Need advice on £3,050 of private parking charges (18 tickets)

troubledcat

Hello everyone,

I’ve read the Newbie FAQ thread—noted to post on-topic, avoid personal data, and keep tone respectful—so I’m hoping to get some guidance on a worrying situation with private parking notices at my rental in Swindon.

Here are the facts:

• I moved in mid-December to a property with an allocated parking space (clearly numbered to match my flat). My tenancy says nothing about needing a permit or mentioning private parking enforcement.

• I failed to update my DVLA address, so the first three tickets (for December dates) were sent to my old address. I only received a final warning in March.

• Upon receipt, I panicked and:

  1. Immediately contacted the parking company and got a permit sticker.

  2. Entered a payment plan and paid £740 for those three tickets.

• In April, more tickets arrived—for February and March—some even twice on the same day and others across consecutive days.

• As of June, there are now 18 tickets total (Dec–Apr), amounting to £3,050. Many notices were sent to the wrong address, and I never saw them until much later.

I’m really worried about:

1. If this goes to court, what are my strongest defences?

2. Can I rely on the fact that the tenancy agreement gives me the space—with no mention of permits or third-party enforcement?

3. Does the misaddressed notices help me argue they were improperly served?

4. Does the large amount (£3,000+) increase the risk of court action?

Gr1pr

With those types of complicated legal questions,  plus the large amount of pcn invoices,  you should seek assistance from a legally trained person,  such as Jackson Yamba or contestor legal,  or possibly Bargepole with his bespoke service , or possibly troublemaker22   ?

You definitely should not be dealing with this as an untrained Litigant in Person 

kryten3000

Agreed.  Contestor Legal should be able to help you here AND get your money back for the charges you've paid already.  Primacy of contract applies.

Car1980

You need to get hold of the lease first.

Ask the landlord or another owner-occupier.

That will reveal whether the flat owner (and his tenants) have rights over the space and the parking company has any rights or not. 

troubledcat

Thank you—that’s really reassuring to hear. I’ll reach out to Contestor Legal and explore that option. If there’s a chance to recover what I’ve already paid and assert primacy of contract, it’s definitely worth pursuing. I really appreciate your support and guidance. Just wondering—does anyone have an idea of how much this might typically cost if I were to engage them? I understand they may offer fixed-fee or no-win-no-fee arrangements, but I'd really appreciate a rough idea of what to expect before reaching out @Gr1pr

Umkomaas

troubledcat said:

Thank you—that’s really reassuring to hear. I’ll reach out to Contestor Legal and explore that option. If there’s a chance to recover what I’ve already paid and assert primacy of contract, it’s definitely worth pursuing. I really appreciate your support and guidance.

Good move, I'm sure Contestor and JY will look after things for you. Please do keep us updated. 

Out of interest, which parking firm are you dealing with? Some have 'skeletons in their cupboard' about which we may be able to offer specific advice to you. 

troubledcat

Umkomaas said:

troubledcat said:

Thank you—that’s really reassuring to hear. I’ll reach out to Contestor Legal and explore that option. If there’s a chance to recover what I’ve already paid and assert primacy of contract, it’s definitely worth pursuing. I really appreciate your support and guidance.

Good move, I'm sure Contestor and JY will look after things for you. Please do keep us updated. 

Out of interest, which parking firm are you dealing with? Some have 'skeletons in their cupboard' about which we may be able to offer specific advice to you. 

The parking company involved is NPC (National Parking Control), and the letters and demands are coming from DCBL. If there’s anything specific to be aware of about NPC, I’d be grateful for any insight! 

ChirpyChicken

This case will go to a hearing 100%

Umkomaas

National Parking Control often use 24/7 CCTV surveillance cameras (different to 24/7 ANPR cameras).  There are rules that need to be followed with CCTV. Is it via CCTV they have captured your car's movements?

troubledcat

Umkomaas said:

National Parking Control often use 24/7 CCTV surveillance cameras (different to 24/7 ANPR cameras).  There are rules that need to be followed with CCTV. Is it via CCTV they have captured your car's movements?

Thanks for pointing that out. In my case, the car has been parked and on SORN—it hasn’t moved in over six months. So there wouldn’t have been any movement for CCTV or ANPR to pick up. If they’ve issued tickets using CCTV, I’d be very interested to know how that applies when the vehicle hasn’t been in use at all.

Umkomaas

How have they photographed your car. Is it at the same angle, is it from the same height - suggesting CCTV?  Or does it look like a handheld device used by a wandering PPC snoop?