First Parking Appeal Guidance – Don’t Pay Just Yet

Have you received a parking fine from First Parking? Each month, we offer guidance to over 32,000 people who are worried about tickets and fines. This article is here to help you understand and deal with your First Parking ticket.

In this easy guide, you’ll learn:

• What First Parking LLP is.
• About First Parking parking charge notices (PCNs).
• If these parking tickets can be enforced.
• How to appeal against your ticket.
• What happens next after your appeal.

Our team has guided several people in similar situations as yours, so we know how worrying it can be to get a parking fine. But you can rest easy now; we’re here to help you make sense of your First Parking fine.

Let’s dive in.

Are Parking Charge Notices enforceable?

You can be forced to pay a Parking Charge Notice if the car parking company takes court action. But before court action occurs, these parking tickets are considered equal to invoices. 

This can be a little difficult to wrap your head around, which is why I cover this topic in more detail here. 

A private parking ticket isn’t as easily enforceable as a council parking ticket, otherwise called a Penalty Charge Notice. 

In fact, a Parking Charge Notice is purposefully named similar to Penalty Charge Notice to confuse people and make them think that private parking tickets are just as easily enforceable. 

How to avoid paying First Parking LLP parking tickets

If you want to avoid paying a First Parking LLP parking ticket then you’ll need an airtight appeal.

The best way to perfect your appeal is getting a little advice from a Solicitor. I’d 100% recommend spending a fiver to get a trial of JustAnswer.

You can explain your situation in their chat and they’ll connect you with a Solicitor who can advise you and give you the best chance to win your appeal.

Click here to get the trial offer with JustAnswer.

So, can I ignore a First Parking PCN?

Ignoring a First Parking PCN probably isn’t a good idea. 

They can get debt collection groups involved and the debt can grow bigger. Or they could take legal action in the County Court to recover the money, which might even escalate to bailiffs.

Do I have to pay First Parking?

You might have to pay First Parking, but before you do, you need to know your options and how you might be able to get out of the parking ticket altogether. 

If you accept full responsibility and believe you will have to pay eventually then it can be worth paying within 14 days. You should be offered a 50% discount on the parking ticket if you pay within the first two weeks. 

But you need to know about the appeal process first…

First Parking appeal process

If you disagree that you should have been issued a PCN, you can make an appeal. The appeals process begins with a direct appeal to First Parking, which can be submitted online. Never try to submit an appeal over the phone or by email as the appeal won’t be accepted. 

You must state the reason you want to appeal, and it’s best to strengthen your arguments with evidence, such as photos, videos or witness statements. 

What are some good PCN appeal excuses?

One of my personal favourite excuses to fight a PCN is the five-minute rule. 

This is a little-known rule that parking companies cannot give you a ticket if you overstay by five minutes or less, as long as you’ve exited the car park by this time and not just got to your car. 

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What happens if your First Parking appeal gets rejected?

Don’t be too disheartened if your appeal gets rejected. Lots of people have experienced this and it doesn’t have to be the end of the road. Here is one example:

Source: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5872401/first-parking-pcn 

You’ll notice the forum user refers to “POPLA”, which is something I’ll be explaining shortly. 

If your first appeal gets rejected by First Plus, you have two options:

1. Pay the parking ticket. You may still be offered to pay the reduced fine if you lodged your appeal within the first 14 days. But if you made your appeal after 14 days, you will probably have to pay the full PCN amount.

2. Escalate your appeal to an independent appeal panel at POPLA. Your rejection letter must tell you how to do this.

How to pay a First Parking PCN

If you decide an appeal isn’t the best option for you or if your POPLA appeal gets rejected, you will have to pay your First Parking PCN. This can be done in different ways, including:

1. Pay online with a bank card using the website’s payment portal
2. Pay by calling the payment hotline on 0200 333 1995
3. Pay by cheque to First Parking LLP (using the address below)

First Parking contact number

You can contact First Parking using the contact details in the table below: