Private parking tickets in Scotland: who has to pay, and how to appeal

Scotland does private parking a bit differently, and quite a lot of what's online is written for England. Here's the Scottish version.

No. A council or the police can fine you. A private company can only ask you to pay a parking charge. The company says you broke the terms of parking on its land (a supermarket, retail park, airport or some hospital car parks), and it can try to recover the charge in the civil courts. It isn't a criminal matter and there are no penalty points.

Quick way to tell: a council ticket is a Penalty Charge Notice and names the council. A private ticket usually says Parking Charge Notice and names a company. Not sure which you've got? Council PCNs in Scotland work like this.

In England and Wales, a parking company can claim from the registered keeper if it follows a set procedure in Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. That law doesn't extend to Scotland.

Consumer Scotland, the statutory consumer body, says that in Scotland liability for a private parking charge arises only under the ordinary law of contract, so only the driver at the time can be held liable. That's their reading of the current law, not a court ruling on your case.

What that means in practice:

• A company can still get the keeper's details from the DVLA and write to you. A letter addressed to you as keeper doesn't mean you owe it.
• Consumer Scotland's view is that requiring a keeper to name the driver would go beyond current Scottish law. We haven't found any law that makes you do it.
• If you were the driver, the keeper point doesn't help you. Appeal on what actually happened.
• Never say you weren't driving if you were.

No. Here's exactly where it stands on 26 October 2026:

If Part 8 is brought in as written, a company could claim from the keeper only after meeting conditions much like England's: it doesn't know who was driving, it has sent the right notices, it got the keeper's details from the DVLA, and the signs were up. It couldn't do so until 28 days after a notice to keeper, and Scottish Ministers could cap how much is recoverable. That's the future, not now. If you see a Scottish notice claiming keeper liability today, look at it closely.

The route is the same as elsewhere in Britain:

1. Appeal to the parking company. Use the method on the notice. Say what happened, and include photos, receipts, your permit or anything else that backs you up.
2. If it says no, go to the independent appeals service. That's POPLA if the company belongs to the British Parking Association, or the IAS if it belongs to the International Parking Community. The notice or the company's website should say which.

Do it quickly. Check your notice for the appeal time limit and any reduced amount for paying promptly. The step-by-step route and the usual deadlines are in how to appeal a private parking charge. If you're keeper but weren't driving, say so in the appeal, and say that Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 doesn't apply in Scotland.

What gets a charge cancelled (bad signs, paying but mistyping your registration, a broken machine and so on) is covered in the best grounds to appeal a parking ticket.

The government's new code covers private car parks in England, Scotland and Wales. It was laid before Parliament on 20 October 2026 and isn't in force yet. Once it is, Scottish drivers get the same baseline as everyone else in Britain:

• a £100 cap on a parking charge, with one cap for all three nations
• at least 40% off if you pay within 14 days
• no more than £70 added for debt recovery
• 28 days to appeal, and an answer from the company within 28 days (or a reason why it needs longer)
• if your appeal is rejected, 14 more days to pay at the rate that applied when you appealed

Two points matter especially in Scotland:

• The code doesn't create keeper liability. It tells operators they must not presume the keeper was the driver. Scotland's keeper position stays as above until Part 8 is switched on.
• It only covers private land. In Scotland that means not public roads, and not car parks provided or controlled by a council, the Scottish Ministers or the Secretary of State. Tickets there are council tickets.

Operators who break the code risk losing access to DVLA keeper details. More: what the new Private Parking Code of Practice means for your ticket.

