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Victory for drivers as five-minute parking rule scrapped
By: ZigZagZog Date: February 12, 2025, 5:00 am
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HTML https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/12/five-minute-parking-rule-scrapped-private-car-parks/
Victory for drivers as five-minute parking rule scrapped
Private car park users have been ticketed for failing to pay
quickly enough after arriving
Gareth Corfield
Transport Correspondent
12 February 2025 6:22am GMT
Motorists will have more time to pay for car parking as the
controversial five-minute rule is scrapped in a rare victory for
drivers.
Private car park users have been ticketed for failing to pay
within a certain time – usually five or 10 minutes – after
arriving at a car park.
A woman was taken to court last year by a private parking
company which demanded she pay £1,906 after poor mobile phone
signal meant she repeatedly took more than five minutes to pay
after entering a car park in Derby.
Now, however, the industry’s two trade associations have said
their code of conduct would be updated to provide a “safeguard”
when motorists experience delays in making parking payments.
The British Parking Association (BPA) and the International
Parking Community (IPC) said drivers should no longer be issued
tickets for using privately owned car parks where a fixed camera
monitors when cars enter and exit, as long as they pay before
they leave.
The change, which will not apply to council-run car parks or
those where wardens are deployed, is being made by a panel
established by the industry bodies last month. It comes after
The Telegraph revealed in January that the changes were set to
be announced.
Will Hurley, the IPC chief executive, said: “It is crucial that
there is a mechanism to identify and resolve issues quickly.
“I am pleased that the panel has acted swiftly to introduce
safeguards for motorists. It is important drivers play their
part by reading and following instructions on signage when
parking their vehicle.”
Andrew Pester, the BPA chief executive, said: “It is a real
testament to the [panel] that this change has been implemented
so efficiently.
“The parking sector is always striving to ensure it operates in
the interest of compliant motorists and to ensure that parking
is fairly managed for all.
“This change is another important step in achieving this.”
Motoring groups, however, repeated previous calls for a legally
binding, Government-backed code of practice to be introduced to
regulate private parking operators.
The RAC says the change is 'the latest attempt to make the
private parking industry look fair'
The RAC says the change is ‘the latest attempt to make the
private parking industry look fair’ Credit: Moment RF
Jack Cousens, the AA head of roads policy, said: “This change to
the self-authored code by private parking operators only
highlights the urgent necessity to implement the
Government-backed code of practice alongside a truly independent
single appeals process and oversight board.
“Until the statutory system is in place, drivers will continue
to receive aggressive letters from shark-like companies that
scare people into payment even though they may have done nothing
wrong.”
Simon Williams, the RAC head of policy, said: “This is the
latest attempt to make the private parking industry look fair.
“As there’s no information on how the change will work in
practice, we fear it will make little difference to drivers.”
A bill to enable the introduction of a Government-backed code
for private parking companies received Royal Assent under the
Conservative government in March 2019. It was withdrawn in June
2022 after a legal challenge by parking companies.
This code included halving the cap on tickets for most parking
offences to £50, creating a fairer appeals system and banning
the use of aggressive language on tickets.
The BPA and IPC’s own code of practice was introduced in June
last year.
Private parking businesses have been accused of using misleading
and confusing signs, aggressive debt collection and unreasonable
fees.
Drivers in Britain are being hit by an average of more than
41,000 parking tickets a day by private companies.
Some 3.8 million tickets were handed out between July and
September 2024, according to analysis of Government data by the
PA news agency and the RAC Foundation, a motoring research
charity.
Each ticket can be up to £100, meaning the total cost to drivers
may be near £4.1 million per day.
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