Parking tickets on private land ‘unenforceable’

12th March 2015

Hundreds of thousands of drivers are likely to have been illegally penalised for overstaying their welcome while parking on private land, and could be entitled to repayments totalling many tens of millions of pounds.

A legal opinion for the RAC Foundation suggests that parking companies are levying huge charges on drivers out of all proportion to the losses suffered by landowners as a result of motorists’ actions.

Although the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 banned clamping on private land, drivers who stay longer than the time they have paid for are still likely to receive tickets demanding payments of up to £100 – and in some cases significantly more.

However barrister John de Waal QC argues that this is likely to be several times more than compensation for a genuine loss.  So it would not be enforceable by the courts.

“Payments at the level that operators presently demand are unlikely to count as genuine pre-estimates of loss; they should be seen by the courts as penalties, which means they are unenforceable,” he said in his report for the RAC.

He also argues that European consumer legislation, which requires contracts to be fair, means so-called ‘early payment discounts’ are unlawful because they constitute a ‘price escalation clause’.  Furthermore, when signs are not clear or prominently displayed, the charge can be challenged on the grounds of unfairness.