Private parking companies have pledged to update their rules to ensure drivers are not penalized if they do not pay to park within five minutes.
It comes after motorist Rosey Hudson was taken to court last year after racking up £1,906 in fines for taking more than five minutes to pay for parking in Derby.
Ms Hudson received 10 notices of parking charges in the space over several days after walking away from her car to find phone reception so she could use an app to pay for a space.
Now two industry bodies say they will review their code of conduct to “protect real drivers” and “reflect technological advances”.
The British Parking Association (BPA) and the International Parking Community (IPC) have announced that a panel will review the private parking sector’s code of conduct to ensure it “protects genuine drivers who struggle to make timely payment to the enter”.
The BPA said a key priority will be to urgently review Ms Hudson’s case, which has been called the five-minute pay rule.
He said a review of the code addressing payment difficulties would come into force in February 2025 and the full review could be expected by the following April.
Ms Hudson was one of several people taken to court by private car park operator Excel Parking.
In December, Excel dropped its case against her without explanation, and did the same for Garry Kay, who parked in the same parking lot. in Derby and was preparing to fight fines of £255.
In November, analysis of government data by the RAC Foundation found that private parking companies were issuing an average of 41,000 parking tickets per day.
Each fine can be up to £100, meaning the maximum total daily income from drivers fines would be £4.1 million.
A bill to introduce a government-backed code of practice for private parking companies received current approval in 2019, but was withdrawn in June 2022 following a legal challenge by parking companies.
That code included a £50 cap on most fines, a grace period for delays and a fairer appeals system.
In June, BPA and IPC published their own code of practice, which will be overseen by the new panel.
The decision to introduce the panel shows that private parking companies “are serious about raising standards, but also making decisive changes to the code when problems arise,” said BPA chief executive Andrew Pester.
IPC chief executive Will Hurley said the panel “shows the commitment the industry has to improving the reputation of our sector”.
