Parking Fines

Have you ever been hit with a parking fine? Did you know you may be able to appeal against your parking ticket? Below we have listed most of the reasonable grounds for appeal. Appealed fines that get through to the tribunal stage have a huge success rate of around 70%!

Parking Fines

If you park in a restricted area then you are more than likely to receive a parking fine or worse still, have your vehicle towed away. Parking fines can vary but usually start at about £30 or £40. You have to pay a fine within a certain time frame and if you exceed this then the parking fine is likely to increase.

Non payment of parking fines could result in you eventually being summoned to court so it is worth paying up as quickly as possible. There should be instructions on how to pay on the ticket itself, but if you are unsure then contact the issuer.

If you do not escape only with a ticket and your car is towed then you will receive more of a hefty bill, usually over £100 and will have to go to the car pound to pay up and retrieve your vehicle.

Reasonable grounds for appealing parking fines

Before appealing any parking fine you should make sure you have grounds for your case, if you do decide to appeal because you believe that you should not pay the fine you should be aware that if you pay your fine within 14 days the price of the fine is halved but if you appeal this is likely to take over 14 days so you must be sure before you appeal or it could cost you money

You were not the owner of the car

If you were not the owner of the car or if someone else was driving your car you will be able to appeal against the parking fine. However you will need to provide all of the contact details for the new owner or the person that was driving your car

If your car was stolen you will need to provide a crime reference number when you appeal.

The signs were not visibly clear

If the signs we not visibly clear or something was covering the signs then you may have a case for an appeal. By law and for any fine to stand the council must provide signs on each road in areas where parking is restricted. However the council do not need to put up multiple signs along the road it is up to you to check for a sign or keep an eye out when you enter a road BUT if the parking is restricted on a single road the council have to put up signs on every lamppost or if the lamposts are more the 60m apart they have to put in a signpost.

If it is found that there were clear visible signs and your appeal is not genuine then you will have probably gone over the 14 day period and would have to pay 50% more so before you lodge an appeal you should go back and check the road where you parked if possible.

The lines were broken or there was not a T at the end

The council have to maintain road markings and make sure all road markings are put on the road correctly. If at the end of double and single yellow lines they are not cut off with a T-Bar then you have a reason for an appeal or if there are any breaks in the line markings.

You are a car hire company and were not driving the car

If you are a car hire company and one of your rented cars have received a parking ticket then the parking ticket will come to your office. It is then up to you to provide the details of the person that was driving (had possession of the car) at that time.

You were unloading or loading your car on a single yellow line

If you were unloading or loading your car on a double yellow line then you will still have to pay the fine since you are not allowed to stop on these at any point unless otherwise stated.

If however you are loading or unloading your car on a single yellow line you are able to do so for up to 20 minutes unless otherwise stated.

If you are parking in a private car park like a supermarket car park then they will not be regulated by the law but instead upon entering their car park you agree to a contract between you and the owner of the car park, the rules for private car parks depend on the owner.

Information was left of the ticket

If the ticket you received has information missing then you could be eligible to have the ticket marked void. If your ticket is missing any of the following then you should be eligible:

• The amount you have to pay
• A statement indicating that if the fine is paid within 14 days you will get a discount of a specified amount
• An address or contact number of where you should pay the fine
• The reason why you got the ticket in the first place
• A notice specifying how long you have to pay the fine (usually 28 days)

They took too long to send confirmation of the ticket

If you do not pay your fine within 14 days then a notice should get sent to the owner, if the notice does not arrive within 6 months then you will have a reasonable case for an appeal.

What to do next

If you believe that you have been given a ticket or towed unfairly, then you can lodge an appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. For more information or to appeal online see the Traffic Penalty Tribunal website.