The government is to give drivers new rights to challenge unfair private parking charges. This includes a guaranteed five minutes to decide whether to park and 10 minutes to leave once their session ends, and the right to have charges cancelled on appeal for issues they can’t control.
Under the new Private Parking Code of Practice, charges will be scrapped on appeal for honest mistakes, like stopping briefly to check directions, and for situations like a medical emergency, breakdown or broken ticket machine.
For smaller slip ups, like forgetting a parking permit, entering the wrong vehicle’s registration or forgetting to confirm it in the machine when parking, drivers will face a maximum charge of £20 on appeal.
The code also freezes the maximum parking charge at £100. Operators who don’t comply risk losing access to DVLA data, meaning that even if they issue a charge, it will be far more difficult to identify the registered owner to pursue payment.
In response to the news, Paul Hollick, chair at the AFP, said: ‘The AFP welcomes any changes that provide a fairer and more transparent approach to parking fines, as this area of fleet operation is becoming more prevalent and costly to drivers and fleets.
‘As well as reducing fines for drivers this could also reduce the administrative burden on fleets who have to process such penalty notices, which are on the increase.
‘This is a small but important change that should help both drivers and fleet operators.’