The company did not respond to messages – even when they were hand-delivered or sent by registered post
A car park company which ignored letters and emails from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been fined £473,000. The CMA has imposed a £473,000 penalty on Euro Car Parks for failing to respond to a notice that legally required the company to provide information.
The CMA issued Euro Car Parks with an information notice in July 2025. Despite seven separate attempts by the CMA to secure a response – including delivery by registered post, by hand, and multiple emails to company directors – Euro Car Parks did not respond to the CMA for three months.
Only after the CMA told the company it was proposing to issue a fine did Euro Car Parks respond and begin to provide the necessary information. The company told the CMA they had blocked the CMA’s emails, stating that they believed they were fraudulent, and attempts to scam the firm. The CMA did not consider this a reasonable excuse and imposed the £473,000 penalty against Euro Car Parks in December 2025.
Euro Car Parks also tried to stop the CMA from naming the company, including by applying to the High Court for an injunction. The Court refused that application following a hearing this week.
Information notices are formal demands issued by the CMA that legally require businesses to provide information. They are a tool for gathering evidence as part of assessing whether an investigation should be launched, and timely responses are critical to ensuring effective action.
At present, the CMA does not have a consumer enforcement case open against Euro Car Parks. By ignoring the CMA’s notice and failing to respond to its multiple communications, Euro Car Parks delayed the CMA’s work – and caused it to spend extra time and resources to get the requested information.
The CMA has fined the company 75% of the maximum possible fixed charge – a total of £473,000. Under its enforcement powers, the CMA can issue a fixed penalty of up to 1% of the company’s annual turnover for this type of breach.
The CMA is in the process of analysing the information it has obtained to determine whether a case should be launched.
Hayley Fletcher, Senior Director of Consumer Enforcement, said: “We are an evidence-based authority, and information notices are essential tools that help us understand the facts and get to the bottom of potential infringements of the law. It is a legal obligation to comply with them – they are not optional.
“This is the first time we’ve used our new powers to fine a company for failing to respond to such a notice – and it sends a clear message: firms that don’t reply to our requests or refuse to comply risk facing penalties like this one.”
The penalty marks the first use of the CMA’s new fining powers, granted by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA). These powers enable the CMA to take decisive action when businesses fail to comply with legal requests for information, ensuring its work can proceed swiftly and effectively to protect consumers throughout the UK.
This action follows the launch of a major consumer protection drive from the CMA, where it opened eight investigations into online pricing and advertising tactics across a range of sectors.
