Rafal Goral, a 45-year-old refinery worker from Chelmsford, has won a three-year dispute with parking firm Smart Parking Limited over a £100 fine, using ChatGPT to help formulate his legal responses.
Goral was issued the fine in August 2023 after parking at Tower Road car park in Newquay, Cornwall. He arrived at around 10:12am and joined a queue at the pay-and-display machine. When he reached the front, the machine accepted only cash payments. He downloaded the RingGo app instead, set up an account, and paid. The company issued a penalty charge notice dated 25 August, citing insufficient time paid, claiming he had paid 16 minutes after entering the car park.
He appealed in September 2023 but heard nothing until January 2024, when a debt collection company contacted him demanding £170. Goral says he was sent threatening letters about potential court action. After four months of back-and-forth contact with debt collectors, the case was placed on hold. He heard nothing for a year and a half until November 2025, when a second debt collection company contacted him. Smart Parking Limited allegedly offered to settle for £60, which Goral refused. By this point, the fine had risen to around £300.
On 25 September, weeks before a scheduled October 2026 court date, Smart Parking Limited emailed to say the case and fine had been dropped.
Goral said he used ChatGPT to analyse every letter and email he received and to formulate replies. He uploaded documents to the AI tool asking what he should say in response and claims it helped prepare his court defence. He also contacted Citizens Advice but found the AI tool more useful.
"From start to finish I was asking ChatGPT every time I got a letter what to do," Goral told Sell Us Your Story. "I did it all with the help of AI."
He added: "If you know you are right then you shouldn't be paying any money to them. This is kind of a David and Goliath battle."
Smart Parking Limited did not respond to a request for comment.