PARKING TICKETS

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PARKING TICKETS
Parking on-street (double yellow lines, parking
meters etc), and car parks controlled by Local
Authorities are very strictly regulated and
legislated, by the Road Traffic Regulation Act
1984, the Road Traffic Act 1991 and the Traffic
Management Act 2004. This is not the same for
parking on private land (in retail parks, Multi
Storey Car Parks etc) where there is no
legislation, except for the Law of Contract. To
address this issue, the BPA has issued a Code of
Practice to self regulate its members and to
provide a framework within the industry can
operate. This information sheet will explain some
of the issues arising from this new industry.
When might an off street parking ticket be
issued? A landowner may choose to issue, or to
employ an operator to issue parking tickets to
vehicles that are in breach of the rules that
have been set down for parking on that specific
piece of land.
What legislation regulates the issue of these
tickets? Tickets are issued under the Law of
Contract. When a vehicle parks on a private car
park, a contract is implicitly formed with the
operator whereby the driver of the vehicle agrees
to abide by the Terms and Conditions set out for
parking in that area. If those Terms and
Conditions are breached (by overstaying the
agreed/purchased time on the token for parking
for example), then a parking ticket may be issued
by the operator. Will I always receive a ticket
if I break the Terms and Conditions in a car
park? New technology called Automatic Number
Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras is being used in
some car parks now. This involves the placement
of a camera at the entrance, and also at the exit
to the car park. The camera will take a
photograph of a vehicle, matching it with the
time it enters the car park, and also a
photograph of that vehicle, matching it
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with the time it leaves the car park. If that
vehicle has overstayed the agreed parking
duration, then a ticket will be issued to the
keeper of the vehicle. I am a Blue Badge
holder surely my vehicle will not be
ticketed? The legislation for ticketing of a
vehicle belonging to a registered disabled person
is different for parking on private land. Blue
badge holders are still subject to the same Terms
and Conditions as other users of the car parks,
but are allocated priority parking spaces within
the car park. However the BPA recommends that
each contractor develops a policy with the
landowner that deals with these issues in a
sensitive way, giving due regard to a persons
disability. So how do they get my home details
to send any requests for payment? If you have
breached the Terms and Conditions of your parking
contract with the operator, they will take down
the details of your vehicle (make, model,
registration no). With this information the
operator will apply to the Driver and Vehicle
Licensing Agency (DVLA) for the details of the
registered keeper of the vehicle. Are they
allowed to do this? Provided they are registered
with the Information Commissioner, in breaking
the Terms and Conditions of the parking contract,
the operator has Reasonable Cause to apply for
keeper details of the vehicle.
I have a complaint about a ticketing operator
what can I do ? You must go through the Appeals
Process as set down by the operator on the
signage in that car park. As a membership
organisation, the BPA does not become involved in
individual enforcement cases. However the
Association does take a particular interest in
promoting best practice in the parking industry
and are concerned when our attention is drawn to
incidents which may not reflect this. At the
present time, all complaints received by the BPA
against its members are logged. (Complaints will
only be dealt with in writing or by e-mail to the
addresses below) If there is a breach of our Code
of Practice, the complaint is passed to them for
review, comment and further action where
appropriate. Any action taken by the BPA against
a member is based on facts relating to our
Code of Professional Conduct and our Code
of Practice (available on our website below).  If
there is a case to answer then a full
investigation and appropriate action will be
taken which may in extreme cases result in
suspension or termination of BPA
Membership. What if they arent members of
BPA? If the operator is not a member of the
Association, then our influence is more limited.
If it is pertinent, the Association will contact
the operator and point out any activities that
are in breach of the Code of Practice, and
recommend that the operator joins the Association.

The British Parking Association. Stuart House,
41-43 Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, West
Sussex RH16 3BN Tel [phone] Fax
44 (0) 1444 454105 info_at_britishparking.co.uk
www.britishparking.co.uk