Free Traffic Legal Advice

You can contest anything you want.

Doesn't mean you will win.

Millions of private tickets are issued annually. Most (rightly or wrongly) are paid.

Many thousands of people are routinely sued. Some companies are more aggressive than others.

If your friend puts it into practice sooner or later it will end badly.

I could probably park in many places where you're not supposed to or without paying and I could use my knowledge of the system to get out of virtually any council PCN.

Would it ever be worth the hassle? No, not in a million years.

I'd agree with this for private PCNs too. The plethora of private parking companies operate with varying degrees of competence - there are some that if I received a charge from them, I'd be confident I could get it cancelled, even if I was "bang to rights" in terms of breaching the terms and conditions. Others do operate in a more by the book manner, and absent an obvious defence would be much more difficult to challenge.

But even with the companies I'd be confident in successfully challenging, I'd never deliberately acquire a Private Parking Charge, as the hassle isn't worth it. All it takes is for the initial notice to go missing in the post (a look through here and PePiPoo will vouch for how often that can happen) and then you end up dragged into going to court over what would have been a £2 pay and display ticket.

It's also worth bearing in mind that the reason these companies exist, and are hired by landowners, is because people mis-use their car parks. Deliberately doing so if anything encourages their spread.

The service the NHS uses is also poor in this respect.

My local health service uses a system that occasionally sends out an appointment letter after both (1) the appointment date has passed and (2) a wagging finger letter pointing out that the appointment has been missed has been sent.

It's also worth bearing in mind that the reason these companies exist, and are hired by landowners, is because people mis-use their car parks. Deliberately doing so if anything encourages their spread.

I think that's a point that's lost among some standing up for their perceived right to park their car on anyone's property, whenever they feel like it. Take for example a local garden centre located close to the railway station. Their carpark was routinely filled with cars left all day by people commuting into thr city. Engaging PPC caused the staff a lot of grief initially, but that settled down after a while, and it's made a big difference to the use of their car park.