First Parking – Should I Pay or Appeal?

Have you received a private parking fine from First Parking and don’t know whether to pay or challenge it?

You’re not alone. Every month, over 130,000 people visit our website seeking advice on fines and parking tickets.

In this article, we’ll provide simple and useful information on:

•  Who First Parking are.
•  Whether you need to pay First Parking fines.
•  How to appeal a First Parking fine.
•  What could happen if you don’t pay First Parking.
•  How to beat First Parking fines.

Which? found that even though 78% of its members consider private parking fines unfair, many don’t contest them due to low confidence in appeal success.¹

Don’t worry, we’re here to guide you. Whether you want to know more about First Parking, or how to handle their fines, stay with us.

Should you accept or challenge it?

The decision to pay or appeal should be based on individual circumstances. There’s no blanket answer for everyone. I

f you do pay, make sure to take advantage of the discounted rate by paying early.

Who are They?

First Parking is a car park management company that helps private businesses to operate their car parks and identify parking abuse.

They offer a range of technologies to help drivers pay for parking at the car parks they manage, and they use special cameras to spot when people don’t park or overstay.

First Parking has a number of clients, many of which come from the higher education sector.

They manage the car parks of colleges and universities across the UK. They’re also known to manage car parks for the NHS and some property management businesses. 

» TAKE ACTION NOW: Get legal support from JustAnswer

What happens if you don’t pay?

When you don’t pay a First Parking PCN you will receive further letters and payment requests. They may even add fees to the total owed. 

First Parking could send you a Letter Before Action, which is a letter that asks you to cough up or expect legal action against you.

They may employ a debt collection agency to do this on their behalf. Legal threats aren’t always real, but it’s best to assume they are.

If you want to 100% avoid being taken to court over the matter, it’s best to pay the parking fine.

If you lose in court you could have to face enforcement agents (bailiffs) and they add even more fees to a growing debt. 

Do you have to pay a fine?

If you’re guilty of a parking contravention in a car park managed by First Parking they have the right to issue you a Parking Charge Notice.

Whether you do or don’t pay is slightly more complicated.

Parking Charge Notices aren’t considered to be real parking fines. Real parking fines are only issued by local authorities and they’re called Penalty Charge Notices.

It’s not a coincidence that private firms have made their parking tickets sound like real parking fines – and with the same PCN abbreviation. 

The document you’ve received from First Parking is actually considered an invoice for a service provided.

The invoice amount is higher than the service fee (paying for parking) would have been if you’d paid the right amount while in the car park, as per the terms and conditions you agree to by entering the car park. 

Invoices should be paid when due, but you’re technically not forced to pay them until a judge orders you to pay. This is why so many online forums tell people not to pay Parking Charge Notices.

They’ll tell you to sit tight and hope it goes away.

This is a possibility and some people do get away without paying. But you might experience something different when you don’t pay…

Challenge your PCN instead

You can appeal a First Parking PCN within 28 days of the ticket being issued.

You should not pay before appealing because it would make the appeal invalid. Your appeal must be in writing as directed by the parking ticket instructions, and it should include the reason why you want the ticket cancelled. 

Appeal Process Steps

I’ve put together this table to help you better understand the appeal process. If you want to learn more about the steps you should take, please read our detailed guide.

Process:	Steps you should take:
When you receive the ticket…	You should gather as much evidence as you can to support your appeal claim and prove that the ticket was unfairly issued.
If you were given the ticket in person/attached to your car…	You must make an informal appeal (sent to the local authority/council that issued the PCN) within 14 days. This should be a letter with the evidence proving why the ticket was incorrectly given.
If it was posted to you…	You will be given 21 days to submit an informal appeal (from the day you received the letter). Your informal appeal should be a letter with the evidence proving why the ticket was incorrectly given.
If the informal appeal is rejected…	You will receive a Notice to Owner and will have 28 days to respond to this with a formal appeal. You can conduct the formal appeal online or via paper form. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal can send you one of these forms.
If the formal appeal is rejected…	You will receive a Notice of Rejection. From here, you are free to challenge the council’s verdict at an independent tribunal.
If the independent tribunal disagrees with your appeal…	You should pay the ticket within 28 days of the tribunal rejecting your appeal. If you don’t, the fine will be increased by 50%. If you don’t have the money to pay the fine, you should contact Citizens Advice or another debt charity.

Remember that in order to improve your chances of getting the PCN cancelled, you’ll need to support any statement you make with evidence.

For example, if you were broken down and waiting for a mechanic, you could show the invoice from the mechanic. 

Read the best excuses to get you out of a PCN at MoneyNerd. 

It was rejected – now what?

If your appeal is rejected you have the right to take the appeal further. You can usually ask POPLA to look at the appeal one last time and make a final decision.

This service is free of charge. 

References

1. Which? – The rise of private parking fines