Record number of parking fines as DfT issues scam text message warning

Private parking companies issued a record 14.4 million tickets to drivers in a single year, new Government data suggests.

The new figures for the year ending March 2025, analysed by the RAC, show requests to the DVLA from car park management companies for vehicle keeper details reached almost 1.2m a month (1,197,653) or nearly 40,000 a day (39,375), on average.

As each parking charge notice (PCN) is £100 this means drivers could be paying out up to £1.4 billion, unless they successfully appeal or decide to pay up at the discounted rate, says the RAC.

The figure of 14.4m is more than double the number six years ago (6.8m in 2018-19), just before the Government passed an Act of Parliament intended to clamp down on rogue private parking operators. It is also 13% up on the 12.8m seen in 2023/2024.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “Sadly, our prediction earlier this year that private parking companies were on course to issue around 14.5m tickets to drivers for alleged contraventions has come true.

“This is more than double the number issued six years ago before the Government passed an Act of Parliament intended to clamp down on the dubious practices of too many private parking operators.

“Unfortunately, the Government-backed code is still not in force which means drivers don’t have the protection it was intended to provide.

“As it is, too many unfair tickets are still being handed out by operators who haven’t been forced to adhere to stricter rules and too many drivers are still being hounded by debt collection companies. And, we still don’t have a single, truly independent appeals service that drivers can go to if their initial appeal to the operator concerned is rejected.”

He continued: “We don’t believe the parking industry’s argument that PCNs are only at record levels purely because they're managing more car parks.

“We urge the Government to ensure the official code is launched this year with all the protection it was intended to have so that we don’t see these figures go even higher in the future.”

A trade association for private parking companies – the International Parking Community (IPC) – defended the sector in the face of fierce criticism by the RAC and AA, earlier this year.

It said that motorists who challenge parking charges can and do succeed, with one-in-four motorists who appeal directly to a private parking operator successful and one-in-five appeals escalated to the independent adjudicator also granted.

DfT warns of scammers targeting drivers

People receiving text messages claiming to be from the Department for Transport (DfT) should not click on any links or share financial details.

It says it is is aware of text messages claiming to be from the DfT asking people to pay fines for outstanding traffic tickets.

A DfT spokesperson said: “This is a scam and was not sent by the department. Do not click on the link or share personal and financial details.”

If you have received this text or a similar one, report it to the National Cyber Security Centre at report@phishing.gov.uk or by forwarding it for free to 7726.