DRIVERS are being hit with record numbers of parking tickets as private firms hand out nearly 30,000 a day.
But when motorists challenge unfair fines, half of their appeals succeed.
Jess Magill has successfully fought off unfair finesWayne Perry
The number of tickets issued between April and June jumped 50 per cent from the same period last year, to 2.7million, according to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.
But if you feel you’ve been unfairly slapped with a fine, you should not just cough up.
Alice Grahns and Harriet Meyer explain how to challenge a ticket.
TYPES OF TICKET
IT’S important to know the various kinds of parking ticket.
Fixed penalty notices are issued by the police for parking, speeding, using a mobile phone at the wheel and other offences.
You risk a fine and having points added to your licence.
Most parking tickets are penalty charge notices or excess charge notices, which are both issued by parking attendants working for councils. The type of fine should be written clearly on your ticket.
Parking firms will issue parking charge notices if you overstay the time limit in a supermarket, hospital or other private car park.
This is an invoice for an alleged breach of contract. They are arguing that you have broken an unwritten contract by driving on to private land and not obeying the terms they set.
But they have no official right to fine you.
This can cause confusion, as penalty and parking charge notices both typically use the acronym PCN and look similar.
You can challenge any parking ticket, but almost half of disputes over private company invoices are successful.
The current cap for private parking fines is £100.
CLAMPDOWN ON COWBOYS DELAYED
A MOVE to protect drivers from cowboy firms with a new code of practice was delayed by ministers in June after the industry launched a judicial review of the proposals.
It would have halved the cap for most tickets to £50 and given drivers ten minutes’ leeway after their ticket expires before issuing a fine.
It would have also prevented rip-off debt collection fees being added to unpaid fines.
Plus, private parking firms would have had to provide a simpler appeals process.
Firms were previously going to be required to comply with the code by the end of 2023 or face sanctions by the DVLA, but the proposals were withdrawn pending the review.
REASONS TO APPEAL
IF you believe a private parking ticket has been issued in error, lodge an appeal.
There’s no set rule for the grounds for appeal but common reasons include that the car in question was stolen, it was not parked improperly as stated in the notice, or extreme circumstances such as a medical emergency or a car breakdown prevented you from complying properly with the rules.
Other reasons may be that the payment machine was out of order, or the signs were unclear or hard to spot.
If you are dyslexic and struggled to read a sign correctly, you may have grounds.
Crucially, you do not need to show proof of the learning difficulty, said consumer expert Scott Dixon.
If the parking app was faulty or not working, you can also contest the ticket.
HOW TO FIGHT BACK
IF you have been hit with a ticket unfairly, do not just pay up.
Often the notice will say the fine will increase if you do not pay within a certain time.
But doing so will make it hard to reclaim if you think you have grounds to appeal, as it is usually seen as admitting guilt.
Read the information carefully so you know how long you have to challenge the penalty.
Then you can make an appeal with the parking firm or owner of the land, such as a hospital or shop.
The PCN should provide some information about where any appeals are to be sent.
If the notice wasn’t left on your windscreen, the company must send it to you within 14 days of when you were parked.
You can usually appeal by phone, post or email. Include supporting evidence, such as screenshots, tickets, pictures of the signage, witness statements and shopping receipts.
Scott recommends contacting the company that owns the land, before the private parking operator, and said: “Supermarkets are generally very good at cancelling these invoices, but get confirmation in writing.”
If the private parking company is not a trade body member, Citizens Advice recommends not making first contact with them.
Companies need to be a member of a DVLA-accredited trade association (ATA) such as the British Parking Association (BPA) or International Parking Community (IPC) to get your details.
If they are not, it is unlikely they have access to your name and address, which they will need to pursue you for the fine.
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR APPEAL IS REJECTED
IF the company rejects your appeal and is registered with an accredited trade body, you can take your claim to an independent adjudicator, Which? consumer expert Lisa Webb says.
The two main bodies are the BPA and IPC so check their websites if your firm is registered.
If the company is a BPA member, you can submit a formal appeal to the adjudicator through the Parking on Private Land Appeals portal.
Or if the firm is a member of the IPC, you should use the Independent Appeals Service.
You must lodge formal appeals on tickets issued by BPA members within 28 days of them rejecting your initial appeal.
With IPC members, you have 21 days to make a formal appeal for free.
Or you can do it within a year and pay £15.
You won’t need to pay compensation or an increased amount if your challenge is rejected.
But refusal to pay the original fine could result in you being taken to court.
You typically have 14 days after the rejection to pay the full parking charge, or risk further action from the company.
You can informally appeal a PCN from a non-trade body member.
But there is no independent adjudication process, meaning they may not be fair.