Dodge these rip-off parking fees

We show you how to fight back against horrendously high parking fees.

Last month, Westminster Council in London announced proposals to charge motorists for parking in the borough on Sundays - and on weekday evenings.

This has many drivers up in arms: At present (and excluding certain areas with 24 hour resident parking restrictions) parking fees in central London end at 6.30pm on Saturdays, and don’t kick in again until Monday morning.

It’s the latest in a string of financial blows when it comes to parking. According to online parking marketplace ParkAtMyHouse, fees for using public car parks have shot up by 12.5% over the last year.

To help keep your motoring costs down, here’s our guide to cutting your parking bills.

Parking at airports

One of the biggest rip-offs for motorists is how much it costs to park at airports (and other transport hubs, like railway stations).

However, there are several things you can do to minimise costs.

Shop around

See if you can find parking nearby that isn’t run by the airport itself.

Check out specialist comparison sites that scour the web to find the best value facilities near each airport. Many will give you percentage discounts if you book your space via them, and will waive the usual booking fees.

SkyparkSecure, AirportParking, HolidayExtras and AirportParking&Hotels are all good places to start. And make sure you use more than one of these sites, as they all tend to advertise slightly different deals.

It’s also a good idea to check prices on PurpleParking, which has been given good reviews by Which? And TripAdvisor users. This is a private company which operates car parks at airports all over the UK.

Park on someone else’s drive!

Once you’ve found the best deal available at ‘official’ car parks, see how it compares with the parking offered by local residents.

In the last few years, several initiatives have emerged that help private residents rent out their driveways, garages and other parking spaces to needy motorists.

ParkAtMyHouse, ParkLet and YourParking Space are good examples of this.

Book early

If you do end up using an airport-managed car park, it’s particularly important that you book your space as early as possible!

In a nutshell, the earlier you book, the cheaper parking is likely to be. Try to get it sorted at least a couple of weeks before your holiday begins.

However, even booking the day before (or early that morning!) will get you a better deal than if you just turn up.

Park and ride

If you’re visiting another town or city for the day, find out about any local park and ride schemes before you set out.

This should save you time and hassle, as well as money. I once learnt this the hard way, after spending well over an hour trying to find somewhere to park in Cambridge!

ParkAndRide is an excellent online directory which allows you to pinpoint park and ride schemes all over the UK.

Avoid council parking fines

Be careful if you’re off on holiday and plan to leave your vehicle in a council parking bay. If the council suspends that bay while you’re away (for example, because of road works) it may still fine you for parking illegally!

To guard against this sort of madness, check your council’s website to see if any suspensions or road works are due to take place before you jet off. Most councils have sections of their sites dedicated to parking and related issues.

Appeal parking tickets

If you are given a parking ticket and fine, don’t automatically take it lying down.

Research suggests that a high proportion of tickets are issued unfairly, and that - if you reach the last, Traffic Penalty Tribunal stage of a parking appeal - you have around a 70% chance of winning the case.

So, if you genuinely believe you’ve been unfairly fined, there’s every reason to fight on. Watch this lovemoney.com video to find out more.

Take fewer cars!

Finally, fewer cars mean lower overall parking costs. If you’re keen to save money - but you do still need to travel by car - think about joining a car club or lift sharing scheme.

Initiatives like Liftshare help you find other motorists going in the same direction as you. Then, once at your destination, you can share any parking costs between you.

If you’ve come up with a good way to cut the cost of parking, leave a comment here and let us know.

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