First parking PCN?

Snookums

Snookums

Snookums

Soldato
Joined
27 Mar 2013
Posts
3,864
Location
Nottingham
woke up late for uni today and had an exam so had to drive in and park at uni, parked in the public car park section where its free but students and staff can't park, got a ticket. Not sure how they knew i was a student but oh well.

Any way its with a company called first parking and the payment isn't made through a gov site. Any ideas? This is the first ticket I've ever had. Might just be me being paranoid but there website isn't the greatest so thought I'd see if any of you have ever dealt with them. Just want to know if its legit basically?

I presumed all PCNs were government others wise its privately land and surely you can't be fined?
 
Private parking company advice used to be bin it. Forget

But since parkingeye won their case in supreme Court I'm unsure if that actually changed..
 
The fine States the can contact the DVLA for my details but I'm pretty sure they can't do that.

The main thing that threw me off was the fact it was £75 or £45 is paid within 14 days. But normal fines are £25 if within 14 days. Not really sure what to do. I'll see if anyone else says anything.
 
booyaka said:
Firstly - you parked somewhere where you knew you shouldn't have done - in theory pay up would be the reaction from me

however take a read

http://www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/parking-eye/
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4816822
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I completely understand that and I'm willing to pay. I just want to know if it's dogdey or not really. That and the fact that only two cars had them in the car park yet they have no proof of who is a student and who isn't.
 
Either way I contacted the university to get a direct contact number and it was all okay. turns out if you pay on the day its only £25. Lesson learnt. next time wake on time for an exam instead of rushing.
 
Perhaps they can pull up registered keeper of a vehicle from the plate, and then also see if you're on the student roll. Or they simply have CCTV of you getting out of it :p
 
If i really wanted to dispute it i could have and easily gotten away with it. Simply by showing them I'm a student at a different uni, but that would involve lying and for the sake of £25 not worth it. Also they have no CCTV there :P
 
Unicorn said:
Private parking company advice used to be bin it. Forget

But since parkingeye won there case in supreme Court I'm unsure if that actually changed..
Click to expand...

That maybe true on ParkingEye's part (now owned by crapita) but most of the other scam companies won't go anywhere near a court.

File it away and get on with your life. They'll stop pestering after 1 or 2 reminder letters.
 
I got one overturned recently. I was 10minutes late and didn't know that there was a parking eye camera at the site. Since it was gone midnight I had just assumed no one would be working to check the ticket.
I got a £100 penalty notice, and £60 if paid early.

I did 3 things in this order and they cancelled it.

1- Applied on their website for cancellation due to lost keys/emergency etc.
2- After application was refused I applied to Popla with a copied and pasted essay of stuff i didn't understand (mostly about the fact they don't own the land, signage was to dark etc)
3- Got lucky.
 
Snookums said:
Either way I contacted the university to get a direct contact number and it was all okay. turns out if you pay on the day its only £25. Lesson learnt. next time wake on time for an exam instead of rushing.
Click to expand...

Snookums said:
If i really wanted to dispute it i could have and easily gotten away with it. Simply by showing them I'm a student at a different uni, but that would involve lying and for the sake of £25 not worth it. Also they have no CCTV there :P
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They rely on people just bending over and paying up.

I got one from Euro Car Parks a couple of years ago in the post with picture of my car entering and leaving a car park. Apparently I had overstayed by 10 minutes. They sent 2 "threatening" reminders then they gave up. Never heard anything since.
 
LeeUK said:
They rely on people just bending over and paying up.

I got one from Euro Car Parks a couple of years ago in the post with picture of my car entering and leaving a car park. Apparently I had overstayed by 10 minutes. They sent 2 "threatening" reminders then they gave up. Never heard anything since.
Click to expand...

The legislations changed within the last year or so though.
 
According to First Parking website, they are part of the BPA, which means you can apply to POPLA.
Technically you are not being fined (legally) you are being given an invoice. Which means you can ignore the payment, however it also means they can take you to court for non payment. Cost a lot though, so they use scare tactics to get the money before that.

Easiest way is to apply as I said to POPLA, which ends up costing them money to reply too, and they usually give up.
Just remember that they cannot increase the price of the invoice before a courtdate
 
Ticket on the window or was it ANPR and letter through the post?

Psst go post over at Pepipoo you'll get some useful advice
 
The ParkingEye ruling is also specific and relies on the T&C of that specific case. Basically it large refers to retail premises where you get free parking and liable to excess charges. The argument is that it is a quid pro quo contract you have agreed to as signage was very clear.

If you are getting nothing in return for agreeing to this contract, i.e. you are immediately liable to a large charge just for parking there, it is not reasonable to say that the person parking has agreed to that contract.
 
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