New panel to urgently review '5-minute parking rule'

Richard Aucock, Contributor
Mon, 13 Jan 2025

The parking industry has established a new panel to oversee its code of practice following a recent high-profile court case involving an unfortunate motorist.

Rosey Hudson was taken to court last year by Excel Parking after accumulating a staggering £1906 in fines for taking more than five minutes to pay for parking.

She was giving 10 Parking Charge Notices (PCNs) after leaving her car to find phone reception so she could use an app to pay for parking.

Excel Parking later dropped the court case without explanation.

Following widespread outrage at the case, the British Parking Association (BPA) and International Parking Community (IPC) have established a new panel that will oversee their code of practice.

A key priority of the new Private Parking Scrutiny and Advice Panel (PPSAP) will be to urgently review the recent media case which has been dubbed the ‘five-minute payment rule’.

This will see "a revision to the code that protects genuine motorists who have difficulty making prompt payment on entry."

"This urgent reform is aimed at ensuring fairness for motorists and will come into effect by February 2025."

The BPA and IPC claim the new panel will also provide an impartial oversight mechanism to ensure the code raises standards for consumers.

They add that 99.77% of parking events are compliant and free from dispute.

BPA chief executive Andrew Pester said the formation of the panel will demonstrate that not only are we serious about raising standards but also making decisive changes to the code when issues arise.

"We must not forget the valuable service we provide to ensure the vast majority of people can park when and where they need to," says IPC CEO Will Hurley.

When the parking industry’s new code was announced last year, the RAC said it “took irony to another level."

"We’re flabbergasted that the BPA and IPC have suddenly announced plans to introduce their own ‘private parking code’ after doing all they can over the last five years to prevent the official Government Code created by an Act of Parliament coming into force," says head of policy Simon Williams.

Last week, we reported how the government’s own Private Parking Code of Practice is still not live – five years after it was passed by an act of parliament.

It has been delayed by legal challenges from both private parking operators and debt recovery companies.

Ask HJ

I received a parking ticket but the signage was incorrect - can I appeal?

I recently stayed in a private car park for longer than 10 minutes due to driving around trying to find the place I needed to be. I am concerned that I will now receive a fine because payment for parking could only be made online and the area had no signal (for me, perhaps other phone companies have better service). I managed to make payment the next day just in case and left a message with the landowner, but I am worried I will get a fine/invoice. Once I could make payment I noticed that the charges on the noticeboard differed from those I was made to pay (£1.70 ph advertised, and £2.10 charged). The increase was not due to admin fees. Does an appeal on the grounds that the noticeboard was incorrect (and therefore I did not know what contract I was agreeing to) have any weight?

Misleading or incorrect signage in a car park is potential grounds for challenging a parking fine, but it is no guarantee of success. In most instances it is worth appealing, as it does not cost anything to do so other than a little time and usually the parking company will still honour the early payment discount even if the appeal is unsuccessful. You can read our guide on how to appeal parking tickets here - https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/advice/driving-advice/parking-ticket-appeals/

Answered by David Ross

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