Parking stories in the News/media

Nellymoser

https://www.change.org/p/been-caught-out-parking-after-8pm-at-west-quay-retail-park-cancel-fines-make-it-fairer/u/34464627

Another update from Cllr Jeremy Moulton on his petition page

🚗🅿️ Some new signage has appeared in recent days stating:

“Day tickets DO NOT carry over past 8:00pm. A new night rate ticket MUST be purchased for staying after 8:00pm via PayByPhone.”

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/25991587.west-quay-car-park--trading-standards-review-signage/

Coupon-mad

I wouldn't normally post an American article but this one is of interest.

I was struck by the class actions in Tennessee and the robustness of huge sanctions & multi-million dollar fine handed down to a camera-using PPC called Metropolis:

https://eu.elpasotimes.com/story/news/local/community/2026/04/07/el-paso-airport-parking-company-faces-lawsuits-in-texas-tennessee/89483362007/

The Class Actions:

The Better Business Bureau reported a total of 841 complaints against the company over the last three years.

Metropolis faced a class action lawsuit in Tennessee filed in June 2024 alleging that it "mailed fake parking citations" and that it "obtained, disclosed and used" vehicle owners' personal information in violation of federal law.

"Metropolis’s business model ostensibly involves charging drivers to park their vehicles in its facilities," the lawsuit stated.

"However, Metropolis’s business also profits by mailing fake parking citations to vehicle owners and threatening them with severe consequences if they do not pay exorbitant sums."

The law office handling the suit, Parker & Crawford in Brentwood, Tennessee, confirmed that it is ongoing.

A separate class action lawsuit was filed against the company by two Texas law firms — the Houston-based Lanier Law Firm and the Dallas-based Vertabedian, Hester and Hayes firm — in September 2024. The suit alleges that Metropolis "intentionally devised a scheme to overcharge customers" that failed to "follow a confusing parking system,"

"When a driver leaves without paying — sometimes after a stay as short as sixteen minutes — Metropolis mails a 'Notice of Parking Violation' to the driver's home, complete with photos of their car," Daniella Main, an attorney working on the class action suit in Texas, said in an email.

"The Notice demands the unpaid parking fare plus a so-called 'Violation Fine' that dwarfs the original charge."

"In one of our clients' cases, the unpaid parking fare was $5 and the Violation Fine was over $70 — more than fourteen times what parking actually cost," she added. "In another, a $9 fare came with a $30 Violation Fine."

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Tennessee sanctions & massive fine

Less than three months ago, Metropolis reached a settlement in Tennessee over "consumer complaints about unclear pricing and inadequate signage," as well as "misleading communications about parking fees and violation notices," according to a news release from Tennessee Attorney General. As of January, the attorney general's office received more than 300 complaints against Metropolis.

“Tennesseans work hard for their money, and when they park they deserve a clear price up front and no shenanigans with bogus charges and stonewalling customer service,” said the release. “My office is here to protect consumers and hold companies accountable, and this is exactly the type of situation where we need to step in."

The investigation found that Metropolis:

• misled consumers about parking prices through inaccurate signage,
• charged unexpected fees due to technology glitches,
• made refunds nearly impossible to obtain, and
• created confusion with notices that resembled government bills.

What was in the settlement?

Metropolis settled with the state of Tennessee in January for $8.75 million.

Along with covering consumer refunds, the company is also required to take the following actions, according to the news release from Skrmetti's office:

• Create and implement the Tennessee Parking Program, which will provide $2.25 million in credits for free parking sessions for eligible Tennessee consumers;
• Display clear signage with accurate rates at every lot entrance, showing current active rates and the customer support phone number;
• Send text messages with rates upon entry to lots that use license plate reader technology;
• Never charge more than is posted on the signage;
• Give consumers a 15-minute grace period to enter and exit with no charge in lots using license plate reader technology;
• Stop implying affiliation with any local or state agency in electronic or mailed notices;
• Comply with all state and local booting regulations {i.e. wheelclamping}
• Automatically issue refunds where their technology malfunctions and wrongfully charges a consumer;
• Evaluate each refund request individually.

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It all sounds very familiar in terms of MO.

The difference is, the investigation had clout and is a shining example of consumer protection in action.

The MHCLG should read & heed that & this Government needs to consult the CMA and follow Tennessee's example, instead of faffing about with a worthless, lily-livered Options Assessment in 2025…

… which many observers might say came about because the MHCLG looked to have given more weight to their fear of Judicial Review than protecting consumers from what the equivalent Tory Minister had outed as 'extortion'.

Fast forward 3 years and Labour said, in effect:

• "OK, so we've been tasked by the 'Knight Act' to regulate the private parking industry and we've heard unanimous calls from MPs since 2018 to curb the greed and that 3 figure sums must end.

