Tradespeople have been issued with an estimated 3.5m parking fines costing them approximately £177m in the past year, according to new research from Direct Line.
A total of 55% of tradespeople say they face a weekly struggle to park at or close to the site where they are working.
A statement said that tradespeople often need to access or unload heavy tools, equipment and materials required for a job onsite but finding a place to legally park or unload close by is not always possible, especially in urban areas where numerous parking and unloading restrictions apply.
Daily parking charges, particularly in city centres are so expensive that 34% of tradespeople say that it can be cheaper to risk a parking ticket than to pay for parking. Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), or parking fines, can be anywhere between £50 – £70 each outside London and up to £160 in the capital, but are normally halved if paid within 14 days. However, parking illegally can be quite a gamble as 61% of tradespeople have been clamped or towed whilst on the job.
Many local authorities offer tradespeople discretionary parking permits so that they can avoid unnecessary parking charges, but just 13% of tradespeople find getting trade parking permits through a council a quick and simple process, Direct Line found. Where parking restrictions apply, tradespeople will usually expect the client to provide parking permits, in 39% of cases, pay for their parking, 25%, or factor it into their pricing, 17%.
Alison Traboulsi, product manager at Direct Line business insurance, said: “Parking is a regular battle for many tradespeople. Navigating a multitude of different parking controls and council permits can be complicated, so it is not surprising that many tradespeople are hit with parking fines, clamping, or being towed. Some will say it’s part and parcel of the trade but with an estimated 3.5m fines issued in the past year, these parking battles are costing tradespeople across the country millions of pounds.”