'Dodgy' parking machines cause heartache as motorists pay fines despite being innocent

Drivers say they would pay private even if they'd done nothing wrong. One in 20 would pay up even if they knew they hadn’t broken the rules, according to the AA. Most would fork out just to ‘get rid of the hassle’, with 13% saying there’s no point in appealing these .

The majority would appeal, but only a third say they’d be ‘confident’ of success. These latest findings show “the delay in implementing the official government code is scandalous” says AA’s head of roads policy who supply roadside assistance all over the nation. Campaigner Lynda Eagan, who operates a ‘Private Parking Tickets - Help and Advice’ group with 47,000 followers, told The she worries about the mental health impact of these fines.

She said: “People are paying early to save themselves the aggravation of having to appeal, lose the appeal, pay even more and potentially go to court. What we really need to concentrate on is on the mental health of people. To get a PCN doesn’t sound very much but for some people £60 is a lot of money, it’s probably a grocery shop, especially for pensioners.

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“It’s a pain in your heart to know they are losing a night's sleep over it. Many of the vulnerable in the community are the ones getting tripped up by these parking machines. And it's all because of pure greed. It’s the gravy train they know is going to be grinding to a halt when the Government impose regulations. " She explained the wait for regulations for private firms goes back to 2017, the act was passed in 2019 but the proposed code of practice was withdrawn in 2022 and "it's now sitting dusty on a shelf.”

Lynda predicts we are heading for 14 million PCNs this year, based on the number of requests that the DVLA get.

“They are generating PCNs for things they know are unfair. The graph is going up at about the same rate every year.“ She says ‘dodgy machines’ are causing a lot of heartache, with sticky numbers and machines that encourage people to pay before they have put their full registration in. “I only see the tip of the iceberg but I see lots of people who say they put their registration in but the machine has made a mistake.

"Those people are offered a £20 early cancellation fee by the companies that are chasing them even though those companies know there are repeated problems in their car parks.”

AA members were asked to imagine receiving a PCN for something they didn’t commit, with one saying ‘pay as no one seems to win in a contest with parking companies.’.

One in 50 respondents said they would ignore the PCN letter, with one explaining ‘Ignore it as it's an invoice not a fine!’. While explaining their reason for paying and appealing one person said ‘I'd rather pay it so that it doesn't escalate then contest it to get refunded’.

Meanwhile, one in 12 (8%) said they would approach Citizens Advice for help. In 2021-22 Citizens Advice helped 7,412 people with concerns regarding private parking operators, but that has now grown by 34% to 9,926 requests for help in 2024-25.

In their poll of more than 11,500 drivers, one in 20 (5%1) said they would pay up immediately if they received a PCN even if they knew they did not break the rules.

Of those that would pay, more than half (53%) said they would do so because “it gets rid of the hassle”. More than one in 10 (13%) said they would pay the PCN because they felt they wouldn’t get a fair hearing at appeal, while shockingly 11% said they’d pay due to fearing legal action. In contrast, 53% of drivers said they would appeal a PCN letter from a private parking company, but only a third said they felt ‘confident’ they would be successful.

After a legal challenge a code of practice for private companies was withdrawn. The private parking sector have since implemented their own code of practice, which The AA does not endorse.

“In fact, 5% of drivers have been hoodwinked into believing that this self-authored code is the official government backed document,” they said.

The AA is calling on the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to act urgently and introduce the government backed scheme by the end of 2025.

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for The AA, said: “The delay in implementing the official government code is scandalous. Six years on, yet no part of the legislation has been introduced to protect and safeguard drivers from an aggressive industry. “The fact that drivers are willing to pay up when they have done nothing wrong, nor have any confidence in the current appeals process, shows why urgent action is needed.

“We are hugely concerned that the government is standing idly by while drivers continue to receive threatening letters from a sector that works on the basis of guilty until proven innocent. Urgent action is needed, and introducing the rules by the end of the year will help wrestle back some of the balance in favour of the motorist.

“Until the measures within the Act are in place, drivers will continue to be attacked by these shark-like businesses.”