If your ticket came from a council, none of the above applies. You're on the council route:

• Who issues them: 23 Scottish councils issue parking PCNs. Where a council doesn't, parking can be enforced by the police with a fixed penalty notice, and that's a different process. Some council car parks issue an Excess Charge Notice instead.
• Cost: 50% off if you pay within 14 days, 28 days to pay. Ignore it and the amount usually goes up by 50%, and the council can register the debt with the court.
• Pavement parking: since 11 December 2023, councils can fine you £100 (£50 within 14 days) for parking on the pavement, double parking or parking at a dropped kerb.
• Grounds: narrower than in England. The law lists six: you weren't the owner, it didn't happen, the car was taken without consent, the order is invalid, you're a hire firm, or the charge was too high.
• Who hears appeals: the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (General Regulatory Chamber). You can only go there once the council has rejected your representations. You then have 28 days from the Notice of Rejection, and a late appeal needs reasons.

The full route is in how to appeal a council PCN in Scotland.

We wouldn't. Even without keeper liability, the company can write, pass it to debt collectors and take a claim to court if it thinks it can show who was driving. In Scotland most of these claims go through simple procedure in the sheriff court, which covers money claims of £5,000 or less. If court papers arrive and you don't respond, the company can ask the court for a decision without hearing from you.

So appeal if you've got a case, pay the lowest amount if you haven't, and never ignore anything from a court. Debt collector letters, Letters Before Claim and court papers are outside what Unclamped checks. If you get one, Citizens Advice Scotland is a good place to start.

1. Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, s.56 (extent E+W; in force 1 Oct 2012) and Schedule 4. www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/9/section/56 · www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/9/schedule/4
2. Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 (asp 17), contents, introduction (Royal Assent 15 Nov 2019) and s.130 commencement. www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2019/17/contents · www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2019/17/section/130
3. Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, Part 8, e.g. s.95 (marked "Prospective"). www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2019/17/section/95 (also /section/90, /96, /104, /108)
4. gov.scot, FOI 202500476004 (responded 28 July 2025). www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202500476004/
5. gov.scot, FOI 202500488634 (responded 15 Oct 2025). www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202500488634/
6. gov.scot, FOI 202600514549 (responded 22 Apr 2026). www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202600514549/
7. Scottish Parliament, written answer S6W-07232 (25 Mar 2022). www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/questions-and-ans
8. Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, s.10 (and s.5). www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/section/10
9. Private Parking Code of Practice (draft laid 20 Oct 2026), as captured for draft 01: section 1, 2.29, 8.1.2, 8.1.3, 8.2, 8.3, 9. www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-parking-code-of-p
10. Consumer Scotland, response to the UK Government consultation on a statutory private parking code of practice (5 Sept 2025). consumer.scot/publications/uk-government-consultation-on-a-s
11. gov.uk, Private Parking Code of Practice publication page. www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-parking-code-of-p
12. Explanatory Memorandum to the code, s.4.4. www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-parking-code-of-p
13. Final stage impact assessment, paras 209–210. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6acfa08ff1ba855cc196a
14. gov.uk, Parking tickets: Challenging a ticket. www.gov.uk/parking-tickets/challenging-a-ticket
15. mygov.scot, Getting a parking or bus lane fine. www.mygov.scot/parking-bus-lane-fine
16. Scottish Courts and Tribunals, Guide to Simple Procedure. www.scotcourts.gov.uk/taking-action/simple-procedure/guide-t
17. Scottish Courts and Tribunals, What happens where no response is received. www.scotcourts.gov.uk/taking-action/simple-procedure/what-ha
18. mygov.scot, Penalty charge notices from the council (updated 7 Apr 2026). www.mygov.scot/parking-bus-lane-fine/penalty-charge-notice
19. First-tier Tribunal for Scotland GRC, Transport appeals: Before you appeal. generalregulatorychamber.scot/home/transportappeals/before-y
20. Road Traffic Act 1991, Schedule 6 para 2(4). www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/40/schedule/6
21. First-tier Tribunal for Scotland General Regulatory Chamber Parking and Bus Lane Appeals (Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2020 (SSI 2020/98), schedule. www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2020/98/schedule/made
22. Transport Scotland, Parking and the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019. www.transport.gov.scot/our-approach/transport-scotland-act-2