Parking: Drivers to benefit from law changes

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the new rules will allow for “clearer rules, longer grace periods and lower charges for genuine mistakes”.

GB News has rounded up the most important new parking rule changes and what they mean for you.

Fines

Drivers will be given a guaranteed five-minute window to decide whether to park, and a 10-minute grace period to leave the car park without facing a penalty.

The Code has frozen the maximum parking charge at £100, with strong punishments for operators who fail to comply with the new rules.

Operators could lose access to crucial DVLA data, which is used to obtain vehicle records before they issue a fine.

Appeals

Parking operators must allow consideration for mitigating circumstances when assessing attempts by drivers to have fines scrapped.

Where there is reasonable evidence that a circumstance in the Appeals Charter applies, the appeal should be cancelled, or a reduced charge offered.

This could include stopping briefly to check directions, a medical emergency, a broken ticket machine or a vehicle breakdown.

Parking fines can also be capped at a maximum of £20 on appeal for smaller infractions, under the new Private Parking Code of Practice.

A reduced rate of £20 applies following first-stage appeals for the following circumstances:

• Where a parking permit has not been displayed but the driver subsequently supplies a copy of the permit they hold that would have been valid at the time identified in the parking charge notice
• Where the driver has paid the tariff but entered the wrong car registration (such as the registration of a partner or a previous car registration)
• Where the vehicle would have been permitted to park, but the driver failed to enter their registration into a terminal/device before leaving the site

Additional charges

If a parking charge notice becomes overdue, a sum of up to £70 may be added for the purpose of debt recovery.

However, operators must ensure that they comply with applicable customer protection legislation.

The Code states: “Compliance with Clause 9.1 does not override the requirement that motorists must be given a fair opportunity to see, read and understand any term relating to additional fees before deciding to park.

“The maximum amount of £70 permitted by Clause 9.1 does not mean that an additional fee will be fair, recoverable or payable in every case.”

Signage

All signs must now display terms and conditions, whether payment is required, the name of the parking operator and whether on-site cash payment is available.

They also need to be designed and installed to be legible in all lighting conditions, at a height that takes account of whether the signs are intended to be viewed from the vehicle, by a driver on foot or in a wheelchair.

Accessibility

Car parks that recognise the Blue Badge scheme must display information on where the badge is to be displayed within the vehicle, what extra parking time is being made available, and what, if any, actions the driver needs to take to claim this time.