daft question, but as a newbie to the forum it strikes me that the amount of hassle, distress and basic illegal behaviour of these parking companies must warrant an OFT investigation or similar?
Hasnt anything been done to start this ball rolling, or do we need a push to get MPs involved etc?

the amount of threads has astonished me and the lengths these cowboys go to is shocking.

The DCLG is on it but may have taken a bit of a back seat following Brexit...

I take it this is the DCLG

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations...ocal-government

Presumably an England and Wales Dept

Parking reform: tackling unfair practices

...was supposed to have been finalised earlier this year

Seems to me it's just about ripe for proper regulation.

Regulars here have been around that block so many times, most of us are dizzy!

Any regulation of PPCs will start a new section similar to Council Parking.

Whilst people either ignore or fail to understand signage in relation to parking nothing will change.

Banning of enforcement by ANPR & Pay & Display with pay on exit via barriers as the only regime allowed would remove 99% of the issues with private parking.

Be careful what you wish for. I know the maximum charge was under discussion but this would be a minor clipping of wings.


There's no money or persecution in that regime

I quite agree. Pay on exit would be the best, with barriers but as stated there is no money in that game.

Additionally, it would cause quite a lot of hassle with people (At busy times) causing an even longer queue to get out of the car park (Even if you've got everything right and paid in advance, drive up, ticket in exit machine and drive out). There will always be some people who either 'exit' too early (my vague understanding is once you've paid at the machines to exit you've got 15 minutes to get the car out before the ticket will reject at the exit machine in many car parks) or simply drive up to the exit machine expecting to be able to pay there - and can't.

Carmageddon if they exist and carmageddon if they don't... You just can't win can you!

Well at least clamping got outlawed.
Driving around with a drill and cobalt bits, stihl saw with diamond blades and a baseball bat took up valuable room in the boot

It doesn't seem to be a problem at very busy multi-story car parks where pay on exit is the norm. The answer is all in the technology. Multiple exit barriers & ability to pay on exit. A good system that is common in France but I have not seen in the UK is use bank card to raise barrier on entrance & exit & payment is automatically taken for the correct duration. No tickets or ticket machines required. Even easier with contactless cards or Apple Pay.

I have witnessed occasions where barriers have failed causing a lot of frustration and gridlock.
I imagine that may be an excuse not to use them.

It's interesting reading threads about ppc's on "other" forums.
the amount of people who dish out so called advice and people who seem to think ppc's are some kind of authority and that they have already incurred ccj's.

one bloke on pistonheads referred to here as "some blokes down the pub" lol

well I suppose lawyers and barristers di frequent public houses.

As a regular visitor to France I cannot recall seeing such an operation but then I rarely pay to park. Bank cards in France are still the exception as cheques are still the norm.

However, French autoroute toll tags operate in all Vinci car parks in France and debit the account for car parking payment.

Don't know where you go but I use my Euro debit card all the time in France and very rarely see cheques these days. I agree, parking is very often free or minimal cost, even at popular tourist places. I do like the parking meters that take a lunch break !

I would welcome free car parks in all shopping destinations with proof of purchase inside a shop or retail park or shopping centre at a given Reception Desk or mobile phone app, with uploaded card total spend, on leaving the parking areas. Some have that system already.

I lived in France for 15 years & have returned many times since I came back to live in the UK five years ago. While it was once true that cheques were the norm nowadays it's Carte Bleue everywhere. Cheques used to be as good as cash in France because the Banque de France so rigidly enforced the blacklist of those who passed bad cheques but things seem to have changed. There was no such thing as a cheque guarantee card for the same reason - they weren't required. It's common now to see signs up in shops & garages saying that cheques aren't accepted. France has always been in the avant grade with regard to bank cards too but debit cards rather than credit cards. They have had chip & pin debit cards & card readers in shops for well over 20 years which is another reasons why cheques are rare nowadays.

I think given the number of double-dip ANPR cases on here, that would just be asking for trouble if it were implemented in the UK, the cameras just don't seem up to it. It's ridiculous enough that people are having to potentially go to court to not pay a parking charge at all, but can you imagine how much worse it would be if PPCs could charge automatically? I'm guessing it works in France because they may not have the same dodgy private parking industry that the UK has?

Stopping at a barrier on entry is very different to capturing a stream of traffic. The cameras are at low level,at the barrier , so doesn't suffer from the same problems as those at height. The oracle in reading uses it, various parking companies at airports do the same.

The systems where you swipe your bank card at entry & exit does not use ANPR it matches up the card entry time with card exit & charges accordingly.

What if you drive in ,find there are no spaces so decide you want to leave ..How do you get out ?

Drive to the exit with your ticket and put it in the machine - drive out.

There is usually a little known grace period in car parks that allow you to drive in, collecting a ticket and if you leave within a certain time limit - our local NCP is fifteen minutes - then it won't charge you.

Plus the system keeps a simple count in and out. It knows how many spaces are there...