Private parking firms to be forced to play fair: is this the end of rip-off tickets?

Drivers are set to get new rights, meaning guaranteed time to find a parking space, time to leave after paying and limits to fines issued by private parking firms

After almost 17 million private parking tickets were issued last year, new rights are about to be handed to drivers to protect them against unfair fines. These include guaranteed time to find a space and powers to appeal and challenge judgements under the new Private Parking Code of Practice.

This also guarantees fines will be written off if you’ve made a simple mistake, like hitting the wrong key when entering your number plate or if the machines were broken and you couldn’t pay.

But consumer groups are arguing the new rules don’t go far enough, and will need to be strengthened soon.

This is how it all works:

In this article

1 What is the Private Parking Code of Practice?

2 What new rights do drivers get?

3 Your new rights to appeal

4 When carparks are banned from charging

5 When car parks have to cancel a fine on appeal

6 When your fine has to be reduced on appeal

7 What more should be done?

What is the Private Parking Code of Practice?

The number of private parking tickets is rocketing in the UK, with 16.9 million issued last year — 2.5 million more issued compared to the year before. But there are remarkably few rules in place around them.

Last week the Government stepped in to address some of this – putting the Private Parking Code of Practice before Parliament on 20 October.

This limits fines, offers guarantees of how long you have to find a space or leave after paying and introduces a fully independent Scrutiny and Oversight Board.

Operators who flaunt the rules will lose access to the DVLA database, making it almost impossible to issue fines to drivers.

The code will apply in England, Scotland and Wales. 

MPs have a bit of time to look into the new Code before ministers bring it into force – but the Government said it aims to make it law “as soon as possible”.

What new rights do drivers get?

Under the new rules, drivers get a guaranteed five minutes to decide whether to park or not and 10 minutes to leave once their session ends and they’ve paid.

The new code freezes the maximum parking charge at £100.

Drivers also get new rights to challenge unfair private parking charges and guarantees that charges will be cancelled or cut to £20 for simple mistakes or issues they can’t control.

Your new rights to appeal

There are new rules for private parking firms over how they have to handle complaints and appeals.

The first is that parking operators will be forced to publish their complaints policy on their websites – including any action you can take if you’re not happy with their decisions.

They also have to publish where you need to send complaints to on signs and on their websites.

Unless there are exceptional circumstances, they have to acknowledge complaints within 14 days of receiving them and fully respond to them within 28 days.

Records of the complaints also have to be kept for 36 months, so they can be assessed for fairness.

Failure to do this could see them stripped of their access to the DVLA website, which they use to issue fines.

As well as policies, there are also strict rules about when they can and – more importantly -can’t issue fines.

When carparks are banned from charging

These are the circumstances when car parks aren’t allowed to issue charges:

In car parks where Automatic Number Plate Registration (ANPR) (or/and CCTV) is in use and a tariff must be paid, motorists will not receive a parking charge where they pay in full before they exit the car park. For parking periods over 24 hours, payment must be made within 24 hours of arrival to avoid receiving a parking charge
In car parks where ANPR (or/and CCTV) is in use, but the car park is free to use, motorists will not receive a parking charge if they log their vehicle registration in the terminal provided before they exit the car park. For parking periods over 24 hours, the vehicle registration must be entered within 24 hours of arrival to avoid receiving a parking charge.
Where the driver is physically unable to leave the car park in time – ie where they are stuck in traffic within the car park resulting in the driver exceeding their permitted parking period and grace period (if applicable) or where they have considered the terms and conditions and chosen not to park.

Some people are also protected from fines while carrying out their jobs. These are:

Ambulance, fire brigade, police or coastguards where their access to a parking facility is necessary to do their jobs – for example, in response to an emergency call
Vehicles being used by a doctor or other health worker who is on an emergency call at the address under control, and the vehicle is displaying a British Medical Association (BMA) badge or authorised Health Emergency badge
Breakdown assistance or recovery vehicles in use for recovery of a vehicle on the premises that has broken down and cannot safely be driven out without repair
A hearse or funeral cortege vehicle in use at the time

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When car parks have to cancel a fine on appeal

If you provide evidence of any of the following, under the new code of practice, car parks will have to cancel your fine:

If you have paid, but made a minor keying error, ie 0 instead of o; I instead of L; 1 instead of I) and this has not been picked up by the operator at the time of issuing a parking charge
If you pause on a private road network to check directions – for example on an industrial estate where you have a legitimate need to access premises within that estate
If you’ve driven onto relevant land because a member of the emergency services told you to or were invited there by the landholder(s) or parking operator
If you’ve driven onto relevant land because of an emergency that couldn’t be avoided outside of your control – for example, serious illness
If the driver or a passenger in the vehicle suffered the onset of illness
If the driver or a passenger is delayed by overrunning medical appointment
If you suffer delays due to childcare arrangements
If the car has broken down
If one or more payment machines were out of operation, and no reasonable alternative payment options were available – for example, by phone or a reasonably near and visible payment machine is in working order. It must be clear whether inability to pay means the driver is not permitted to park and is required to leave within the appropriate consideration period
If the parking operator has breached an obligation in this Code of Practice relating to the issuing of a parking charge
If the parking operator has breached an obligation in this Code of Practice resulting in the driver being unable to adhere to the relevant obligations of the car park

When your fine has to be reduced on appeal

There are also new rules saying that fines have to be cut to £20 in certain circumstances if you appeal. These are:

Where a parking permit has not been displayed but the driver subsequently supplies a copy of the permit they hold that would have been valid at the time identified in the parking charge notice
Where the driver has paid the tariff but entered the wrong car registration – ie the registration of a partner or a previous car registration
Where the car would have been allowed to park, but the driver failed to enter their registration into a terminal/device before leaving the site
Where a relevant Blue Badge has not been displayed but the holder supplies a copy of the Blue Badge

What more should be done?

The Government said its plan followed a public consultation that received 4,526 responses from the public and industry.

But consumer groups have said it doesn’t go far enough, with car parks still being able to add debt recovery fees to fines seen as the biggest missing piece in the protections. These fees can be added without the motorist’s knowledge, pushing prices higher.

The Government has also stopped short of imposing a £50 price cap or implementing an independent appeals body. Currently there are two bodies, both of them run by the industry itself.

The Government said it intends to consult further on the remaining Competition and Markets Authority recommendations after the publication of the Code.