PCN issued by F1rst, then letters from DRP

John_plumbing77

Hi,

I have received a PCN from F1rst Parking LLP (£25.00 fine) a few months ago and due to some address changes I was unfortunately not able to see the letters until very recently (when they have already forwarded the case to DRP). The last stage was a letter from DRP advising that I should pay the sum of £130.00 (discounted from £160.00) and that otherwise they would summon me to court.

Now, the PCN, to begin with, was issued due to me parking on a private parking at the university (where I was a student at the time) without paying for a ticket of showing a valid Parking Permit. The problem is that I actually had a Parking Permit (valid for 12 months and only halfway through its validity at the time of the PCN), however, due to changing my car was showing the registration number of my previous vehicle. Reason for this is that it takes the University 3 days to issue a new permit and so I had to leave the old one on for those 3 days. The University was aware of this and they didn't seem too bothered.

Upon receiving the letters, I thought I could just call DRP and let them know that I can provide evidence for both my parking permit and the fact that the university were aware that I have used the old one for 2 days. They didn't really care and just pressured me to pay the big fine (£130.00) to which I have said that I'd rather go to court and show the evidence to a judge rather than paying the exorbitant amount, considering that I have already paid for a valid Parking Permit and was allowed to park on the premises. They just said that they will advise their customer to take me to court since I am liable to pay regardless of the situation and hung up.

Could you please advise me on what to do next? The deadline for the last letter (the one for £130.00) is 19th of August. Should I just pay this, or should I press to go to court and prove my innocence? Also, would you consider it necessarily to contact a solicitor to represent me?

Many thanks,
John

Redx

IGNORE drp , like post #4 of the NEWBIES sticky thread tells you

and read this , which explains it https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5035663

it would cost hundreds of pounds to employ a solicitor to rpresent you , more than the cost if you lost , and you cannot claim their expenses if you won

so no , no solicitor

and there is no fine , as a private company cannot "fine2 you

there is an invoice , thats all it is

a landowner cancellation is the best option, despite what they said