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    Your rights if you get a private parking ticket as car park firm fined £473,000

    9 hours ago

    Every year millions of motorists are left counting the cost after being issued a penalty when parking in private car parks. In just a 12 month period to September 2025 data shows there were 15.9 million parking tickets handed out by private firms - up by 17% on the 13.6 million handed out in the previous year. On Friday, one of the biggest private car park operators was fined £473,000 after falling foul of regulators. Euro Car Parks, which itself handed out 1.9 million penalty tickets to motorists in a single year, had the penalty imposed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which said it imposed the fine as the company had failed to provide information it had requested. It said the firm failed to respond to seven requests for information for three months, including by registered post, email, and hand-delivered letter. The CMA said a number of drivers had accused the company of unfairly demanding money for supposed infringements of car park rules, but when asked for information, Euro Car Parks did not respond until the CMA informed it that a fine was being proposed. However what are your rights when parking in a private car park - and when can you fight a ticket which has been unfairly issued. In June 2024 a new Single Code of Practice was issued jointly by the British Parking Association (BPA) and International Parking Community (IPC), the UK's two Accredited Trade Associations for parking. Under the code there are some rules registered private car parks must follow. Unfortunately not all firms are signed up to the two organisations but while this means they do not have to follow their Code of Practice it also means they have no rights to get your address details from the DVLA. However most of the bigger firms will be signed up to one of the two. Euro Car Parks Ltd for example is registered with the BPA. Private Parking Operators had to implement the new single code by October 1, 2024 with all existing sites needing to be updated by December 2026. The new sector Code can be downloaded here. There are several types of parking ticket but not all are "fines". If the ticket is issued by a public body such as the local authority or police it is a Penalty Charge Notice, Excess Charge Notice or Fixed Penalty Notice and that is a fine. A ticket issued for parking on private land would be a Parking Charge Notice which is not a fine. According to consumer expert Martin Lewis it is simply "an invoice". However what if you are issued with a ticket in a private car park and you feel it is wrong? According to Citizens Advice there are some steps you can take. Its first warning is that if the parking company put the ticket on your car and it isn’t an ATA member, "don’t contact them unless they write to you first. They probably won’t be able to find your details - only ATA members can get your name and address from the DVLA". Check the British Parking Association (BPA) or International Parking Community (IPC) websites to see if a parking company is a member of an ATA. You can also call the BPA on 01444 447 300 to check if a company is a member. Calls usually cost up to 55p a minute from mobiles and up to 13p a minute from landlines. It should be free if you have a contract that includes calls to landlines - check with your supplier if you're not sure. If you get a ticket in the post from a non-ATA member If you get a ticket in the post from a non-ATA member, they have got your address and you should reply. They might have got your details illegally. You can complain to the DVLA about them possibly sharing your data illegally by writing to Data Sharing Strategy and Compliance Team, DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1DY. If the company is registered with a ATA then Citizens Advice said you can find a parking company’s contact details on the BPA or IPC websites or on the Parking Charge Notice. It added: "Check on the notice if you must use the parking company’s website or if you can write to them with your reasons for objecting. "You must write to them before you make a formal appeal to an independent appeals service." You can use the Citizen's Advice template letter to write to the parking company. Include any evidence you have, for example: For a hospital parking ticket, you should send evidence to the parking company if your appointment was running late. Ask the hospital receptionist to print a note on headed paper, saying there were delays. If the parking company isn’t an ATA member, there’s no formal appeals process but there are other things you can do. If the parking company is an ATA member, you can appeal to an independent appeals service. Citizens Advice said: "It’s free to do, so it’s worth trying if you still think your ticket was unfair. "They might see things differently to the parking company and agree that your ticket should be cancelled. They won’t cancel a ticket because of an unexpected event, for example if you were delayed because you were feeling unwell." The way to appeal will depend on if the parking company that gave you the ticket is a member of the BPA or IPC approved operators scheme. Make a formal appeal to Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA) if they’re a BPA parking company. If they’re an IPC member, make a formal appeal to the Independent Appeals Service. For a ticket from a BPA member, you have 28 days from when your informal appeal was rejected to make a formal appeal. For a ticket from an IPC member, you can make a formal appeal for free within 21 days. After 21 days, you can still appeal within 1 year of your formal appeal being rejected if you pay a £15 fee. Make sure you include any evidence that will support your case. There are still things you can do but you’ll risk having to pay more money in the end. You might be better off just paying your parking ticket. Alternatively, you can let the parking company take you to court. You can choose not to pay your parking ticket and the parking company will decide if it’s worth taking you to court. If you think your ticket was unfair, you can report the parking company to Trading Standards. To complain to Trading Standards, contact the Citizens Advice consumer service.
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