UK parking charges explained
Not every parking charge is a fine, and not every one is enforceable.
A parking charge notice can come from a private company or from your local council, and the two are governed by completely different law. Knowing which one you have is the first step to knowing whether, and how, you can challenge it.
Private parking charge
Issued by a company such as APCOA, ParkingEye, NCP, or Group Nexus on private land, such as a supermarket, retail park, or hospital car park. It is a civil, contractual claim, not a statutory fine. The operator must be accredited by the British Parking Association (BPA) or International Parking Community (IPC), and must follow POFA 2012 to pursue a registered keeper.
Check by operatorCouncil PCN
Issued by your local council under the Traffic Management Act 2004, a statutory civil penalty for a parking contravention on a public road or council-controlled car park. It follows its own formal process: informal challenge, then a Notice to Owner, then a right of appeal to an independent tribunal (Traffic Penalty Tribunal or London Tribunals) if representations are rejected.
Check your council PCNThe most common reason a private charge is challengeable
The operator wants to pursue you as the registered keeper rather than the driver, but its Notice to Keeper missed a deadline, was missing required wording, or was sent to the wrong address. Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 sets out these conditions exactly: get one wrong and keeper liability can fail even if the parking itself was genuinely a breach.
Find your specific situation
By operator
Look up the company named on your notice: APCOA, ParkingEye, NCP, Group Nexus, and more.
By airport
Drop-off and short-stay charges at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, and Manchester.
By appeal ground
Signage, grace periods, ANPR errors, keeper liability, disability: the legal grounds that actually work.
By stage
New notice, rejected appeal, debt collector letter, Letter Before Claim, or court claim: what changes at each stage.
Frequently asked questions
Is a parking charge notice the same as a fine?▼
No, not if it was issued by a private company. A private parking charge (from an operator like APCOA, ParkingEye, or Group Nexus) is a contractual claim for an alleged breach of the terms displayed on site, and it is a civil matter, not a criminal or statutory penalty. A council-issued Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) is different: it is a statutory civil penalty under the Traffic Management Act 2004, enforced by the local authority rather than a private company.
Do I have to pay a private parking charge?▼
Not automatically. The operator has to prove several things: that it has authority from the landowner to enforce charges on the site, that the signage clearly formed a contract, and, if it wants to pursue the registered keeper rather than the driver, that it followed the Notice to Keeper rules in Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 exactly. A defect in any of these can be a genuine ground to challenge the charge.
What is POFA 2012 and why does it matter?▼
The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (Schedule 4) is the law that lets a private parking operator pursue the registered keeper of a vehicle when it does not know who was driving. It only applies on "relevant land" and only if the operator serves the Notice to Keeper within strict deadlines and with the required content. Get any of that wrong and keeper liability can fail entirely, even where the underlying charge might otherwise be valid.
What happens if I ignore a parking charge?▼
It depends on the stage. An ordinary reminder or debt-collection letter carries no legal power on its own. But a genuine Letter Before Claim, a county court claim form, a County Court Judgment (CCJ), or an enforcement notice from bailiffs must never be ignored. Each has its own strict deadline, and missing it can result in a default judgment against you that affects your credit file for six years.
Check your parking charge now, free
Upload your notice and we will identify whether it is a private charge or a council PCN, check it against current UK law, and tell you honestly where you stand.
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