Birmingham,

B37 7HE

Smart Parking Ltd will respond to your Parking PCN appeal and your PCN will be cancelled or you will be sent a Notice of Rejection or Representations, which needs to be received promptly in order to contest the notice with the Parking on Private Land Appeals service.

What is a Penalty Charge Notice?

A Penalty Charge Notice is a monetary penalty issued to drivers or motorists for committing certain traffic contraventions including violating Parking, Bus Lane, and Moving Traffic restrictions. A PCN is issued for failing to follow Parking zone, bus lane enforcement, and moving traffic restrictions mentioned in the Road Traffic Act 1984 and the Traffic Management Act 2004.

A penalty charge notice can be handed to you by a Civil Enforcement Officer or dispatched to your (DVLA) residential address by post. Traffic contraventions are observed by CCTV cameras and Civil Enforcement Officers before a violation is detected and the vehicle is charged with a PCN.

A PCN might also be issued for failing to pay road charges on time. You have 28 days to decide how and if you would like to challenge your Penalty Charge Notice. After 28 days if you have neither paid nor challenged your PCN, your unpaid PCN amount will be registered as debt at the Traffic Enforcement Centre at the Northampton County Court.

What is Smart Parking Ltd?

Smart Parking provides a combination of the best hardware systems including ANPR camera technology, vehicle detection sensors and “Pay and Walk machines”. Smart Parking can employ its mobile patrols for surveillance of parking zones as well as for deterring antisocial behaviour. Smart Parking Ltd operates in Germany and the Asia Pacific besides its car parks managed in the UK.

Which parking contravention codes are enforced in Smart Parking Ltd car parks?

The following parking contravention codes are enforced in Smart Parking Ltd car parks:

• Contravention Code 71 parked within an electric vehicle’s charging space without being charged (in restricted hours)

• Contravention Code 73 parked without paying the required parking charge.  (with a 10-minute observation time)

• Contravention Code 80 parked in a parking space for a duration longer than that allowed by the car park.  (with a 10-minute observation time)

• Contravention Code 82 parked after the expiry of the time limit mentioned on the parking permit or pay and display ticket (with a 10-minute observation time)

• Contravention code 83. Parked in a Smart Parking Ltd car park without clearly showing the parking permit or pay and display ticket on its windscreen  (with a 10-minute observation time)

• Contravention code 84. Parked in a Smart Parking Ltd car park with payment made to extend(parking) beyond the original time limit first paid for. You can only buy parking for your vehicle once when you bring your vehicle to the Smart Parking car park and this amount (time duration) should be enough for your visit.

• Contravention code 86. A vehicle that is shown not to be clearly parked within its designated parking space.

• Contravention code 90. A vehicle that has been reparked within the same car park within one hour of leaving the zone

• Contravention code 93. A vehicle has been left parked inside a car park, while the Smart Parking Ltd car park was closed.

• Contravention code 94. A vehicle that has been left parked inside a pay-and-display car park without properly displaying 2 pay and display tickets where required.

• Contravention code 95. A vehicle that has been left parked within a Smart Parking Ltd car park for a different purpose than that which the parking lot is meant for.

• Contravention code 96. A vehicle that has been left parked in a Smart Parking Ltd car park with its engine on (where prohibited)

How Can I Pay My Smart Parking PCN?

You should be aware of the fact that you can only pay your Smart Parking PCN fine online. The PCN fine can be paid online on the Smart Parking official website. This payment method saves time and is also more precise as your details are entered directly into an electronic database.

If you were looking for a postal order payment option or a choice for paying your PCN fine via an automated payments hotline, you might be disappointed to learn that these options are unavailable for your Smart Parking PCN.

You need to enter your Parking Charge Notice Number and Vehicle Registration Number after opening this webpage to initiate the PCN fine payment online. After clicking “Search” you will be shown your Penalty Charge Notice information and in the next window, you can enter your payment card details. You must remember to wait for 24 hours after your PCN is issued before attempting to pay it.

Smart Parking Ltd accepts Visa Card, Master Card and Maestro card for PCN fine payments.

What happens if I don’t pay my Smart Parking PCN within 28 days?

You should not consider a private car park PCN any less than a regular PCN issued by your local council. The higher level parking contravention codes enforced by Smart Parking Ltd make you legally bound to respect them while using the company’s parking zones.

If you neither pay your Smart Parking PCN within 28 days nor decide to appeal against it, you will be sent a letter from the car park company to pay your PCN in full within 14 days. If you donot pay the PCN within the next 14 days, your (nonpayment) case will be passed on to enforcement agents or bailiffs. Your actions will also result in the filing of a court order (for recovery of debts) against you by Smart Parking Ltd.

Your unpaid Parking PCN amount will be treated as a debt with the Traffic Enforcement Centre at the Northampton County Court.

