Note sull'episodio
In December 2025 the Competition and Markets Authority fined Euro Car
Parks £473,000. Not for the tickets. For ignoring the regulator.
The CMA issued a legally binding information notice in July 2025 and
made seven separate attempts to get a response — registered post,
hand delivery, emails direct to the company's directors. Three months
of silence. Euro Car Parks later told the CMA it had blocked the
emails, believing them to be fraudulent. The CMA did not accept that
as a reasonable excuse, and set the penalty at 75% of the maximum —
the first fine ever issued under its new powers under the Digital
Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.
I've spent 14 years on the driver's side of this fight. Forgive me a
moment of quiet satisfaction.
00:00 — £473,000, and why a parking company got a parking fine
00:14 — What actually happened: the CMA's December 2025 fixed penalty
00:31 — The distinction everyone gets wrong — not the tickets, the silence
00:44 — Seven attempts. Registered post, hand delivery, emails to directors
01:03 — First use of a power the CMA had never used, set at 75% of maximum
01:11 — The asymmetry: three months of silence vs your 28-day window
01:26 — If only there were somewhere to go when a charge feels unfair
01:53 — The serious bit: "just pay it" was never advice, it was a business model
02:18 — One fine doesn't fix an industry
02:25 — If a charge is on your kitchen table: signage, timestamps, photos
02:43 — Use the operator's appeal first — it's what unlocks the free
independent service
02:54 — Why we built the appeal tool
Important context, and the CMA said this itself: the penalty is not a
finding that Euro Car Parks breached consumer protection law. At the
time it was issued, no such investigation had been opened. Euro Car
Parks has appealed the penalty to the High Court and the fine is not
payable until that appeal is determined.
Since this was recorded, the CMA has opened an investigation into
Euro Car Parks — looking at parking charges issued to drivers queuing
at petrol forecourts, and at the company's appeals process. That one
is ongoing.
Got a private parking charge? Check the signage, check the timestamps
against the grace period, keep every photo, and appeal to the
operator first. Then decide with information in front of you.
Free parking fine appeal calculator:
https://www.parksy.com/appeal-parking-fine-calculator
Source: GOV.UK — Competition and Markets Authority, "CMA fines Euro
Car Parks £473k for failure to comply with legal information notice,"
13 February 2026: