Are parking firms treating drivers unfairly?

When the parking fine drops on to the mat the majority of drivers will have to hold their hands up and accept they were in the wrong.

But there are a growing number of motorists who feel they have been unfairly treated and that no-one is listening to them.

Some of the stories have been alarming, like that of pensioner Jo Turner who had a debt collector come to her door after she refused to pay a fine she insisted she didn't deserve following a visit to the Astle Retail Park in West Bromwich.

The outlet for these gripes to be heard is supposed to be the appeals process – but there are claims that even this isn't fit for purpose, leaving drivers with genuine complaints about their treatment with nowhere to turn.

They are then left with a decision of whether to pay up or try and avoid the action, which can be legally risky.

What is becoming an increasingly familiar tale is motorists who have unwittingly entered their registration number incorrectly on parking machines and, despite paying the correct amount and not overstaying, have been hit with fines.

That is what happened to 81-year-old Mrs Turner, from West Bromwich, who failed in her attempt to have her parking charge notice rescinded despite providing evidence she complied with the rules of the car park, apart from the mistake with her registration number.

The retired nurse has so far refused to pay up despite being visited by a debt collector.

She accused car park operators Smart Parking of being "unreasonable" and said: "I put my 80p in – they can put me in prison if they want."

After reading Mrs Turner's story, the Express & Star was contacted by Steven Scholey, from Stourbridge, who found himself in a similar situation.

With his initial ticket at the Astle Retail Park close to running out he bought another one, only to be fined for incorrectly entering his registration number. A motorist in Inverness was told to pay up for the same reason, while online forums are littered with complaints about unfair treatment by parking firms.

The irate drivers understood their mistake – which Smart Parking states breaches its terms and conditions – but have been incensed at not being able to have their tickets overturned.

Mr Scholey said: "There are that many people who will just pay it to get it over and done with. That is their business model."

Punished

Smart Parking says it has a fair appeals process and that a trained assessor will "review not only the site rules, but will apply a common-sense approach".

But motoring firm The AA said it was aware of drivers being punished for the simple error at the parking machine.

Head of roads policy Jack Cousens said: "One of the things we and our members feel is frustrating is being fined for not putting the correct reg in.

"It has been entered in good faith, the most common mistake is a zero for an 'o'. Parking companies are told but they say sorry the rules say it must be perfect and pristine, it must match what's on the vehicle and unless it does the parking charge notice stands.

"If you underpay or overstay you are bang to rights. However, somebody making an unintentional mistake when they have put the right amount of money in and not overstayed feels very unjust."

Such was the level of concern about the practice of some private parking firms, in 2017 The AA wrote to then-Transport Secretary Chris Grayling outlining "extreme reservations". A Private Parking Bill, designed to give motorists greater protection, is also due to come before Parliament in the near future.

Mr Cousens warned simply ignoring fines in the hope they will go away comes with its own risks.

"There can be consequences if you do not pay, it could lead to a county court judgement if you continue to protest. However, there are stories of people who don't pay and there is no further action taken," he said.

"Ultimately it is up to the individual but they need to be aware of the potential consequences of not paying."

The roads expert said he believed shopping centres, gyms, attractions and other locations where these parking firms operate need to consider how their customers are being treated.

When contacted by the Express & Star, a call handler at Astle Retail Park simply said it was not responsible for parking management.

But Mr Cousens said: "They should be interested in all aspects of their customers' experience.

"If someone does everything within their power and is still being issued with a PCN that person has a decision to make next time they do their shopping - do they go there or take their custom elsewhere."

A Smart Parking spokesman said: "“Smart Parking were engaged to manage the car park at Astle Retail Park to stop parking abuse, and to make sure motorists can always find somewhere to park.

"There are numerous signs across the site which clearly explain the car parks terms and conditions of use, one of which is to correctly enter your registration number into the ticketing machines when parking as, failure to do this may mean that we are unable to identify a specific vehicle. In the cases of Mrs Turner and Mr Scholey they did not do this and because we could not identify the vehicle, they received a charge. We would remind any motorist that when parking on private land they should always read the terms and conditions before deciding to park.

"Smart Parking are members of the British Parking Association (BPA) and we strictly follow its guidelines.”