A parking charge for overstayers is not a “penalty” and therefore enforceable, the Court of Appeal has held.
In Parkingeye v Beavis [2015] EWCA Civ 402, Beavis was charged £85 after overstaying in a free car park. Parkingeye brought small claims proceedings when Beavis did not pay.
The court rejected Beavis’ arguments that the charge was a penalty and therefore unenforceable at common law, and was unfair and therefore unenforceable under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.
Delivering his judgment, Sir Timothy Lloyd said that an intention to deter was not enough to make the charge a penalty: “The term must in itself amount to something which is extravagant and unconscionable if it is to be found invalid under the rules about contractual penalties.” However, he said the charge would have been a penalty if it had been “grossly disproportionate”.
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