The RAC says drivers want the name of PCNs to be changed
Private parking businesses are being urged to rename the tickets they hand out to avoid confusion with council-issued fines. The RAC, which issued the plea, said it suspects these parking charge notices are “deliberately designed to appear very similar” to penalty charge notices issued by councils.
They both carry the same PCN acronym and physical versions attached to vehicle windscreens are often yellow with black writing. But the RAC warned there are “major differences” in what impact they have on those who receive them.
Penalty charge notices issued by councils for parking offences on a public road or in a public car park are backed by law and must be paid, unless a successful appeal is lodged. They are discounted by 50% for early payment.
By contrast, the RAC described parking charge notices issued by companies as “an invoice for an alleged breach of contract” relating to parking on private land. Different organisations handle appeals against these and they are usually discounted by at least 40% for payment within 14 days.
Another key difference is that after a 28-day appeal window for parking charge notices, unpaid tickets are often increased by £70 to £170 with a letter from a debt collection agency. More than nine out of 10 respondents to an RAC survey of 1,693 UK drivers said the term parking charge notice is confusing because of its similarity to penalty charge notice.
Some 31% of this group felt the former should be renamed private parking charges. The RAC published the results of the survey as it revealed it expects Government figures published in the coming weeks to show the annual number of parking charge notices handed out to drivers reached a record high of 17 million for the year to the end of March.
In 2024/25 the total was 14.4 million. RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “Drivers are clearly confused by the PCN acronym which is concerning as they are very different in terms of consequences.
Deliberately designed to appear very similar
“We suspect parking charge notices are deliberately designed to appear very similar to a council penalty charge notice. Drivers are very supportive of changing the name of parking charge notices to clear this up and help others understand the important legal difference.”
He added that he is “firmly against” the increase in parking charge notices to £170 for non-payment as it is “totally disproportionate to the alleged parking contravention”.
Isaac Occhipinti of the British Parking Association (BPA), which represents private parking companies, said the term parking charge is “legally defined in legislation” and is “distinct” from fines issued by local authorities. He went on: “Despite being used in a similar meaning in some cases, all correspondence sent to motorists about a parking charge clearly sets out who has issued it, why it has been issued and how to appeal.
“Drivers should review these details carefully to distinguish between private parking charges and local authority PCNs. With more than 40 million vehicles now on UK roads and millions of parking events every day, less than 1% of motorists receive a parking charge, demonstrating that the vast majority of motorists are decent drivers.
“The BPA continues to work closely with Government on a new code of practice to strengthen protections for decent motorists.”
– The survey of 1,693 UK drivers was conducted by research company Online95 between November 15-23 last year.
