Could the law on parking charge notices change this year?
Today marks the start of an appeal hearing in the Supreme Court brought by an individual against a private car park operator in Barry Beavis v ParkingEye Ltd.
In a Court of Appeal hearing earlier this year, Beavis had argued that an £85 private parking charge notice, which had been issued by ParkingEye for overstaying a limited period of free parking, wasn’t comparative to the loss incurred by the firm; but the Court of Appeal ruled against Mr Beavis, deeming the £85 to be reasonable. However, clarification wasn’t given on what constitutes an unreasonable fine, leaving some uncertainty on the law in this regard and the Court of Appeal granted Mr Beavis permission to appeal its judgement.
If the Supreme Court moves to overturn the Court of Appeal judgement, a new precedent would be created that could alter how private parking charge notices are issued and set limits on the charges, potentially retrospectively.
The consequences of such a ruling would have a huge impact on the car parking industry and the management of private car parks, which in recent years has seen a drive for a low-cost/ no-cost service to landowners offset by the operators’ ability to generate revenue through the issuing and payment of private parking charge notices.
A judgement in this case isn’t likely to be delivered until later on in the year.
If you are a landowner and you have any concerns about this case and it’s impact upon your existing or potential car park then please get in touch with our team.
Visit our news page for updates on this story and for more parking industry insight.
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