Charity calls for clarity over private land parking tickets

A staggering 50,000 people have turned online for help, following a 26 per cent increase in the number of parking penalty cases doled out on private land.

News of a 194 per cent rise in online advice requests to Citizens Advice comes as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a major legal challenge to private parking charges.

According to the DVLA, private parking operators have requested the details of drivers over 3 million times in the last year, which has increased from 2.4 million the year before.

Citizens Advice is concerned about the rising numbers, which it says could reflect an increase in unreasonable penalties being handed out.

The charity is calling for clarity around tickets, including a clear definition of the minimum length of the 'reasonable' grace period parking firms must give drivers between stopping and parking and at the end of the permitted parking period.

Research from Citizens Advice shows some drivers have been faced with penalties while signs have been hidden, ticket machines broken, and even when they were not parked on the property in question.

An analysis of calls to the charity's consumer service revealed that in cases where the location of the private car park was known, the top location was pay and display car parks, followed by supermarkets. Other private parking problem hotspots included hospitals and airports.

Between January and March 2015, an estimated 900 calls were received by the charity which revealed that the average private parking charge is £83. Some people, however, have been hit by fees reaching up to £300.

Gillian Guy, the chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: 'Drivers are paying the penalty for a lack of clarity on parking.

'While drivers have to obey the rules of parking, firms need to make sure parking restrictions are clear, and people are treated fairly where, for example, ticket machines aren't working.'

Local Citizens Advice helped with a 39 per cent increase in consumer debt cases to do with unpaid parking penalty and congestion charges from last year.

It has been estimated that online advice about parking tickets on private land was viewed 180,000 times, up 73 percent from 2013/14. Citizens Advice Consumer Service has also assisted the public with 5,285 car parking and clamping issues, a 13 per cent increase form 2013/14.

Dominique Daeschner is an intern at Solicitors Journal