US Edition More than eight million parking tickets were issued in Britain last year, the equivalent of around 890,000 a month. And this doesn't include private parking charges.
Of these millions, only one in four tickets were disputed, with a 39 per cent success rate, according to statistics published by insurance company Swiftcover. Other figures put the success rate much higher, at 60-65 per cent.
While many tickets are rightfully given to motorists for flouting the rules, others are issued unfairly, and this guide is here to explain how to fight a ticket in this instance.
Remember that there are two main types of parking tickets. The first is a Parking Charge Notice issued by a private company if you have parked on private land, and the second is a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) issued by a local council or Transport for London when you have parked on public land. These tickets have the same initials, but should not be confused.
There is also a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) which is issued by the police. Below, we look at all three, and explain how to appeal the charge.
PARKING CHARGE NOTICE
First of all, a Parking Charge Notice is not a "fine" and cannot be imposed, unlike Penalty Charge Notices. These tickets are usually issued when a motorist has parked on private land, say a hospital or supermarket car park, for too long, and has in effect "broken the contract" of the car park terms and conditions.
In this instance, the car park operator can pursue the motorist for a charge which should be proportionate to the normal advertised costs of parking, or the losses incurred by the car having overstayed. The ticket should be quite small, especially for short overstays.
How to appeal
• If you think the charge is unfair, or you have some mitigating excuse you can contact the operator or landowner explaining why you are refusing to pay.
• If you have been charged £60 for overstaying 15 minutes, then clearly the charge is exorbitant. In this case, you could try sending the landowner the money that you think is fair and covers the cost of your overstay. Many motorists have reported this to be a successful way of settling the charge.
• Try to return to the car park to gather evidence. For example, if the sign with the parking terms on it was covered and could not be read properly, take a picture and send it to the company.
• If the landowner cancels the charge then great. If they don't, you have 28 days from the issue of the ticket (whether it has been placed on your windscreen or received through the post) to make an appeal against this decision to an independent adjudicator like Popla (Parking on Private Land Appeals) set up by the British Parking Association (BPA), for its members. IPC, the smaller trade body alongside BPA, also has an appeals service called the Independent Appeals Service which works in a similar way to Popla.
• If you pay the ticket within 14 days the parking company must offer you a discount of at least 40pc.
If Popla agrees with the motorist, the charge is cancelled. If the driver's appeal is refused, the company can carry on seeking payment and ultimately has the option of taking the vehicle owner to the small claims court.
If you lose your Popla appeal you will not have to pay any costs or compensation, and the parking charge will not increase.
What happens if I don't pay and simply do nothing?
You are likely to receive threatening letters demanding payment. Some letters will come from the park operator themselves, others from other agencies or debt collectors. There are no official figures to show how many drivers end up being taken to court, but it is estimated that half of those who appeal a Parking Charge Notice have their charge cancelled, of the remaining proportion, it is unknown how many were pursued through the courts, but it is expected to be relatively small.
A car park operator cannot put a black mark on your credit file unless the case is taken to court and you lose, and you still do not pay. This is because the company is not providing credit, but merely involved in a billing dispute for a service.
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How to appeal if the parking firm is not part of a trade body
• Don't pay the charge and don't write to the firm to appeal.
All members of an accredited trade association can access DVLA data, while non-members can't. This means most independent car park operators won't have a motorist's details in order to send the parking charge. If you write to the company to complain about the charge, you are inadvertently providing them with your name and address.
• If the company has managed to obtain your details, you can write back disputing the ticket or you can continue to ignore it.
There is no independent appeals body for firms which aren't members of a trade body, so, unfortunately, it is possible for anyone to issue parking charge notices, wholly independently, and pursue them through the courts.
• See our comprehensive guide to fighting private parking tickets: Do you have to pay private car park fines?
PENALTY CHARGE NOTICE (PCN)
• First of all, if you agree to pay the fine, do so in the first 14 days and you will only have to pay 50pc of it.
• If you want to appeal, you should take photographs of the scene, in particular road signs or road markings that are unclear, or the ticket meter if it is broken. If the ticket has come through the post a few days after the incident, it will obviously be harder to gather evidence.
• Get witness statements if possible, or evidence of mitigating circumstances, such as a death certificate if you have had a bereavement. If your car was stolen, you should get a crime reference number.
• Write to your local council with these statements and photographs to explain why you are appealing. Include your address, your vehicle registration number and the ticket (PCN) number. If you received a ticket by post, there is no informal appeal procedure. The ticket should include a formal appeal form.
According to Citizens Advice, the law says that if you have a compelling, or very persuasive reason for appealing, the council can use its discretion to decide whether to cancel the notice.
• If the council accepts your reasons for appealing, your fine will be cancelled and you'll have nothing to pay. If the council rejects your reasons, you will be sent a notice of rejection. "Don't let this put you off carrying on, if you think you have a good case. Around 50pc of the cases that get to the final appeal stage are successful," states Martin Lewis, of MoneySavingExpert.com.
• You will then have 28 days to make a formal appeal. At this point, you will have lost the chance to pay a reduced charge. An independent adjudicator will decide on your case. The adjudicators are: Traffic Penalty Tribunal (England and Wales), Parking and Traffic Appeals Service (London), Northern Ireland Traffic Penalty Tribunal and The Scottish Parking Appeals Service, on 0131 221 0409.
Nine grounds for appealing your ticket
1. The contravention didn’t occur, for example, there were unclear or misleading signs, non-visible markings, or the ticket wasn't issued
2. The penalty exceeded the relevant amount – the council asked for more than it was entitled to
3. The council says the PCN was served by post because the traffic warden was prevented from giving the ticket, but this didn’t happen
4. The vehicle was stolen or the person wasn’t the owner when the alleged contravention occurred
5. A procedural impropriety – maybe the PCN didn’t contain the required information
6. The Traffic Regulation Order was invalid, for example, the council added a new restriction, such as a yellow line, without following procedures
7. The owner was a vehicle hire firm
8. The PCN has already been paid
9. Mitigating circumstances, for example, health issues or vehicle breakdown.
FIXED PENALTY NOTICE
Fixed Penalty Notices are given to those who commit minor parking and motoring offences, such as speeding.
The ticket is a "conditional offer" – you can accept guilt, pay the fine, take the points and the matter will be closed, or you can reject the offer in which case you will be summonsed to appear in court – details of how to reject the fine are on the back of the ticket.
"Any person who wishes to reject the Notice is entitled to seek a Court hearing, but by doing so, the offer is withdrawn and thus the Court can impose a higher punishment upon conviction," states MotorLawyers, an online expert legal advice service.
"Whilst we appreciate that nobody likes penalty points or fines, the best advice we can give is if the offence has been committed, take the fixed penalty; don't throw good money after bad and don't dispute cases on a point of principle," the site added.