Thousands of parking fines issued due to faulty ticket machines

Richard Aucock, Contributor
Wed, 23 Apr 2025

Thousands of motorists claim they are incorrectly receiving parking charge notices (PCNs) of up to £170 due to faulty ticket machines.

Many private car parks require motorists to enter their registration when buying a ticket. This ensures a ticket is assigned to a particular car – so can’t be passed on to another motorist if there is any time remaining on it.

However, The Guadian reports, many drivers are receiving PCNs despite saying they entered their vehicle registration correctly.

Lynda Eagan is a campaigner running a Facebook group offering parking ticket help and advice. It has 47,000 followers.

She claims that thousands of motorists are wrongly being sent PCNs – with the most common fault being ‘sticky keys’.

This means the registrations are not being recorded correctly. Even a single mistyped character can lead to a fine. 

Meanwhile, other machines encourage drivers to pay before entering their registration, something Eagan says is "set up to trap people."

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander agrees, telling The Guardian it is a problem that needs to be tackled.

The RAC has renewed its call for a government-backed code of conduct to be reintroduced. This received royal assent in March 2019 but, three years later, was withdrawn after a legal challenge from parking firms.

The parking industry has since developed its own 'code of conduct'. 

"Some parking companies are wrongly demanding ‘fines’ from drivers who have legitimately paid to park," says the RAC’s Simon Williams.

"Whether it’s a faulty payment machine that records the wrong vehicle registration or an innocent mistake keying in their numberplate, these people shouldn’t have to pay the £100 parking charge notices they are sent. Many cases seem completely unjustified and should be thrown out at appeal. But sadly, they so often aren’t."

Excel Parking recently saw a judge dismiss a claim demanding over £11k in charges from a driver who took longer than five minutes to pay.

The company, one of the UK's biggest parking operators, did not respond to requests for comment about allegations of faulty machines.

Ask HJ

Can I contest a parking ticket for parking on private land?

Once a week I attend a social function at a church hall for about 2 hours. I am aware that this is covered by a Parking Company called Civil Enforcement who are approved BPA Operators. When you enter the church grounds from the road, there are no signs telling you that you are entering a parking zone area. On entering, there are vehicles parked up to the fence on the left. These parked vehicles actually obscure signage telling you to register your vehicle! I usually drive past them and park immediately in front of the hall where there are no signs at all. Prior to entering the hall area there is a small screen for you to fill in your vehicle details and on doing so it confirms that you are allowed to park on this private land. Signage telling you to do so is either missing or fallen on the floor and the screen is so small that it could easily be overlooked. I have recently received an invoice from Civil Enforcement for £100.00 reducing to £60.00 if paid within 14 days of the notice (14th March 2025). They state that I parked on the 26th February 2025 and failed to obtain a permit to do so. The invoice shows two very grainy pictures purporting to be my car but could be any ones as no reg no is shown, although their written description correctly shows my reg no. etc I could have forgotten to register my car on this particular occasion but I doubt it and cannot prove it. Also there have been times when the screen was not working at all but I cannot remember when. Do you think I would stand any chance of successfully appealing due to inadequate signage?

We would suggest challenging the parking ticket, because it costs nothing to do so and is usually worth a try. You can read our in-depth guide on this process here - https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/advice/driving-advice/parking-ticket-appeals/

Answered by David Ross

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