First Parking LLP - how litigious/aggressive?

artyboy

Morning all - have got a PCN from these guys... before I get into the fray here (I am keeper but wasn't driving so need to establish a few facts) - can anyone share a view on how aggressive or litigious they are, as I've not come across them before?

thanks
Arty

Gr1pr

You are best to assume that all parking companies may try civil court, regardless of previous activity or not 

They all chance an arm these days, but for a new PCN, court is a long way off, they have 6 years to sue in court 

artyboy

Thanks, that would be my baseline expectation as well, I'm just aware in the past that there were some PPCs that were known never to try court, whereas others would do so routinely. If that's changed then so be it...

Gr1pr

It got worse after the Beavis case 9 years ago and even worse since COVID hit because less people were out and about, so they looked in the archives for outstanding PCN invoices and handed thousands of them to the typical lawyer firms like DCB legal and Gladstone's, hence the court system now being log jammed with claims 

I don't believe that the word NEVER is one to use these days 

Coupon-mad

Correct.  But Link Parking are currently not sen as very litigious and will more likely send DRA threatograms then a Gladstones LBC. Not necessarily a court claim.

Gr1pr

Sorry to say, but it's First Parking 

Coupon-mad

Haha, that'll teach me to multitask!

The same is true of F1rst Parking who normally operate at Universities.  If the driver was at the Uni for a valid reason then Plan A (see NEWBIES thread) should work.

If not, claims from them are very rare.

artyboy

Coupon-mad said:

Haha, that'll teach me to multitask!

The same is true of F1rst Parking who normally operate at Universities.  If the driver was at the Uni for a valid reason then Plan A (see NEWBIES thread) should work.

If not, claims from them are very rare.

Thanks... 'accidentally' parked in a staff only section of the car park. One for me to work on, fortunately not my first rodeo. 

Kids eh...

Coupon-mad

I'd ignore it.  Completely.  Tell them if you move house and come back here if a claim ever arrives.

artyboy

Coupon-mad said:

I'd ignore it.  Completely.  Tell them if you move house and come back here if a claim ever arrives.

Thanks @Coupon-mad - that was my thought too... and then a couple more dropped through the door, and a discussion with the driver uncovered some 'confusion' over the process of paying. So realistically I'm expecting a few more as well.

Anecdotally at least, PPCs seem more likely to chance their arm at court if there's a bigger payday on offer. Happily, their NTKs (ANPR, no windscreen ticket) are getting issued about 23 days after the event. The NTK even helpfully lists the Event and Issued dates next to each other. So in theory that's a clear POPLA win (yes, BPA members) assuming POPLA hasn't totally gone the way of IAS.

So with that in mind, would you still ignore, or go through the process to try and kill it off earlier? Luckily I have the time, and I like a good argument (Jeez, your appeal template is a bit punchy isn't it?! I know they are rejected as a matter of course, but still )

Gr1pr

Personally, I would definitely use POFA arguments and appeal as keeper if I was the keeper and definitely not the driver , especially if the claimant has failed POFA, which many private parking companies do even after almost 12 years of law

My view is to kill it off early at POPLA for any BPA AOS member that fails on POFA in their NTK letters 

I appreciate that other views are available on here, so in my opinion, appeal the easy wins and kill off early, ditto with plan A wherever possible 


With an IPC AOS member I am of the view of one appeal to the parking company plus plan A, no further contact until LBC and court 

So that is setting out my stall, with no disrespect to the very experienced people on here, the regulars.  I have helped family and friends with these matters, plus forum members, on the same basis , especially if its whackamole

But its your choice to make, yours alone