Drivers in Britain are being issued nearly 40,000 parking charges every day by private companies – and the DVLA is raking in almost £100,000 every 24 hours as a result, This is Money can exclusively reveal.
Earlier this week the agency shared its full-year figures and it shows it received requests from private parking companies for a record 14,371,841 vehicle ownership details in 2024-25.
This is an increase of 13 per cent on the year previous and 39,375 per day on average.
Charges can be issued by private parking operators to drivers for overstaying time restrictions in car parks at supermarkets, shopping centres, business parks, motorway services and restaurant locations, with charges amounting to as much as £100.
However, in order to issue parking charge notices by post, they must first request the vehicle owner’s information – including their home addresses – from the DVLA at £2.50 a pop.
Based on the record volume of requests received last year, the agency will have generated £35.9million from selling motorists’ details to parking firms, we have calculated.
The shocking volume of charges issued comes more than six years after the Government promised to introduce a Private Parking Code of Practice to help protect the nation’s drivers from unscrupulous operators – but so far has failed to put stringent rules in place.
Motoring charity the RAC Foundation said: ‘Suggestions the Government should soft-pedal on the long-awaited regulation of this sector ring hollow in view of the skyrocketing numbers of keeper requests made to the DVLA so motorists can be pursued for alleged parking indiscretions.’
Over the course of the fiscal year, a total of 184 parking firms requested vehicle keeper data from the DVLA, the data published this week shows.
However, just five companies are responsible for nearly half of 14.4million total.
The five parking companies which issued 46 per cent of charges between them last year were ParkingEye (2,300,360), Euro Car Parks (1,733,493), APCOA Parking (960,482), Horizon Parking (875,833) and Civil Enforcement Ltd (684,864).
The data reflect the dramatic rise in companies taking over management of parking enforcement on privately owned land, especially at supermarkets, train stations, leisure facilities and business parks.
These car parks are monitored by 24-hour automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras. When an alleged infringement of the parking rules occurs, operators use the ANPR cameras to identify the vehicle.
They are then able to chase the registered keeper by requesting the vehicle keeper’s details from the DVLA’s database.
Each charge can be up to £100, meaning the daily total cost to drivers may be near £40million at the current rate.
But private parking firms have been accused of using misleading and confusing signs, aggressive debt collection and unreasonable fees.
New figures published by the DVLA this week show that an estimated 27 private parking ‘tickets’ are being issued to drivers, on average, every minute of the day and night
It is now commonplace for locations such as supermarkets (including this Tesco Extra in Barnsley), train stations, shopping centres, fast food outlets and business parks to use private parking firms
Of the record 14,371,841 requests for drivers’ details made by private parking firms to the DVLA in 2024-25, 46% were from just five different operators. Some 148 different private parking companies made requests to the agency last year, its figures show
This is Money has previously campaigned for this practice to be made more transparent, as drivers cannot opt out of their details being sold this way.
Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – when Local Government Minister – even wrote a piece for This is Money in March 2019, stating: The rogue operators are on their way out for good.
A Bill to enable the introduction of a government-backed code for private parking companies received royal assent under the Conservative government in March 2019. The code was withdrawn in June 2022 after a legal challenge by parking companies.
However, insiders tell us there will be a new consultation on the private parking code released shortly.
We approached the British Parking Association (BPA) – which represents the parking and traffic management sector – regarding the ongoing rise in the number of parking charge notices being issued to motorists.
A spokesman said: ‘With over 45million vehicles on the road and more than 40million parking events occurring daily, the data consistently shows that only around 0.3 per cent of private land parking events result in a parking charge.
‘In 2024, we introduced a new Single Code of Practice to bring greater clarity and consistency to private parking rules.
Incidentally, this code of practice – introduced by the BPA and International Parking Community (IPC) – was dubbed ‘watered down’ by the AA, which accused it of falling short of the drastic overhaul requited.
The BPA spokesman added that the 13 per cent increase is not attributed to a greater overall proportion of people getting parking charge notice at the same places, rather a ‘year-on-year increase in sites where the possibility of getting a parking charge notice exists’.
It said: ‘We strongly encourage any motorist who believes they’ve received a charge in error to use the official appeals process.’
This can be done via POPLA – an independent appeals process.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, responded to the BPA’s claim, saying ‘business is clearly booming for private parking firms with an estimated 27 ‘tickets’ being issued, on average, every minute of the day and night’.
He told This is Money: ‘Frankly it is now more urgent than ever that this government puts years and years of false starts behind it and gets on with implementing both a code of practice and an independent appeals service.
‘Only then are we likely to see the number of PCNs starting to fall, which must be the success measure we’d all like to see.’
Euro Car Parks requested the second highest volume of vehicle owner details last year – a massive 1,733,493 in total
RAC head of policy Simon Williams added: ‘Sadly, our prediction earlier this year that private parking companies were on course to issue around 14.5million 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.’
Williams said the RAC ‘does not believe’ the BPA’s argument that parking charge notices 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.’
Earlier this year, we revealed that drivers have been unfairly asked to pay hundreds of pounds in parking charges due to ‘faulty’ ticket machines.
Euro Car Parks – the private parking firm that made the second highest volume of vehicle owner requests to the DVLA last year – has been accused of demanding drivers pay charges of £100 after its ticket machines incorrectly recorded vehicle registrations.
Motorists using the machines enter their registration details when they purchase a ticket – a system used across the UK – but argue the machines are faulty and recording registrations wrong.
This has left drivers being sent parking charge notices despite insisting they’ve followed the instructions, because there’s no record of payment when their number plates are identified by cameras.
Affected motorists told the PA news agency they are being ‘bullied’ by Euro Car Parks despite buying tickets to use Syston Town Square car park in Leicestershire.
One said they would ‘rather go to prison’ than pay more money.
A video posted online appears to show a woman typing her registration into the keypad on one of the car park’s two machines, but different numbers and letters are displayed on the screen.
The RAC described the situation as ‘scandalous’ and warned it has received reports of similar problems elsewhere.
There is growing criticism of the private parking industry over claims of aggressive debt collection, misleading and confusing signage, and unreasonable fees.
A spokesperson for the DVLA told us: ‘We take our data protection responsibilities extremely seriously and have robust safeguards in place around the release of data to private parking companies. This includes the requirement for a parking firm to be a member of an Accredited Trade Association.
‘Drivers choosing to park a vehicle on private land do so subject to the terms and conditions applying. Information about the registered keeper of a vehicle is provided by DVLA to enable landowners or their agents to pursue their legal rights and to address disputes.
‘While a fee is charged for requesting vehicle keeper details, this is set to recover the cost of providing the information.’
This is Money has also approached the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, which is responsible for off street parking issues.
An MHCLG spokesperson said: ‘Motorists must be protected when using private car parks and we are determined to drive up standards in the industry.
‘We know how much of an issue this is for drivers, which is why we will set out further details on the private parking code of practice as soon as possible.’
Battled an unfair parking charge? Get in touch: editor@thisismoney.co.uk
