Consumer Rights Act 2015
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires that any term you are said to have agreed to must be fair, transparent and prominent. Parking terms buried in small print at the back of a car park are open to challenge.
Key points
- Unfair terms are not binding on consumers.
- Terms must be expressed in plain, intelligible language.
- Important terms must be prominent enough that an average driver would notice them.
- Ambiguity in a term is read in the consumer's favour.
1Transparency and prominence
If the charge is only mentioned on a sign you could not reasonably read from the driver's seat, or in text far smaller than the rest of the sign, the term may fail the transparency test. Photograph every sign, including its height and position.
2Fairness of the amount
Courts have accepted £100 as a broadly acceptable level for private parking charges, but added fees, 'debt recovery' charges and interest stacked on top are frequently argued to be unfair and unenforceable.
3Using it in an appeal
Point to the specific term you say is unfair, explain why an average consumer would not have understood or noticed it, and include your photographs of the signage as evidence.
Top tip
Take wide photos showing where signs sit relative to the entrance and bays — not just close-ups of the text.
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