Parking shake-up takes force after 'five-minute charges' but some say it'll make 'little difference' – here's what's happening

From today (Monday 17 February), drivers using private car parks with camera technology (such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) or CCTV camera monitoring) should no longer receive a parking charge notice as long as they pay in full for the duration of their stay before leaving the car park.

The BBC had reported in November 2024 that a woman was being taken to court for £1,906 after taking longer than five minutes to pay at a car park in Derby due to poor signal on her phone.

Today's changes follow a review of the sector's Private Parking Code of Practice, set up by the UK's two private parking industry trade bodies; The British Parking Association (BPA) and the International Parking Community (IPC).

In addition to scrapping the so-called "five-minute rule", the IPC told us that parking operators will also face auditing of car park signage and location, as well as on internal policies including complaints, appeals and data protection processes.

Citing this new code could help to bolster your case if you do have a complaint with a private parking firm, though the changes aren't straightforward, as we explain below.

Firstly, the new code simply WON'T apply everywhere

There are some exceptions, including:

• Privately-run car parks without ANPR or CCTV camera monitoring. According to the IPC, the vast majority of its car parks do have this form of camera monitoring, but not all will.

• Private car parks run by firms that aren't registered members of either the BPA or the IPC. This new code of practice only applies to firms that are members of the two trade bodies.

• Council-run car parks. Unlike privately-run car parks that hand out parking charge notices (invoices that can be unenforceable), council-run car parks operate slightly differently and can hand out official parking fines.

Secondly, while the changes may help some, there are still gaps in protection

For example, you could still be at risk of a parking charge notice if you:

• Fail to pay for the FULL duration of your stay. According to the IPC, this is most often calculated from the time you enter the car park, to the time you leave. So if, for example, you arrive at the car park at 2pm, it takes you 15 minutes to pay and you then pay for the hour from 2.15 to 3.15pm, you could be at risk of receiving a charge for those extra 15 minutes.

• Can't pay due to the machine or parking app not working. Even if you swiftly leave the car park you could be at risk of receiving a parking charge as technically you've not paid for your stay, no matter how short. The IPC told us that if you receive a charge in this instance, you should appeal it and make clear the situation.

This new code also only applies to charges issued on or after 17 February or to charges issued before this date that are unresolved. So, if you've received a charge prior to this date, which you've paid, you won't be able to go back and appeal it.

Campaigners say the changes don't go far enough and are calling for urgent Government intervention

In 2019, the Government introduced a statutory Private Parking Code of Practice, which was due to put certain protections for drivers into law. This included a proper grace period at the start and end of the parking period, a cap on parking charge fees of £50 and the removal of additional debt recovery fees.

But the code was temporarily withdrawn in 2022 following a legal challenge from several parking firms. Earlier this month, the Government confirmed in a House of Lords debate that it would be launching a new consultation on plans to regulate the industry later this year.

Simon Williams, head of policy at motoring group the RAC, issued a call to the Government to introduce a statutory code of practice much sooner and criticised today's change as just "an attempt for the private parking industry to look fair".

Mr Williams said: "As there's no information on how the change will work in practice, we fear it will make little difference to drivers. It's also important to realise this is the industry's own code, not the Government-backed Private Parking Code of Practice, which was enabled by an Act of Parliament in 2019 yet has never come into force due to a legal challenge. We want to see the statutory code in operation as soon as possible."

In January this year, MP for Derby South, Baggy Shanker, said he'd written to the Government, along with other MPs, also calling for it to introduce a statutory code of practice soon to better protect drivers.