Complaining About a Private Parking Ticket

Parking tickets issued by supermarkets, private companies and train stations are private tickets. These have different rules to public tickets as they are governed by contract law rather than civil or criminal law.

Unfair Tickets

Private tickets are issued if you have parked improperly on someone’s land. They can however, try and make a profit by catching people out, which is unjust. In these circumstances, you are right to try and fight the ticket. It is important to note that many private companies try and imitate public authority notices called PCNs to trick people into thinking they must pay the fine. If there is no council authority or police force mentioned on the ticket then it is likely to be a private one.

Private companies are entirely unregulated and can charge what they like. About a third of companies however, are part of the British Parking Association (BPA) which have a code of practice for ‘fines’, clamping and towing. Companies actually have no legal right to fine you and are just charging for a breach of contract. The good news is that most people who fight a private ticket win it.

Acting Immediately

When you are issued with a private ticket, you are sometimes required to pay an amount within so many days before increasing so it is important that you act immediately. Do not pay the fine as this is admitting liability. If your car has been clamped or towed away then you will have to pay the fine but make it known to them that you are paying in protest.

Supporting Evidence

Gather as much supporting evidence as you can such as photographs of where the vehicle was parked, signage or lack of, parking metres or bays etc and anything that you believe can support your case, such as witness statements, proof of mitigating circumstances, or a crime reference number if your car was stolen or taken without permission. Also keep copies of all correspondence between yourself and the company.

Who is Liable for the Ticket?

Unlike official parking tickets, it is the driver and not the owner of the vehicle that is responsible for the ticket. When you receive a ticket, do nothing and wait to see if they send an invoice through the post. If they do, the letter will go to the owner of the car. If you are the owner but weren’t the driver of the car, you are under no obligation to pay the ‘fine’ or give details of who the driver was. If however, you were the driver don’t be tempted to lie in case they have CCTV footage as if the case got to court it would make things much worse.

How to Fight Your Parking Ticket

If you were not the driver of the car but have received a notice, write a polite but firm letter saying that you were not driving and are under no obligation to provide details of the driver. If you were the driver and believe that the company is being unfair, you need to write to them explaining that you refuse to pay any money. Do not say that you are appealing as this gives unnecessary legitimacy to the ticket.

Grounds to Fight a Ticket

There are five main grounds to fight a ticket. The most popular ground is that there was no, or insufficient, ambiguous signage. The idea is that you read a sign and impliedly accept it when parking on the car park. If however, you can demonstrate that you didn’t see it because the sign is too small or hidden then you can’t be deemed to have accepted it. You can also dispute if a ticket is issued on public land or if you have mitigating circumstances as to why you were parked there in breach. The ‘catch-all’ is that the charge is disproportionate because they’ve lost no or little money by you parking there.

What Happens Next

If one of the above grounds applies to you, then you should write to the company detailing your complaint with any supporting evidence. They may send a letter saying action will not be taken or never write back, in which case you win. They may also say they refute your claim but will not be taking action further. The worst case scenario is if they do not accept your claim. Most companies however, will say this before eventually giving up so it is best to keep refuting the claim and sending the evidence in the hope that they will give up.

Most companies do give up rather than taking it to court, which is the next stage. The case would be in the Small Claims court so the worst that could happen is that you are asked to pay the charge and maybe some expenses or administrative fees but no court fees.