Private car parks that have been fining people for not paying within a few minutes of arriving have changed their rules.
The U-turn followed criticism of Sheffield company Excel Parking Services, which had threatened thousands of drivers with court action for not paying in time – a practice denounced in the House of Commons.
Previously, Excel had been fining people up to £100 for not paying within 10 minutes after they had entered the site.
A spokesperson from Excel said: “We are fully supportive of the changes being made to the private parking industry Single Sector Code of Practice and will continue to adhere to adhere to it, as we have done so since its formation.”
The Steel Cauldron, a wizard-themed café in the Broomhill area of Sheffield, is located near an Excel-run car park.
Rob Downham, owner of the business, said: “We’ve been operating here for five years and throughout that time we must have seen hundreds of people come in in distress because they’re struggling to pay.”
He said when asking customers for feedback, they said “we won’t come and visit you any more because of the disgraceful car parking situation”.
Mr Downham added: “To find out the only person who’s really making any money from your hard work is a car park operator who’s just fleecing your customers, and then that people genuinely aren’t coming to stay with us because of that – it’s sad but it’s a reflection of society sometimes.”
He added that although the scrapping of the 10-minute rule was positive, he thought the industry needed independent regulation.
Anyone who is fined can appeal via the Independent Appeals Service, but the scheme is run by car park operators.
Excel’s boss Simon Renshaw-Smith sits on its steering committee.
“I think it’s ludicrous they allowed the industry to self-regulate for as long as they did,” Mr Downham said.
“How someone can own a car parking company and also sit on the appeals panel is just quite frankly ridiculous.
“It would never happen in any other. These people are quite defenceless in many ways and are scared of going to court and they use fear to make money which I think is the last thing the world needs.”
The sector’s code of practice was reviewed after the BBC reported on the case of Rosey Hudson, who was taken to court by Excel Parking over a £1,906 claim after taking longer than five minutes to pay at a car park in Derby due to poor signal on her phone.
Her case was eventually dropped. Now the updated rules, to be brought in by the Private Parking Scrutiny and Advice Panel (PPSAP), will ensure “motorists who face genuine difficulties in paying in a short timeframe are treated fairly”.
The new code of practice will mean that drivers using private car parks, monitored by camera technology such as CCTV and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), will have a “safeguard” in place if they experience delays making payments.
Under the change, if motorists pay before they leave ANPR-managed pay on entry car parks, regardless of whether they pay within five minutes, they should not receive a penalty notice.
However, it “remains essential” for drivers to read signage carefully and follow the rules of the specific car park.
And the updated rules only apply to sites where technology supports this change, and does not apply to council car parks and private sites without camera monitoring.
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