So here we go:

1. "Let's let this universally hated rogue industry have their £100 a pop, which must be high enough because the trade bodies say it is"
2. "Let's list some ideas that are ostensibly 'options' but in fact all of them fall for (and we even repeat) the lie that a 29p trace & some template reminder / pre-action letters represent extra heads of cost"
3. "Let's also repeat the industry bobbins that has scaremongered us into thinking that "debt recovery may not be able to operate in this space if the double recovery (false) fee is banned". Even though we have seen evidence that's untrue (DRP and ParkingEye used to operate without adding any fake fee but have seen an opportunity and ran with it) and despite the fact that all other UK traders have no ability to add 'fees' to consumer debt and they see DRAs as a last resort…but no…let's just believe the greedy industry we are meant to be curbing and we'll invent a new 'Late Fee' specially for them. Never mind that it goes against the POFA and Beavis and that consumer debt was specifically exempted by the Law Commission from Late Fee regulations"
4. "oh, and let's invent a new acronym 'DRF' for the false 'fee' because we've fallen for the double recovery aspect, hook, line and sinker".
5. "We are therefore minded to kick the can down the road 2 years or so, and let them carry on with exorbitant £170 threatograms (which we KNOW represent double recovery and we've been warned will open the floodgates to even more litigation - £billions - because that will give them carte blanche to sue over previously dormant back catalogue 'debt books' … but we are confused and scared of the industry and they are telling us the opposite…)"
6. "Let's also ignore calls to set the PCN at the same level as LA penalties and ignore calls to set the discount period at 21 days from service (same as LA postal PCNs), even though a 14 day discount isn't long enough for notices delayed by the postal service and/or by PPCs using second class post and lying about the date sent".

We can only hope they've realised.

Nellymoser

https://walthamforestecho.co.uk/2026/04/02/tories-call-for-council-to-refund-fines-issued-in-controlled-parking-zones/

Waltham Forest Conservative leader Emma Best has filed a formal complaint with the CE of the Labour-controlled council. She says the controlled parking zone (CPZ) policy, introduced to tackle pollution and congestion, only serves to make the council money.

Council data from December showed its takings had doubled under the scheme.

“The council has misled the public and I believe this now makes them liable to refund all enforcement payments or purchased parking sessions,” Cllr Best wrote in her letter.

She pointed to Croydon Council facing a £10m bill over its low-traffic neighbourhoods – which are different to CPZs – following a High Court ruling that found it had unlawfully introduced the schemes to help bolster its finances rather than for road safety or the environment.

Car1980

Postman brought a letter today, as expected (car had broken down). Oddly Horizon now seem to be happy with forty quid 🤔

Jenni_D

It's nothing new .. it's the usual "pay early" bribe. (Unless you're saying the PCN is actually £100 not £70, and £70 is the usual discounted amount).

Car1980

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81955937#Comment_81955937

Yes, it's £100 with the mug's discount at £70 on the PCN. I've never seen straight to £40 on a covering letter.

Coupon-mad

https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/26004259.man-fined-parking-issues-colchester-hospital/

So they tried to pay before exiting and could not. Sounds familiar. We had an article like this last year. Not sure it was about the same location.

Anyway, Group Nexus refused the victim's appeal but (true to form) after the involvement of a Councillor who contacted the hospital, the unfair charge was finally quashed.

(But Mr Williams claims he was then sent an email saying he still needed to pay).

Marvellous.

How professional (not).

The BPA must be so proud.

Coupon-mad

https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/man-fined-8-times-after-10906360.amp

"Dozens of fines have been handed out to everyone in the village after a car park's cameras were adjusted so that they pointed onto a nearby road. A man found himself with eight parking fines worth £500 despite having never parked his car in the car park they came from.

Llew Nagle, 51, says he and his neighbours have had at least 30 fines through their letterboxes in total after parking cameras incorrectly picked up the registration plates of vehicles driving past a car park near where they live in the village.

Mr Nagle said: “I was shocked and disappointed with the fact that it happened and the response we received from the parking company. The Bungalow’s Diner has been brilliant, because they were unaware that this had been changed around them.

Locally, everyone’s been great, but the response we’ve received from this agency has been really poor. I’ve done a check with people I know down the road and I’ve counted over 30 tickets already.

The response to the mistake hasn’t filled me with confidence that they’ve dealt with the whole problem and refunded people. They seem like they’re operating in the Wild West.”

UK Parking Control were approached for comment.

The BPA must be so proud.

Nellymoser

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/SPZ.XA/earnings/SPZ.XA-H1-2026-earnings_call-376707.html

Transcript of Smart Parking’s first half FY26 results investor conference call. The Q&A section is a very interesting read (begins 0:21:20). It was in Australia seems they call our PCN a PBN parking breach notice.

First question is from Michael Holland: How are you managing the reputational and/or political risk of pushing harder on U.K. PBN debt recovery in a market that is sensitive to affordability? And Stella Wang has added a rider to that, which says: Is the AUD 100 revenue per PBN in the U.K. sustainable, given cost of living pressures and the debt recovery operators earning high margins?

I particularly liked the one from James: You mentioned some sort of tactical measures that you've employed in the U.K. to improve the ticket growth and make it closer to the site growth. Could you just explain what they are, just so I can understand how you can influence customers to, you know, get more, get more tickets to customers, in a way?

LoneStarState

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81958134#Comment_81958134

I suspect forum shopping from the BPA/POPLA to the IPC/IAS might have been one of the tactical measures.