Private car parking practices can be challenged, CAS claims

Penalties imposed by operators of private car parks could be challenged if any unfair practices been involved, according to legal advice published today by Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS).

CAS has been campaigning on the issue since last year, after an increasing level of enquiries from people facing big charges for short over-stays. It found that private car parks often do not have clear signage setting out their fees, and that many firms were using aggressive and misleading tactics when pursuing debts, including a lack of adequate appeal methods that take into account mitigating circumstances,. Since the campaign started, the number of cases brought to it has shot up by a further 45%. 

According to the opinion obtained, by Mark Lindsay QC, there are two main grounds of potential challenge – failure to have sufficiently clear signage that a driver can read before choosing to park, and an excessive level of charges: 30% of CAS's clients were charged more than the maximum of £100 recommended by both the the British Parking Association and the Independent Parking Committee. 

CAS head of policy Susan McPhee commented: "In recent years we have seen a huge increase in the numbers of people seeking advice after being charged unfairly by private car parks. It is one of the most common consumer issues that we see.

"Last year we launched a major campaign to highlight the issues and to urge people to fight unfair charges. However the problem was that the legal situation has ways been unclear in Scotland, because it has never been defined. So that's why we commissioned a formal legal opinion.

"Now for the first time ever in Scotland, we have that legal opinion. And it states clearly that people can challenge private parking fees on two specific grounds: the size of the charge and whether the charges were adequately displayed in the car park.

"This is an important milestone in the campaign for fairer parking charges in Scotland. Legally, consumers now have a clear guide to how they can get redress for unfair treatment, and car parking firms know exactly what they are required to do in managing their business fairly and legally."