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Parking charges don’t apply on Sundays or bank holidays.
It’s often assumed that you can park for free on Sundays or bank holidays but this is very much dependent on where you’re parking. It’s always worth double checking before leaving your car, so you don’t end up with any nasty surprises when you get back!
I can ignore a parking charge notice from a private firm.
This one is particularly relevant to our observers, who often meet their associates in a supermarket car park where the parking restrictions are enforced by a private firm.
The rules are different if you’re parked on private land. Instead of a penalty charge notice, you’ll be given a parking charge notice, which is essentially an invoice for breaching a contract. The details of this contract will be signposted in the car park.
Companies often pay private firms that specialise in enforcing parking in car parks. If they are members of the British Parking Association or Independent Parking Committee, these firms can request your data from the DVLA and send you a PCN through the post.
If you refuse to cough up, the company will have to take you through the civil courts to force you to pay.
This is costly and time-consuming, so they may not pursue the claim. However, if they do, you could end up with a much larger fine that includes court costs. If you have broken the rules and been issued a PCN, it’s often easier - and cheaper - just to pay it than try to avoid it.
Traffic wardens have targets.
There’s a common misconception that local authority traffic wardens are given targets and receive bonuses depending on the number of parking tickets they give out. This is strictly not true for any traffic warden employed by the local council.
This is also not true for any traffic warden hired by a private company that is a member of the British Parking Association, who banned any financial incentive for the quantity of parking tickets issued. That being said, if a private parking company is not a member of the British Parking Association or Independent Parking Committee, there’s no robust way of knowing whether they set targets or not.
I can drive away before the traffic warden hands me a ticket to avoid being fined.
Even if the traffic warden hasn’t put the penalty charge notice on your windscreen, they can still request your details from the DVLA, using your car registration number, and send it to you through the post.
There’s no such thing as a ‘10-minute parking grace period’.
Actually, there is! It’s the law that drivers have a 10-minute grace period before being fined if they’re late back to their car. This doesn’t just apply to council-owned parking spaces but to private car parks as well. No longer do you have to run down the road at top speed to get back to your car for the exact time your ticket expires!
A traffic warden has to observe my vehicle for a minimum period before giving me a ticket.
There is no strict requirement for traffic wardens to monitor a vehicle for any period of time before giving it a PCN.
Some contraventions are eligible for an instant fine - parking on zig-zag lines outside a school, for example - but others - such as stopping on double yellow lines - may need an observation period of anything up to five minutes to prove that, for example, passengers weren’t alighting or goods weren’t being unloaded.
If I have a blue badge, I can park anywhere.
Although parking rules are slightly different for blue badge holders, as they can park on single and double yellow lines, they can’t park everywhere. For example, loading bays and junctions must remain clear from obstructions and traffic wardens can issue tickets or ask for cars to be moved if they feel these rules are being broken. Common sense is required. Don’t leave your car if it causes an obstruction to other motorists, such as near a junction or on a busy road.
The maximum time a Blue Badge holder can park on single or double yellow lines is three hours.
Blue Badge holders will have to pay to park in private car parks, unless there are signs saying otherwise. Some public Blue Badge bays have their own time restrictions, but these should be signposted clearly.
A traffic warden has the power to ask a Blue Badge holder to move their car for whatever reason, even if the driver believes he or she is following all these rules.
A traffic warden can cancel a fine.
If you’re given a parking fine which you deem to be unfair, there’s not much point taking it up with an individual traffic warden.
They have little power to cancel a fine and they won’t have any desire to do so. Instead, you’re within your rights to appeal against it with the council.
If you plan to go down the appeal route, don’t pay the fine. Doing so is an admission of guilt and you’re unlikely to get the money back. Contact the council as soon as possible – and certainly within 14 days - and outline why you feel the fine isn’t justified. Use pictures of where the car was parked, along with any signs in the area to support your appeal.
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