Five-minute parking fines issue made a priority for review

03 February 2025

The industry bodies responsible for regulating private parking firms have pledged to update their rules to put an end to ‘five-minute fines’ for drivers.

The term ‘five-minute fine’ refers to a fine incurred by a driver who fails to pay for parking within five minutes of arrival.

The pledge comes after a number of cases of motorists being taken to court for accumulating thousands of pounds in ‘five-minute fines’. One such case involved a woman named Rosey Hudson, who was taken to court in 2024 after accumilating £1,906 in fines from ten parking charge notices in Derby. The fines were issued because she took more than five minutes to pay for parking whilst walking away from her vehicle to find phone reception and pay via a third-party app.

The British Parking Association (BPA) and International Parking Community (IPC) are set to form a panel to revise the Private Parking Code of Conduct and ensure it "protects genuine motorists who have difficulty making prompt payment on entry". The review has been promised by February 2025.

Rosey Hudson’s case has been called the five-minute payment rule and will be a key priority for discussion by the new panel.

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