Parking Charge Notice (PCN)

Parking Charge Notice - Incorrect Signage

After leaving her car in the car park of a shopping center in England, our client, Ms Malik, was issued a parking charge notice by a private parking firm. According to the parking charge notification, Ms. Malik was required to pay a £100 fine since she exceeded the allotted period. Ms. Malik felt that the incorrectly placed signs in the car park did not make the time limit for parking very clear.  

Ms. Malik contacted Aurora Assist to challenge the parking charge notice. Our team immediately reviewed the car park's signage and found that the signs were indeed confusing and misleading. The signage only displayed the time limit for parking in small font on the bottom of the sign, which was not easily read as Ms. Malik entered the car park. Moreover, the signs were placed in a location where they were easily obstructed by other cars, making it difficult for drivers to see the time limit.  

We encouraged Ms. Malik to write the parking company, describing the issue and supplying documentation of the problematic signs. Any advice to disregard such notices (in England & Wales) is very old advice from before the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 established that registered keepers were responsible for any private parking charges. The parking company's appeals process should be used to oppose the parking charge. We collaborated with Ms. Malik to draft the letter so that it would be effective and well-put-together.  

The parking firm decided to revoke the parking charge notice and ceased pursuit of it, after considering Ms. Smith's appeal. They admitted that there was unclear signage in the car park. We discovered that there had been numerous similar complaints about this particular car park.  

It gave Aurora Assist great pleasure to help Ms. Malik contest the inaccurate parking charge notice. This instance, in our opinion, emphasizes the significance of conspicuous signage in private parking lots. Signage must be legible, appropriate, and not blocked in accordance with the Code of Practice that private parking firms must follow to acquire digital access to the DVLA keeper database. If so, the resulting parking violations should not be the responsibility of the drivers or keepers. For more information about our service please see our page about challenging these charges here.