F1rst Parking University PCNs at tedious threatogram stage

troublecreator

Title: Need urgent help - Parking PCN already at debt recovery stage

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some urgent advice regarding two parking charge notices that have now escalated to debt recovery.

The situation is as follows:

I had a university parking permit which I believed was valid for 12 months. However, the university policy states that all permits expire at the end of the academic year on 30 September. I was not aware of this, so I unknowingly received two parking charge notices.

I initially appealed both charges with the parking company and also escalated the case to POPLA, but both appeals were rejected. At the same time, I raised a complaint with the university, which I continued until 31 March this year.

After that, I withdrew my complaint and intended to pay the charges. However, when I tried to pay on the First Parking website, I was unable to complete the payment. I also did not receive any email or letter explaining how to make payment, despite checking my mailbox.

Now I have received debt recovery letters, and the total amount has increased to around £290 for both PCNs. The debt collection company has given me 14 days to pay, but that deadline has now passed.

I’m unsure what my options are at this stage. Is there anything I can still do, or is it too late to resolve this?

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Thank you.

Gr1pr

Ignore them, see post 4 in the newbies sticky thread in announcements near the top of the forum

Debt collectors letters have no powers, irrelevant, definitely not urgent

Resolution may come in the future, but currently there is nothing else to do apart from trying to get the university to cancel them both

troublecreator

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81979231#Comment_81979231

Thanks for help！Unfortunately, the university is not willing to help me cancel the tickets — they are treating it as a third-party parking issue and have essentially distanced themselves from it. The parking company is also saying they cannot assist further.

I also received the following response from First Parking:

“Please contact POPLA directly regarding any correspondence related to your appeal.

The Parking Charge Notice can be paid via the First Parking website within 28 days of POPLA rejecting the appeal. After this period has passed, the option to make payment on our website will no longer be available.”

Gr1pr

Then ignore them !

Come back to this thread if you receive an LBC or a Money Claim

troublecreator

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81979251#Comment_81979251

thanks！I will do that.

Coupon-mad

You don't need urgent help. Have you now read and looked at the pictures in post 4 of the NEWBIES thread?

Next time do NOT try POPLA. That was a hopeless waste of your time as it isn't independent of the industry.

Please edit your thread title when you get forumite status, to:

F1rst Parking University PCNs at tedious threatogram stage

troublecreator

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81979363#Comment_81979363

Thanks for your reply. I will also update my thread title as suggested once I have forumite status. Thanks again for your reply.

troublecreator

Sorry！I just realized that since I only discovered this forum last week, I didn’t know that I should have appealed as the vehicle keeper. Therefore, First Parking now knows that I was the driver. Does this reduce my chances of success if the case goes to court? If so, what would the worst-case scenario be? Would it simply be paying around £290 in total (the original charge was £75, which increased to £145 per ticket after debt collection fees), plus any court fees, to the parking company and the debt collector?

Coupon-mad

Doesn't make any difference. Relax!

F1rst Parking rarely litigate but the worst case scenario (if you were among the 1% who manage to lose at a hearing v a Parking firm) for two £75 PCNs is that a judge would allow those plus court & hearing fees and £70 legal fees. About £300 in total.

That's because the added £70 per PCN is false - double recovery - and judges are unlikely to grant interest either.

troublecreator

Hi, just wanted to share my situation in case anyone has come across something similar.

I’ve ended up with two PCNs from a university car park and I’m trying to work out where I stand. For the first one, it relates to a permit issue. The parking policy I was given says the permit is for a “full year (12 months)”, but in the same document it also says all annual permits expire on 30th September 2025. I took that to mean I had 12 months from when I bought it, so at the time of the PCN I genuinely believed my permit was still valid and that I hadn’t done anything wrong.

The second PCN is a bit different. This was on a Sunday evening, and there’s no clear pricing displayed at the car park itself – you have to go into the RingGo app to see any charges. Because I previously had a permit, I wasn’t in the habit of checking daily tariffs. When I looked at RingGo, it showed my session ending at 18:00, which I understood to mean that parking after that time was free or no further payment was needed.

I appealed both PCNs but they were rejected, including POPLA. After that, I didn’t receive any further letters or emails telling me to pay. First Parking have said that because payment can be made within 28 days on their website, they don’t send any additional reminders. The next thing I heard was from a debt collector, which was the first time I realised it had escalated. I’ve also been told there were two PCNs issued, but I only ever received one, and when I asked for proof of postage for the other one I didn’t get a response.

At the moment I’m just waiting to see if they take this any further, but I’m unsure how strong my position is given the contradictory permit terms, the lack of clear signage/pricing, and the fact I didn’t receive any follow-up correspondence before it went to debt collection.

Coupon-mad

I’m unsure how strong my position is, given

1. the contradictory permit terms

2. the lack of clear signage/pricing, and

3. the fact I didn’t receive any follow-up correspondence before it went to debt collection

1. Ambiguous terms MUST be interpreted in the way that most favours the consumer
2. Lack of clear pricing is illegal; both 1 and 2 breach the CRA 2015.
3. Not really important.

Relax!