Motorists will receive stronger protections against unfair private parking penalties under new Government rules, including a guaranteed five-minute period to decide whether to stay and park. The maximum charge will remain capped at £100.
Drivers will also have a 10-minute grace period to leave a car park after their paid-for parking time expires without automatically receiving a ticket.
Under the new private parking code of practice, appeals should succeed where a driver has made an honest mistake or faced circumstances beyond their control. Examples include briefly stopping to check directions, suffering a breakdown, dealing with a medical emergency or finding that a payment machine is not working, according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
A reduced maximum charge of £20 will apply on appeal where the error involves forgetting a permit, entering an incorrect registration number or failing to confirm the details at a parking machine.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham welcomed the changes, saying that a driver returning to a car just a few minutes late or mistyping one number on a registration plate should not be hit with a large bill.
He said private parking penalties can leave people feeling exploited and financially pressured, adding that the Government was taking action to prevent such charges.
The Prime Minister said the reforms would introduce clearer guidance, longer grace periods and lower penalties for genuine errors, while targeting deliberate practices designed to take advantage of motorists.
The code will keep private parking charges at no more than £100. Operators that fail to follow the requirements could lose their ability to obtain vehicle keeper details from the DVLA, the Government said.
New rules will give motorists greater powers to dispute unfair private parking penalties (stock photo)
Private parking firms currently rely on DVLA vehicle keeper information when pursuing unpaid parking charges.
Private companies issued a record 16.9 million parking tickets in the 12 months to the end of March, analysis of Government figures by the Press Association and motoring research charity the RAC Foundation found.
The total compares with 14.4 million tickets the previous year and 6.8 million during 2018-19.
With individual penalties reaching £100, the figures suggest motorists could collectively face more than £4.6 million in charges every day at the current rate.
The parking sector has said the increase reflects the growing number of car parks now operated or monitored by private companies.
The new private parking code will cover England, Scotland and Wales. It will also establish an independent scrutiny and oversight board for the first time.
Operators will have to provide information about the penalties they issue and the way appeals are dealt with. That data will be reviewed by the new oversight board.
The Government is also preparing a consultation on private parking debt recovery fees. It will consider reducing the current £70 limit or removing the additional fees altogether.
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Simon Williams, head of policy at the RAC, described the code as progress towards protecting drivers from questionable practices, but said it did not go as far as the motoring organisation had hoped.
The RAC has repeatedly called for debt recovery fees to be banned when added to parking charge notices, as well as for one independent appeals service to replace the two bodies currently run by the industry. Mr Williams said neither proposal had been adopted, which he described as disappointing.
However, he said it was still encouraging that a code had finally been introduced, seven years after the Private Parking Code of Practice Act became law.
‘Car park management companies will now have to conform to a new set of rules or risk losing access to the DVLA’s database which they depend on to issue PCNs to drivers.
‘This will hopefully prevent many drivers wrongly being issued tickets in the first place.’
Mr Williams added: ‘While this isn’t quite the Christmas present we wanted for drivers, it should hopefully save many the stress of having to challenge unfair tickets.’
Director of policy for charity IAM RoadSmart, Nicholas Lyes, said: ‘It is welcome to see new protections put in place for drivers through a single code of practice; however, we would have liked to see a single appeals system and action against debt recovery organisations as part of the package.
‘Ultimately, we need to get to a place where parking on private land is a seamless, straightforward, and clear process, not one fraught with potential traps which leaves drivers unfairly out of pocket.’
Alison Tooze, chief policy officer at the British Parking Association, said her organisation ‘welcomes’ the new code, which is an ‘important step forward for motorists, communities and responsible parking operators’.
‘The code builds on many of the principles already established through the sector’s existing voluntary code, helping create a more consistent, transparent and trusted framework,’ she said.
‘Overall, the code strikes the right balance between stronger protections for motorists and effective parking management, helping keep communities, businesses and local economies moving.’
The new code is expected to come into force by the end of this year.
The Government has also announced a crackdown on second-hand car dealers who wind back mileage clocks on vehicles.
While selling a ‘clocked car’ is already illegal, it will be added to an official list of banned practices making it easier for enforcers to address it.
Greg Smith, a shadow transport minister, said: ‘Andy Burnham posing as the driver’s friend is a joke. This is the same Labour Government that is doubling parking fines right across England. Five minutes’ grace in a supermarket car park will not fool anyone.
‘The £100 maximum stays exactly where it is and Labour has ducked banning the debt recovery fees piled on top. Labour’s war on drivers carries on regardless.
‘Only the Conservatives, with our Plan for Drivers, will back the people who keep this country moving.’