The RAC's reaction to this announcement by the private parking
industry can be found below.
Context: The RAC called on the Government and MPs many years
ago to act after being contacted by drivers who felt the actions
of private parking companies were entirely unreasonable. In 2017,
Sir MP introduced the Parking (Code
of Practice) Bill which received Royal Assent in 2019 with
cross-party backing and Government support.
RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “We're flabbergasted that
the BPA and IPC have suddenly announced plans to introduce their
own ‘private parking code' after doing all they can over the last
five years to prevent the official Government Code created by an
Act of Parliament coming into force.
“While there are clearly some positive elements to what the
private parking industry is proposing, it conveniently avoids
some of the biggest issues around caps on penalty charges and
debt recovery fees which badly need to be addressed to prevent
drivers being taken advantage of. These elements, alongside a
formal appeals process, are currently being worked on by the
Government and in our opinion can't come soon enough. Nothing
should stand in the way of the official Code, least of all a new
industry scheme which muddies the waters and risks confusing
drivers.
“For the private parking industry to all of a sudden paint
themselves as being whiter than white with their own ‘code' and
appeals charter takes irony to another level.”
