‘Cowboy’ parking firms net £1.2m of YOUR cash in fines
Drivers were hit with tickets from private firms at the rate of 35,000 every day in 2023.
Private parking firms issued 12.4 million tickets last year – after the Tory government halted plans to get tougher with “cowboy” operators.
The record level of fines issued equates to almost 35,000 a day and netted an estimated £1.2billion.
Private firms are increasingly being used to police car parks for town centres, supermarkets, hotels, pubs, hospitals and railway stations.
Complaints against these operators include poor signage, failing to give drivers an appropriate “grace period” and penalising motorists who key in wrong information at ticket machines.
The government had been planning to bring in tougher laws to regulate the market, admitting there were some “cowboy” companies in operation, but the changes were shelved at the last minute when the General Election was called last month.
Firms have agreed their own Code of Conduct, which includes a 10-minute grace period and consistent signage, but it has not come into effect yet.
Figures from the DVLA, which charges parking firms £2.50 a time for the registered owner details of offending vehicles, shows how the penalties have ballooned in recent years.
In 2019, there were 8.4 million fines issued. This rose to 10.6million in 2022, after pandemic restrictions were lifted, and increased again to last year’s record tally of 12.4 million.
The private companies claim the rise is due to an increase in the number of vehicles as well as more parking sites coming under their control, rather than them being increasingly heavy-handed. Current rules mean fines issued by private parking firms to drivers in London are capped at £130, while outside the capital there is a £70 limit.
Any penalty is typically reduced by half if it is paid in two weeks. People who claim they were fined unfairly can appeal to an independent board.
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said: “Drivers have no doubt that when it comes to private parking companies they often get a raw deal. With the official Code of Conduct delayed, private parking firms are acting like sharks – attacking drivers in the hope innocent victims simply pay up rather than challenge the charge. The sooner the Code is adopted the better, rebalancing the system and putting drivers back on the front foot.”
A spokesman for the British Parking Association, which represents the private firms, said: “The parking sector manages millions of parking acts every day and witnesses the impact of the minority of drivers who park causing inconvenience to others, such as blocking spaces, parking in blue badge zones, or causing a nuisance to motorists that park with care and attention.
“The system has to be robust enough to deter this behaviour. We have plenty of evidence to show what happens when it is not effectively managed.”