It’s been a few years since I first posted about my run in with Smart Parking in Northern Ireland. Since then, it has been one of the most popular posts on this site. Every day, someone searches on Google about what to do when they are hit with a fine.
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Let’s dig a little deeper…
The main two companies operating these systems are Smart Parking and Civil Enforcement, both of which are based in England and as such have no jurisdiction here as NI operates under different legislation. This information is from Derrynow.com where they have spoken to one person who was affected by the fines. Also, parking fines issued on private land are not actually ‘fines’, as private parking companies have no right to fine people, however they can issue ‘Parking Charge Notices’, which are invoices for breaches of their parking contract (from Belfast Telegraph). So, there are a lot of people who have taken issue with this parking company, but they still continue to operate. All you need to do is look at the comments on my last post to see that people are not happy.
What is surprising is that they only operate on private land, not council land. This directly affects business owners and people who want to spend their hard earned cash. Most people don’t mind paying for parking, it’s just one of those things. What people are taking issue with is getting letters in the post for money when they believe they have paid for parking or followed the instructions to ensure that they don’t get a notice in the post.
Business owners are not happy
It has gotten to the point where people see the Smart Parking signs at car parks (or they check the list that I have on my last post) and decide not to shop there. I’ve had business owners reach out and share their disgust at having these companies fine their customers. The business owners don’t want them, so why are they there? The simple fact is the land owner, not the business owner, is choosing to allow this company to enforce parking rules.
The DVLA are handing over our details
From their own website– These can include release to the police or a local authority to investigate a criminal offence or a non-criminal parking offence. Can DVLA release information to private companies or individuals? Yes. The law allows us to release information to those who can prove they have reasonable cause to have it. But if Smart Parking has no jurisdiction here, how can the DVLA justify handing over our details? I reached out to DVLA for comment but they have not replied to my email. I also reached out to the local political parties to get their take on this. All four of the major parties here did not reply to my request for information. This includes, DUP, SDLP, Sinn Fein, and Alliance.
The battle rages on…..
From the looks of things, most people don’t want this company here (including business owners) and the government is being very quiet on the issue. I’m not sure what the next steps are to tackle this. And until we work out how to legally get this company to stop the predatory charging, we will have to keep spreading the word on how to get charges reversed.
Let me know in the comments if you have any legal ideas on how to stop this company.