Parking fine loopholes – four tips for getting your fine cancelled

PARKING penalties can set you back hundreds of pounds - but there are ways to get off an unfair fee.

Here are our four top tips for getting your parking fine cancelled.

Despite the pandemic, the past two years have seen Brits slapped with record numbers of parking tickets.

A shocking 1.95 million motorists were fined in first three months of the 2021/22 financial year alone, according to the RAC Foundation.

While fines are capped at £100, repeat offenders can quickly mount up a hefty debt pile - and ignoring a parking notice could land you with an even bigger fine.

But there are ways to get out of paying.

Here are four ways to wriggle out of a parking fine after a yellow note has appeared on your windscreen.

If you plan to appeal it, don't pay

Parking tickets tend to double in price after 14 days, but paying is usually seen as admission of liability.

So if you want to get out of it, it's advisable not to pay.

And if your appeal fails within 14 days, you can still pay just half the amount you could otherwise expect to.

But you could also avoid paying it altogether, if your appeal succeeds.

Check when the ticket was issued

One key loophole for fined drivers is that if your ticket was issued more than two weeks after the alleged offence, it's not valid.

That's according to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

You'd be lucky for a council or private firm to make such a rookie error, but with tickets now so common, it's always worth a check.

You didn't overstay your welcome

Private car parks seem increasingly strict about how long drivers can stay.

And that can lead them to fine you without checking your rights to think about your decision - and a grace period.

According to the British Parking Association's Code of Practice, drivers get a five-minute consideration window at the beginning of their stay.

And since April 2015, motorists have been legally granted a ten-minute grace period at the end of a valid council car park stay.

Your ticket wasn't visible

Parking wardens don't tend to spend very long checking a vehicle before they place a ticket down, especially in a busy car park.

That means they could miss your ticket if it's well hidden or has fallen down the dashboard.

If that applies to you, simply send the council a snap of your valid ticket and your fine should be reversed.

Citizens Advice recommends appealing if you have any doubts about the fairness of your ticket.

The consumer charity writes: "It’s free to make an informal appeal by contacting whoever gave you the parking ticket, so it’s well worth trying.

"You can’t be taken to court while you’re informally appealing, so your credit rating won’t be affected."

We've written about the fine you could face for double parking.

Furious motorists accused their council of painting yellow lines UNDER their vehicles - before handing them a £70 fine.

And we've warned about the potential risk of a bailiff knocking on your door if you refuse to pay your parking ticket and don't plan to appeal.

This article, now updated, originally said drivers risk parking fines doubling if an appeal fails. In fact, they may still pay the discounted sum after an unsuccessful appeal. There is also no legal 'three minute rule', as the item previously stated: drivers may however appeal any fine imposed during the reasonable time it takes to buy a ticket.