From reading the many topics on here, it appears that those PPC's who do actually progress to court via debt collection agency or solicitor are those who have a few unpaid tickets outstanding. It makes it a reasonable course of action and the quoting of quite large sums to a "debtor" is pretty frightening and may just get a result immediately before court.
While it's not too often most folk get a ticket, they can tend to build up unnoticed and then POW..... you're hit with a County Court action.
That's not to say it'll get a result in court but it's something most people would rather do without.
Funny thing is that this one has dropped onto the forum after I replied to this topic. Maybe not a serial ticket collector but it shows the problem.
I know the figures though, I see them rolled out almost daily on various new topics, but there's still some chance of stopping it in its tracks berore then.
I always prefer to write a letter, not an appeal as such, asking for full breakdown of costs to the landlord, the PPC's right to offer parking facilities etc.
Of course they never reply and treat the correspondence as an appeal anyway. But, the big thing is that if court action was ever undertaken you can say that you gave them ample opportunity to PROVE the debt.
In the meantime though easiest way out, hassle free except for a stream of letters from all and sundry, is to ignore.