Parking firms pledge to stop punishing drivers who take too long to pay

Private parking companies have pledged to stop penalising drivers for taking too long to pay.

Drivers using private car parks have been handed tickets as their payment was not made within a certain time after their arrival.

In November 2024, the BBC reported that a woman was being taken to court by a private parking company for £1,906 after poor mobile phone signal meant she repeatedly took more than five minutes to pay after entering a car park in Derby.

Two industry bodies representing the sector announced their code of conduct will be updated from Monday to provide a “safeguard” when motorists experience delays in making parking payments.

The British Parking Association (BPA) and the International Parking Community (IPC) said drivers should no longer be issued tickets for using privately owned car parks where a fixed camera monitors when cars enter and exit, as long as they pay before they leave.

The change, which will not apply to council-run car parks or those where wardens are deployed, is being made by a panel established by the industry bodies last month.

IPC chief executive Will Hurley said: “It is crucial that there is a mechanism to identify and resolve issues quickly.

“I am pleased that the panel has acted swiftly to introduce safeguards for motorists.

“It is important drivers play their part by reading and following instructions on signage when parking their vehicle.”

BPA chief executive Andrew Pester said: “It is a real testament to the (panel) that this change has been implemented so efficiently.

“The parking sector is always striving to ensure it operates in the interest of compliant motorists and to ensure that parking is fairly managed for all.

“This change is another important step in achieving this.”

Motoring groups reiterated their calls for a legislation-led code of practice to be introduced.

AA head of roads policy Jack Cousens said: “This change to the self-authored code by private parking operators only highlights the urgent necessity to implement the Government-backed code of practice alongside a truly independent single appeals process and oversight board.

“Until the statutory system is in place, drivers will continue to receive aggressive letters from shark-like companies that scare people into payment even though they may have done nothing wrong.”

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “This is the latest attempt to make the private parking industry look fair.

“As there’s no information on how the change will work in practice, we fear it will make little difference to drivers.”

A Bill to enable the introduction of a Government-backed code for private parking companies received royal assent under the Conservative government in March 2019.

It was withdrawn in June 2022 after a legal challenge by parking companies.

This code included halving the cap on tickets for most parking offences to £50, creating a fairer appeals system and banning the use of aggressive language on tickets.

The BPA and IPC’s own code of practice was introduced in June 2024.

Private parking businesses have been accused of using misleading and confusing signs, aggressive debt collection and unreasonable fees.

Drivers in Britain are being hit by an average of more than 41,000 parking tickets a day by private companies.

Some 3.8 million tickets were handed out between July and September 2024, according to analysis of Government data by the PA news agency and motoring research charity the RAC Foundation.

Each ticket can be up to £100, meaning the total cost to drivers may be near £4.1 million per day.