Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced the Government is reforming car park charges following an audit that found 52% of private parking companies that issued penalties were too harsh and left motorists unfairly punished.
It followed a steady increase in tickets issued by parking companies that penalised motorists for parking transgressions, some of which were minor. Ticket issuance has risen from 3.67 million in the financial year 2015-2016 to 16.9 million in financial year 2025-2026, a near five fold increase in a decade.
According to the RAC, of these parking companies that were audited, 40% were ranked as ‘red’ indicating serious compliance concerns, such as the possible misuse of DVLA keeper data or failures in controls or procedures, plus significant risks to data protection, governance or compliance.
Twelve percent were rated ‘amber’ highlighting weaknesses that need improvement but were not critical issues, whereas forty-eight percent of companies audited were rated as ‘green’ with no issues.
The BBC states that “new rules include a cancellation of charges for honest mistakes such as stopping to check directions and for non-payment due to broken ticket machines. Drivers will also get a 10-minute window to leave a car park without facing a penalty.”
Motoring groups welcomed the changes, but said more needed to be done to stop charges when the driver had done nothing wrong.
The audit was conducted on private car parks as more tickets at these sites are being issued compared to council owned car parks, and the data shows drivers faced private parking charges of over £4.6m each day creating a cash cow for some parking firms.
The new rules will cancel charges for honest mistakes such as non-payment due to broken ticket machines. Drivers will also get a 10-minute grace period which could cover queuing to pay for a ticket as the period expires, or being delayed by a few minutes when leaving.
The Prime Minister said "being a few minutes late back to your car or typing one digit of your number plate wrong shouldn't end with a hefty fine landing on your doormat," adding "people feeling ripped off and out of pocket".
The new rules provide drivers with the follow guidance:
A guaranteed five-minute period to decide whether to park
A 10-minute window to leave without facing a penalty
Cancellation of charges for issues drivers can't control, such as vehicle breakdowns in car parks
Cancellation of charges for honest mistakes such as stopping to check directions, as well as for medical emergencies or broken ticket machines
Maximum charges of £20 on appeal for slip-ups such as forgetting a parking permit, entering the wrong vehicle registration, or forgetting to confirm the registration in the machine when parking
A freeze on the maximum parking charge at £100, which is the same limit as the current private parking Code of Practice
The new parking code applies in England, Scotland and Wales with operators failing to comply could lose access to DVLA data, making it harder to issue fines to individuals.
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