Following reports that Britons are facing extortionate demands due to faulty parking machines, we’re resurfacing our guide to appealing against private “fines”.
We teamed up with consumer expert Scott Dixon, AKA Complaints Resolver…
Private companies cannot ‘fine’ you
First, it’s worth outlining that there is a big difference between parking infringements against councils and against private parking companies.
Councils can fine you for infringements on public highways (like parking on double yellow lines or in a bus lane) and issue penalty charge notices – these must be paid, or you can appeal against it with as much evidence as possible.
You risk bailiffs, clamping, your vehicle being towed away, and a court order (which could impact your credit score if you lose) if you do not pay. But never pay a council or private parking ticket if you intend to appeal, as payment is considered an admission of liability.
On the other hand, private parking operators cannot clamp you and they can’t fine you as such – they issue parking charge notices, which are invoices for an alleged breach of contract for parking on private land.
Money blog: Tesco apologises to ‘humiliated’ customer it accused of self-checkout scam
Trade war: UK car exporter’s shares slump to four-year low
Audio technology group Waves hello to £300m London float
Dixon says: “They look the same, and there’s a reason for that. A private parking operator’s business model is to extract money from you, and it’s estimated that 80% of motorists pay straightaway due to the legalese jargon.”
Of course, landowners should reasonably be able to charge people to park on their land, so if you’re at fault, it might be that the right thing to do is pay up.
But if you think what they’re charging you in their “invoice” is unfair, Dixon says you could appeal.
Some advice online suggests you can simply ignore these “invoices” – Dixon doesn’t recommend this, but we’ll cover this in more depth shortly.
Is the private company operating the car park on behalf of a business?
It’s always worth speaking to the business itself – if you have reasonable grounds, they may be able to cancel the “fine”.
“Ask for proof in writing that they will cancel it so you can advise the parking operator to cease and desist harassing you,” Dixon says.
Collect evidence for appeals
Evidence will be key to the success of any appeals or court action – so take photos, get witness statements, keep all correspondence and get proof of any mitigating circumstances.
Other sources of evidence might be shopping receipts, dashcam footage or a mobile phone with Google location tracker.
Another tool is Google Reviews – are others having a similar issue to you?
“You may find a common theme from what other users say, which can reinforce your points and case on appeal,” says Dixon.
Dixon also suggests submitting a data subject access request to the private parking operator and DVLA to access all of your personal data that’s being used in the case.
Appealing against private tickets
A ticket might be considered unfair if you didn’t actually break any rules, the machine was broken, the signage was poor or unclear, you didn’t park on private land, or there were some mitigating circumstances.
The starting point is exhausting the private company’s own appeals process.
After that, there are two parking trade associations in the UK that have a code of practice for their members to abide by.
First, the British Parking Association (BPA). You can check its website to see if an operator is a member. The BPA set up the Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA) service.
Dixon says: “Roughly one in four parking charges are cancelled due to the operator not responding to POPLA and over 40% of appeals made to POPLA are upheld, which evidences my suspicions that private parking operators play the percentages game knowing that many motorists simply pay up even if they believe that they have done nothing wrong.”
The International Parking Community is the other trade association and operates the Independent Appeals Service.
Dixon adds: “First stage appeals are often rejected regardless of any mitigating circumstances, so you could have escalated your appeal to the second stage and it should have been upheld.”
You have 28 days to do this.
If you lose the appeal, you can either pay or defend it if it goes to court.
If the company is not part of a trade organisation
If the operator is not part of a trade body, it can only access keeper details from the DVLA if you respond to appeal against one of its “invoices”.
If you have responded without realising and divulged keeper details, keep in mind that firms that aren’t part of trade organisations may have dubious appeal policies.
Instead of appealing, consider writing to them explaining why you think the parking charge notice is unfair, with evidence to reinforce your case.
Read more Money blog features:
‘Do I ask last minute hen do dropout to pay?’
‘Ryanair won’t cover expenses after cancelled flight – who’s right?’
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
Doing nothing
There is plenty of anecdotal evidence online that private firms don’t always consider it worthwhile going to court for small amounts – but there is no guarantee you’ll get lucky.
Dixon says: “I recommend you don’t ignore these ‘invoices’, as these private parking operators pursue alleged debts through the courts and you risk incurring a county court judgment which can impact your ability to get loans, mortgages, mobile phone contracts and any credit for many years.
“Trivial amounts quickly escalate into hundreds of pounds when court fees, solicitor fees and debt recovery fees are added,” Dixon says.
It’s important to stress there are some types of letters you could consider ignoring – and some you should definitely not.
“You can safely ignore any debt collector letters,” says Scott, because unlike councils, private parking firms or the debt collection companies they employ cannot use bailiffs.
“These debt collectors are ‘strangers to the debt’ and don’t own the debt or have any powers to enforce it. This means that they are third parties to the alleged debt and have as much power as I do to enforce a private parking ticket.
“The letters use legalese jargon to intimidate and coerce you into paying up with threats of escalating costs and county court judgments. It’s a tried and tested business model and usually works.”
However, Dixon says, it is essential you respond to any “letter before claim” or “letter before action”.
“This is the final stage before a case goes to court and needs to be completed prior to a court hearing,” he explains.
Follow our channel and never miss an update
Potential ‘ace card’ if case goes to court
The statute of limitations for bringing a case to court is six years in England and Wales and five years in Scotland from the date of the parking event.
It would be a civil action – there is no guilty or not guilty, and you can’t get a criminal record.
You will be issued with a county court judgment if the court rules against you. You will have to pay the parking charge notice fine plus some costs, and failing to do so could impact your credit rating.
A private parking operator cannot send bailiffs to your home. Bailiffs are only sent to your home to pursue court orders for non-payment of penalty charge notices issued by councils.
One potential “ace card” that Dixon says often succeeds in this kind of court case is this…
“Ask their solicitor on the day if they have a ‘right of audience’. Basically, do they have the right of audience to represent their client?
“Many solicitors are self-employed and do not have the right to represent these private parking operators.
“They just turn up on the day they are asked to. If they do not have a right of audience in court, the case should automatically be dismissed.”
