Being charged £100 for not displaying a parking ticket, even though the ticket machine is broken.
Receiving multiple letters from debt collection agencies for parking charges, when no parking notice was received in the first place. Following signs advertising free parking only to find a ticket is still required from the machine and being charged £100 for not having one. These are just some of the complaints made to Citizens Advice bureaux around Scotland about the way some private car parks operate.
Citizens Advice has recorded a 50 per cent increase in cases regarding parking this year compared to last and have understandably come to the conclusion that this unregulated sector must be brought under control.
Among the problems it highlights is poor signage: notices that are poorly displayed, confusingly worded and sometimes misleading. Because of poor signage, drivers might infringe the rules without even realising they have done so. The elderly in particular could be at risk of being caught out in this way.
Another significant problem is the disproportionate level of charges some car parks levy for minor infractions. Local authorities charge £60 for parking violations, reducing the penalty to £30 if promptly paid. But when Citizens Advice sampled 269 calls made to its staff about private car parking, it found charges ranging from £40 to £200, with a spike at around £100. There is no good reason why this should be allowed to continue. The charges should be brought within the same range as local authority penalties.
The root of the problem is a lack of any kind of legislation or regulation in Scotland dealing with parking on private land, but it is time there were some. Not every operator of a private car park is responsible for these unfair practices, by any means, but there are enough who are to make a strong case for action. Four years ago, a trading standards vetting operation of 24 car parks in the north of Scotland found that two-fifths had inadequate information in place, six featured misleading actions and omissions, and in three, serious issues were uncovered, including aggressive practices.
As Citizens Advice Scotland argues, the Scottish Government could take action by setting up a register of private parking firms and establishing a clear code of practice. Only those who were on the register could operate. Since some car parks may be very small scale, it would be necessary to make sure registering were not prohibitively expensive.
One of the problems facing drivers caught by unfair or disproportionate charges is that they have no one to appeal to and are left to fight it out alone with the car parking firm, which is not the case south of the border. It is time for an appeals body to be set up in Scotland.
It is perfectly fair that operators of private car parks set limits on the use of their facilities to prevent them being abused but, in return, motorists should have confidence that they will be fairly dealt with. At the moment, far too many feel they are not.
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