Getting a parking ticket can be a frustrating experience.Paul McAuley and Eilidh Farquhar Trainee Trends, Showbiz and Lifestyle Writer
12:41, 31 May 2026
Experts have explained which parking tickets drivers can ignore.(Image: Getty Images)
After a day of retail therapy or catching up with friends for lunch, your day can be ruined if you return to your car to find a parking ticket on the windshield. This can be increasingly frustrating when you are unsure what you have done wrong.
Reports suggest that the number of privately issued parking fines in the UK is continuing to rise. In the first half of 2023, it was reported that car park management companies made over five million requests for vehicle owner details from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
This was then seen to rise by another 600,000 in the second half of the year. On top of this, analysis from RAC has indicated that around 7.2million requests were made in the six months leading up to September 2024.
Based on these figures, it is now estimated that private parking firms are on track to issue over 14m worth of parking charges across the UK a year. However, it is important to know whether drivers actually need to pay the fine or if they can ignore it completely.
This depends on who issued the parking fine and if the company followed the correct procedures to back up its legitimacy, reports the Liverpool Echo. While this can sound confusing, consumer experts at Which? have shared the reasons that allow drivers to appeal certain parking tickets.
Sharing a video on social media, Which? experts stated that some parking tickets “can go straight in the bin” while others can be disputed.
RAC analysis estimates private parking firms are issuing over 14million parking tickets a year.(Image: Getty Images)
In the video, experts said: “You can appeal if the signs aren’t clear, if you’re charged more than £100, or if you have a mitigating reason like ill health or your vehicle broke down.”
The next question to ask is if the parking company is a member of an accredited trade association – this will either be the International Parking Community (IPC) or the British Parking Association (BPA). Finding this out is crucial to discovering if you need to pay the fine.
The video explains: “If it’s not, ignore it because it won’t be able to get your details from the DVLA to make you pay. If the parking company is accredited, write an appeal letter to it, including evidence of mitigating circumstances and photos of poor signage.”
Depending on which association the parking company is with impacts how long drivers have to send an appeal. If it is a member of IPC, you have 21 days after rejection to appeal to the Independent Appeals Service.
Meanwhile, drivers have 28 days to appeal to Park on Private Land Appeals (POPLA) if the parking company is a member of BPA. Free sample letters for appeals can be found on the Which? website.
The advice continues: “Then, if the independent adjudicator disagrees with you, your final option is to take the parking company to court. But do this and lose and you’ll have to cover its legal costs too.”
RAC analysis in April 2025 reported that parking companies were on track to hand out 14.5million tickets to drivers across the UK within a year.
It also discovered that just five companies in Britain were responsible for issuing almost half of all the fines given to drivers.
Next time drivers are in a parking lot, it is crucial to make sure you understand the rules to ultimately avoid the stress of being issued a hefty fine.