The court order for debt recovery enforces that the charge certificate amount must be paid in full within 21 days the county court will have to use additional powers to recover the money from your possession which means employing Enforcement Agents, to (contact you or) visit your personal premises.

Can I dispute my Notice of Rejection with POPLA if Smart Parking Ltd dismisses my appeal?

You can dispute your Notice of Rejection of Representations from Smart Parking Ltd with the Parking on Private Land Appeals service (POPLA). Your challenge can be sent in 2 different ways, the first method is to download the POPLA Appeals Form, print it out and send it to the Parking On Private Land Appeals service postal address:

POPLA,

PO Box 1270,

Warrington,

WA4 9RL

The letter must mention the 10 digit reference number contained in your Notice of Rejection from Smart Parking Ltd. You need to remember that the appeal to POPLA is just like a regular Parking PCN challenge. You can upload evidence such as video clips of your traffic violation scenes (taken from inside your vehicle), medical certificates from a certified General Practitioner, and scanned copies of “pay and display” tickets.

The evidence is necessary to convince the Parking on Private Land Appeals service that you did not breach the relevant Parking contravention code. You should preferably memorise all these codes before using Smart Parking Ltds car parks, so that you know how to challenge a PCN and can do your best to avoid getting one.

If you have mentioned mitigating circumstances in your POPLA appeal, you must be able to explain the cause and effect relationship between the condition which led you to commit the traffic violation (such as leaving your vehicle parked for an extended period of time owing to a medical emergency). The evidence material to be sent with your written representation needs to be a document or photographs from the scene of the incident. You can convert a video clip into photographs by using a video player or video editing software by simply taking snapshots of the relevant frames showing your claim.

A first class mail letter takes between 1 to 2 days to reach POPLA and second class mail takes between 3 to 5 days. So you need to send in your challenge by the 20th day at the latest for it to be considered side by side with the Smart Parking Ltd legal proposition.

You also need to remember that you must submit a challenge to your Notice of Rejection from Smart Parking Ltd to POPLA within 28 days of receiving your Notice of Rejection.

How can I submit my challenge to the Notice of Rejection of Representations from Smart Parking Ltd by using the online form?

In order to submit your challenge to the Notice of Rejection of Representations from Smart Parking Ltd online, you need to visit the POPLA website. On this page you need to first agree to the terms and tick each one off and enter your 10 digit verification number stated on the Notice of Rejection from Smart Parking Ltd. You need to click on “I Confirm that the operator is correct” and click on “Start Appeal” after that. On the next page you will be asked for your Smart Parking PCN Number, Vehicle Registration Number, the reasons for your challenge and the evidence material to support your case (which can be uploaded onto the POPLA system).

Here you can easily attach evidence material such as video clips and scanned copies of your medical certificates (for supporting your mitigating circumstances) through your computer. It is also an advantage to be able to first edit the text of your formal representation in a word processing software and then transfer it onto the online appeals form on the POPLA website. A better worded parking contravention challenge which mentions the legal technicalities stated in the Road Traffic Act 1988 or the Traffic Management Act 2004 regarding your parking contravention code to put forward your challenge will be considered as a strong formal representation.

The evidence attached with your challenge should also be correctly matched with the grounds of your appeal and not seem out of place. The document or video clip needs to clearly prove your mitigating circumstances or show that the traffic contravention didn’t occur, and convince POPLA to accept your evidence over that provided by Smart Parking Ltd.

Once POPLA is satisfied that the Smart Parking Ltd case has been refuted outright by your representation of the matter, the adjudicant (or assessor) of your case will probably make the final decision in your case.

This decision will be sent to both you and to Smart Parking Ltd via email simultaneously. If the decision by POPLA is made in your favour the Smart Parking PCN will immediately be cancelled.

If your appeal is rejected by Parking on Private Land Appeals service, you will have to pay the fine within the next 28 days to avoid your case being taken to the debt collection stage by Smart Parking Ltd.

At POPLA “assessors” or adjudicators of your case will make their final decision based on :

• The act of legislation your case (traffic contravention) refers to such as the Traffic Management Act 2004

• The Code of Practice used by The British Parking Association

• The articles of evidence put forward by Smart Parking Ltd and you which are representing opposing viewpoints of the situation.

Conclusion

This blog post addressed the question “How Can I Challenge A Smart Parking Ltd PCN?” You can challenge a Smart Parking PCN easily if you collect evidence from your stays inside its car parks on a regular basis, these articles of evidence can include video clips of the duration your vehicle remains within the car park or your used pay and display tickets. There are just 12 parking contravention codes enforced by Smart Parking Ltd and all  you need to do is to ensure that you are mindful of these each time you use their car parks so that you are not handed a PCN which cannot be successfully challenged.