Hospital and GP parking charges are a nuisance for many, especially vulnerable people, who are often erroneously charged. 

The good news: private firms operating parking spots have no legal authority to fine you. They merely issue parking charge notice invoices and their claims can often be challenged.

Consumer disputes expert and Money blog regular Scott Dixon explains how…

Contact the GP or hospital

The easiest way to cancel a parking charge is to contact the surgery in question, explain what happened and ask them to cancel the charge.

For hospitals, contact the Patient Advice Liaison Service and avoid contacting the parking firm.

“Be polite but insistent,” Dixon says. 

“If they refuse to cancel the charge, escalate it to the NHS trust CEO as a formal complaint.

“If they say they will, always get confirmation in writing.”

Appeal the charge

If you cannot get your notice cancelled that way, you should formally appeal the charge – follow these steps:

• Appeal within the set time frames laid out on the parking charge notice;
• Check the signage. Dixon says: “Signs must provide sufficient guidance to make an informed decision before you enter into a contract. Take photos as evidence or use Google Street View to scope the car park.”

• Check the times – consideration and grace periods apply. Dixon says: “If the breach is only for a few minutes and you did not park, it can be argued that the invoice is invalid because no breach of contract occurred.”
• Check the dates – parking charge notices need to be issued within 14 calendar days from the day after the parking event plus two working days for postage. If they’re issued later, appeal.

Complain to a regulator

If the first appeal fails, which is quite likely, you should escalate your appeal to a regulator.

Dixon says: “If the parking firm is a member of the British Parking Association, request a POPLA code to escalate your appeal…

“If the parking firm is a member of the International Parking Community, you can escalate your appeal to the Independent Appeals Service.”

Use the Equality Act

The Equality Act 2010 applies to disabled patients and provides strong grounds to challenge enforcement where reasonable adjustments were not made – both for charges issued by parking firms and council fines.

Dixon says requirements such as “taking your blue badge to reception to register” or “scanning your blue badge at the payment machine” place an unfair burden on disabled motorists.

This is likely a breach of the Equality Act 2010. Wherever possible, a disabled motorist should get their vehicle added to the exemption list so they do not have to register every time.

Other valid reasons for appeals on the grounds of the Equality Act are mobility issues or chronic fatigue that mean you take longer to return to your vehicle.

This includes passengers who are wheelchair users or have a medical appointment overrunning due to a condition which is captured as a disability.

Dixon says: “The scope is vast. If you can directly link your medical condition or disability to what you consider to be an unfair parking ticket, you have good grounds to appeal it.”

You don’t have to pay

If all appeals fail, you still don’t need to pay: “Parking firms and parking associations cannot enforce payment,” says Dixon. 

“Only a court can enforce payment, and that is only if you ignore a Letter Before Claim and the parking firm secures a default county court judgement.”

It’s important you don’t respond to threatening letters from debt collectors, as they’re powerless. The only letter that needs a response is a letter before claim or before action, which is a precursor to court action.