Tens of millions of pounds are potentially owed to drivers illegally penalised for overstaying their welcome while parking on private land.
Parking companies are levying huge charges on drivers out of all proportion to losses suffered by landowners as a result, a barrister has told the RAC Foundation.
Clamping was banned on private land in 2012 but drivers who stay for longer than they have paid for are still likely to receive tickets with payments of up to £100, or more in some cases.
Private parking companies made 2.2 million requests to the DVLA in 2013 for registered vehicle owner details and in the same year UK drivers might have been overcharged by £100 million, says the RAC.
John de Waal QC said operators currently demand payments as sanctions but because they are unlikely to be a genuine pre-estimate of loss courts should see them as penalties - which are unenforceable.
If the courts agree with him that many tickets are “extravagant and unconscionable”, drivers are potentially in line to receive tens, or even hundreds, of millions of pounds in refunds.
The barrister has also said European consumer legislation requiring contracts to be fair means the early payment discounts on tickets are unlawful because they constitute a price escalation clause.
Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “We would like to see this legal argument tested in a higher court so that a binding precedent is set. At the same time we would like the government to do what it should have done at the outset and set out what are reasonable charges.
“If the courts agree with Mr de Waal then millions of drivers could be in line for a refund. “Some parking operators have a business model which means they only make a profit if members of the public overstay and can be charged an excessive penalty. We think this model, which invites zealous enforcement, is unfair and not fully understood by the public.
“Ministers thought that the ban on clamping would end parking problems on private land. As we warned at the time, they were wrong. They allowed a system of ticketing to emerge which is barely regulated. In effect drivers have been short changed.”
