Parking Charge Exceeds the £100 Legal Limit

Under the rules that govern private car parks, the most a parking charge notice can demand is £100. If you pay within 14 days, that figure must drop to £60. Any notice asking for more than £100 from the start — or that bundles in extra 'admin fees' before any debt collection has even begun — is not enforceable. Note that legitimate debt-recovery costs added later, at a proper debt-collection stage, are a separate matter and can be added on top.

Legal basis

Private Parking Sector Single Code of Practice v1.1 (in force 17 February 2025), clause 8.2.1 — "Parking charges must not exceed £100"; clause 8.2.2 (minimum 40% discount for payment within 14 days); clause 9 (where a parking charge becomes overdue a sum of up to £70 may be added). The £100 cap binds BPA and IPC members as a condition of accreditation; it is not a statutory limit. ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67.

How to identify this in your case

PCN states a charge greater than £100, or initial demand bundles 'admin fees' before any debt collection step.

Sample appeal wording

Before you send this

Deadline. A late submission can be turned down without your argument being read. Check your notice for the deadline and how it is counted.
Paying may end it. Paying can count as accepting the notice and can close a challenge already under way. Part-paying or acknowledging an old debt can also revive a time limit that had expired.
The amount can change. Check what happens to the sum if you challenge — it may be held, re-offered lower, or keep rising, and fees or enforcement can continue meanwhile.
Use the official route. Use the method, recipient and form your notice specifies, with any reference, evidence and signature it asks for. Sent elsewhere, it may not count.
Only say what is true. Do not copy any statement of fact unless it is true for you, and check the legal point still applies. Delete what does not fit. It may be treated as your statement.
Careful what you volunteer. Avoid unnecessary admissions — naming the driver or accepting responsibility can remove arguments. But answer anything you are legally required to answer, and do include the evidence your ground needs.
Keep the record. Keep what you sent, the attachments, any receipt, and the reply. Note the next deadline.

Sample wording to adapt and send yourself — it may not fit your notice or the stage you are at. Replace the bracketed prompts with your own details; leave any case citation as it is.

Dear [Operator Name], Re: PCN [PCN_NUMBER] — Charge of £[AMOUNT] The Private Parking Sector Single Code of Practice v1.1 (in force 17 February 2025) imposes a maximum parking charge of £100 (£60 if paid within 14 days). Your stated charge of £[AMOUNT] exceeds this cap. Under ParkingEye v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67, charges exceeding a legitimate, proportionate sum become extravagant and unconscionable, and unenforceable. The Code codifies the proportionality threshold at £100. I require cancellation in full, alternatively reduction to £60 to reflect the early-payment discount. Yours faithfully, [Driver Name]

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Sources

Private Parking Sector Single Code of Practice v1.1 (BPA/IPC), in force 17 February 2025
ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67
Private Parking Sector Single Code of Practice v1.1 (BPA/IPC), in force 17 February 2025 — published PDF:
https://www.britishparking.co.uk/write/Documents/AOS/Sector%20Code%20Templates/sectorsingleCodeofPracticeVersion1.1130225.pdf
ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67 — reported on Find Case Law under the joined appeal Cavendish Square Holding BV v Talal El Makdessi:
https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/uksc/2015/67
Contains information licensed under the Open Justice - Licence v2.0.