F1rst Parking - County court legal action letter of claim

privatepcnguy

Hi all,
There have been >2 < 12 PCN (Don’t want to admit exactly how many just in case they are reading this) all from F1rst Parking. The car at the time was owned by someone else and not the driver and so all of letters have been in their name.

Just received all of the PCNs in one letter with each having the title
“County court legal action letter of claim”
F1rst parking are demanding on average £100-150 per PCN at this point and have included a deadline of 30 days with a form to disclose finances.

None of the PCNs have been appealed or replied to before and assume that it is too late to do so. All of the PCNs were done at a university over a span of around 6 months with the last being around two years ago. The driver at the time was not the person who is getting these letters.

The person receiving the letters are freaking out thinking that it is going to affect their credit rating.

What are the next steps?

Coupon-mad

How many PCNs?

How much is the letter before claim for, in total?

Please don't use the term 'next steps' which some of us hate. A real bugbear of a childish phrase for some of us here...!

Ask instead what you need to know that's not already covered in post #2 of the NEWBIES thread (the bit about what to do with a LBC) that your question suggests you have not read yet.

privatepcnguy

Coupon-mad wrote: »

How many PCNs?

How much is the letter before claim for, in total?

Please don't use the term 'next steps' which some of us hate. A real bugbear of a childish phrase for some of us here...!

Ask instead what you need to know that's not already covered in post #2 of the NEWBIES thread (the bit about what to do with a LBC) that your question suggests you have not read yet.

Wouldn't disclosing the amount of PCNs enable the company to identify? But 7 in total. With all of the letters combined around £700

I have read the other posts but I am not clear as to which step this is at? I am assuming this is a Letter Before County Court Claim (LBCCC)? Also not sure if this can be reset to the first stage as the driver at the time was not the person receiving the letters?

Coupon-mad

Does the keeper really want to name the driver? Is the driver a more robust person to defend this or does the keeper have more life experience?

I'm thinking if one of my lovely student sons was at that Uni and got PCNs for a car for which I was the keeper, it would undoubtedly be better for the family and chances of success, if it was me to defend the case, not my son.

Also, a while back I know F1rst didn't use the right POFA words in their NTKs letters and thus, a keeper could not be held liable (at that time).

You are going to have to compare your PCNs to 8(2)f of the POFA, which I link for people who need to 'dig deeper' in the first post of the NEWBIES thread.

Think hard about this and look at whether all the NTKs were compliant and whether the keeper really wants to shift liability to the student, given that the driver has a lesser defence than a keeper does if the NTKs are not POFA worded.

privatepcnguy

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Does the keeper really want to name the driver? Is the driver a more robust person to defend this or does the keeper have more life experience?

I'm thinking if one of my lively sons was at that Uni and got PCns for a car for which I was the keeper, it would undoubtedly be better for the family and chances of success, if it was me to defend the case, not my son.

Also, a while back I know F1rst didn't use the right POFA words in their NTKs letters and thus, a keeper could not be held liable (at that time).

You are going to have to compare your PCNs to 8(2)f of the POFA, which I link for people who need to 'dig deeper' in the first post of the NEWBIES thread.

Think hard about this and look at whether all the NTKs were compliant and whether the keeper really wants to shift liability to the student, given that the driver has a lesser defence than a keeper does if the NTKs are not POFA worded.

I checked the NTKs and they have the following Paragraph which I guess is compliant:
If you are unable to provide the drivers name and valid address and the amount remains outstanding after 28 days, the creditor has the right to recover unpaid parking charges from the registered keeper as described under schedule 4 of the protections of freedoms act in 2012.

At this point will it harm or improve the future outcome if the driver is named?

Also I made a mistake which probably doesn't make a difference - there are in total 5 pcn, 4 being in the keepers name, one in the drivers name (because the driver appealed right at the start for that one but got rejected)

KeithP

privatepcnguy wrote: »

I checked the NTKs and they have the following Paragraph which I guess is compliant:
If you are unable to provide the drivers name and valid address and the amount remains outstanding after 28 days, the creditor has the right to recover unpaid parking charges from the registered keeper as described under schedule 4 of the protections of freedoms act in 2012.

And my guess is that you haven't checked whether it is compliant or not.

There is a link to Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act in post #1 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread - but you already know that, Coupon-mad told you that.

Please do check your NTKs against that definitive document.

privatepcnguy

KeithP wrote: »

And my guess is that you haven't checked whether it is compliant or not.

There is a link to Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act in post #1 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread - but you already know that, Coupon-mad told you that.

Please do check your NTKs against that definitive document.

HI Keith,

I have checked and compared the PCNs to 8(2)f of the POFA as coupon-mad said, and it seems to be compliant. I posted the paragraph here as reference to the part that is compliant to that section. If you mean to check the NTK to the rest of the POFA and not specifically 8(2)f then I'll also do that over the weekend.

Coupon-mad

That paragraph (did you quote it word for word?) is not what the POFA 8(2)f says.

privatepcnguy

Coupon-mad wrote: »

That paragraph (did you quote it word for word?) is not what the POFA 8(2)f says.

It is quoted word for word. I think I understand, is it that they are not specifically saying what is said in 8(2)(f) ii:

"the creditor does not know both the name of the driver and a current address for service for the driver"
and although similar, it is not what is required?

If so, what can be done with this information? as for the moment (as I understand it) you cannot appeal, so this point would be included in the defense which would be the next stage when a claim is sent?

I will send a SAR request to : sales@firstparking.co.uk as this is the only email stated in their privacy policy (I thought it would be a Data Protection Officer but none is listed).

The_Deep

They are obviously trying to scam you so complain to your MP.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, and persistent offenders denied access. Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers.

Until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.

privatepcnguy

The_Deep wrote: »

They are obviously trying to scam you so complain to your MP.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, and persistent offenders denied access. Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers.

Until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.


Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.

How are they trying to scam me? So for the moment I should just complain to my MP as well as sending a SAR ? or just complain to my MP for now?

Sorry for the multiple questions, I have read the newbies thread but just want to make sure I am doing everything right as I dont want to miss any deadlines

I appreciate it :beer: