A young Birmingham driver took on a ridiculous parking charge notice (PCN). They got hit with the fine landing on a sudden stop in front of an urban outfitters. The incident, which occurred in February, has drawn much-needed attention to exorbitant fees charged by parking companies nationwide. These companies together issue about 41,000 PCNs a day, and many people have long criticized their lack of fairness and transparency in how they operate.
In this case, the driver was punished for an invalid infraction after parking for less than five minutes. They were given a £60 penalty at first. Later, they found out that the fee had jumped up to £100 because their reminder letter was sent out at the start of April. The letter explained that appeal was denied. The driver maintains that they never received notice of appeal outcome ahead of time.
Otherwise the driver is willing to pay the original £60 fine if their appeal is formally rejected. They are vigorously opposed to the higher fee because they weren’t alerted in advance that the fee was going up. They think it’s a lot, and it’s not right to get penalized for going a little more than two minutes. This is more so the case given that the parking location provides a five-minute “consideration period.” This time is meant to cover brief stops, but it ceases as soon as the car is parked and is no longer in use.
Given all that happened, the driver filed a second appeal, looking for a hard and fast answer. Just like you, we don’t think anyone should get a ticket for parking too long—for just eight minutes. This unfortunate case underscores the wider problems with parking enforcement. Not only does it demonstrate the way that communication gaps can result in undue punishment, but
This case poses critical questions about the predatory practices of private parking firms. Are existing regulations sufficiently protecting drivers from predatory fees? Discussions about their parking enforcement and parking fines are still the subject of discussion. It’s too soon to tell how this specific case will resolve and if it will result in increased oversight of predatory parking firms throughout Britain.