Do I have to pay a private parking charge or 'fine'?

The short answer

Not automatically. A private parking charge is a company asking you to pay for breaking the terms of using its car park. It isn't a fine, it won't put points on your licence, and outside byelaw land (some stations, airports and ports) it isn't a criminal matter. You only owe it if the charge was issued properly and the company can show that you, as the driver or the registered keeper, are liable.

But don't ignore it. If you do nothing, the company can take you to the County Court, and an ignored court claim ends in a judgment that can damage your credit record. The safe choices are to pay it, ideally at the discount, or to appeal it in time.

Is it a fine?

No. Only public bodies issue fines and penalties. A private parking charge comes from a company running a car park at a supermarket, retail park, hospital, gym or block of flats. Legally it's a claim that you agreed to the terms on the signs by parking there, and broke them.

Companies often call it a 'Parking Charge Notice' and shorten it to PCN, which is the same abbreviation councils use for a Penalty Charge Notice. They are different things. A council or TfL notice is a civil penalty under public law, with its own appeal tribunals. If the notice comes from a council or TfL, our guide to council and TfL tickets explains the rules for those.

Can they make you pay?

Sometimes, yes. In 2015 the Supreme Court decided in ParkingEye v Beavis that an £85 charge for overstaying in a free car park was enforceable, because the signs were clear and the charge protected a legitimate interest in keeping spaces free. Since then, courts have treated a clear, properly issued charge as a debt you can be made to pay.

What a company can't do is skip the rules. To pursue the registered keeper rather than the driver, it has to follow Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. Most operators also have to follow the industry's code of practice to keep getting keepers' details from the DVLA. A charge that breaks those rules is much weaker, and many are cancelled on appeal.

When you probably don't have to pay

• For a camera-only parking event, the notice counts as given more than 14 days afterwards (a posted notice counts as given two working days after posting), so the keeper can't be made liable (England and Wales).
• The notice is missing wording the law requires, such as the warning about naming the driver within 28 days.
• You were parked in Scotland or Northern Ireland and you weren't driving: there's no keeper liability there.
• It was at an airport, railway station or port run under byelaws, where the keeper-liability law doesn't apply. The driver can still be pursued, and byelaw breaches are dealt with differently.
• You overstayed by less than the grace period: at least 10 minutes after your time ended in most car parks.
• The signs were missing, hidden, unreadable or didn't say what the charge would be.
• You paid but made a small typing error in your registration, the payment machine was broken, your car broke down or there was a medical emergency. The new government Code, expected to apply from late December 2026, says charges like these must be cancelled with evidence.

When you probably do

If the signs were clear, you broke the terms, the notice arrived in time with the right wording and none of the points above apply, the charge is likely to be enforceable. In that case, paying within 14 days at the discount, usually 40% off, is normally the cheapest way out. Arguing for its own sake can end up costing you the full charge plus debt recovery costs.

What happens if you ignore it

• Reminder letters from the parking company, often with the discount withdrawn.
• Letters from a debt collector, who can add up to £70. Debt collectors can't take you to court or send bailiffs: your dispute is still with the parking company.
• A letter before claim, which normally gives you 30 days to reply. Answer it, even if you dispute the charge.
• A County Court claim form. You usually have 14 days from service to respond, or 28 if you acknowledge the claim first.
• If you ignore the claim, the company can get a County Court Judgment (CCJ) without a hearing. If you pay the full amount within one month of the judgment, you can ask the court to take it off the public register (there's a form and a fee). If you don't, it stays on your credit file for six years.

Paying or appealing: the deadlines

Most charges are reduced by at least 40% if you pay within 14 days. You usually have 28 days to appeal to the parking company. If you appeal within the 14-day discount period and are rejected, the industry code says you can still pay the reduced amount for 14 days after the rejection, so appealing early doesn't normally cost you the discount.

Once you've paid, you've usually accepted the charge, and getting the money back is much harder. Decide whether to appeal before you pay.

Do you have to say who was driving?

No. If you're the registered keeper, you don't have to name the driver, and you can appeal as the keeper without saying who it was. Some of the strongest grounds, such as a late notice or missing wording, only help the keeper, so naming the driver can throw them away.

Who sent your charge?

How to appeal to the companies that send the most charges:

• ParkingEye
• Euro Car Parks
• UK Parking Control (UKPC)
• APCOA
• Civil Enforcement Ltd
• Excel Parking Services Ltd
• Vehicle Control Services Ltd (VCS)
• UKCPS Ltd

All parking companies