Initialparking Reviews 

Initial Parking don’t allow consideration time or a grace period at the end of your stay.
I arrived at a car park it took 10 minutes to download their app, I then paid for 4 hours of parking. I left the car park slightly late (9 mins) but thought as I’d paid there would be a little grace - I was wrong.
They are trying to justify their extortionate fine by saying I was parked for an additional 19 mins unpaid. 10 of that was getting the app and should be thought of as the consideration period, the last 9 should be well within the minimum 10 mins grace required by the BPA.
Horrific company. If you see you’re about to park in a car park managed by these conmen just turn around and drive away. I am appealing and will be making complaints to the BPA and DVLA.

I paid for all dar parking at Praa Sands Cornwall, but due to me losing my glasses, I only paid £3, not the £4 required. For this mistake, I now have to pay £60 or £100. I appealed, demonstrating it was a genuine mistake and I paid the correct amount two days ( with new glasses on!) but got refused. This company should not be accredited by any official associations and the BPA should consider this

Absolutely appalling! The same thing happened to me as Stuart Kinton at Newquay Airport TWICE, picking up and dropping off family from Dublin. The system is designed to catch people out, quite why the machine can't calculate the duration of the stay is beyond me! I paid £60 for being THREE MINUTES overdue leaving when dropping our son off to fly back. Shame on you, initial parking!!!

By the time we were able to download and use their app, the ticked issued was incorrect and we ended up with a parking ticket. I'd call that a scam, frankly. I was annoyed about it but looking at the other reviews here, I think I got off lightly.

Not even a 1 star but only way to enter apparently.
I parked at Kennack sands Cornwall paid for 2 hours by cash when i realized family wanted longer i paid for another hour by cash, this company eventually said they could see i had purchased first 2 hours but denied i had paid for the other 1 hour there is no doubt i did as my daughter witnessed it, i appealed by email and when they said not accepted i wrote them a letter asking for them to make machine information available to an independent body they refused, this tells me one thing, they know i am telling the truth. How are these companies allowed to get away with it.

You’d better not park in their car park, because this company is a scam. They will try every possible way to issue you a PCN.

Parked in Slate Quay car park Carrnarfom. I believed it was free parking for disabled badge holders. This is an extortion racket in the guise of a car park. Got a parking fine. Explained my son who is six, non verbal and autistic . He would not have queued at the ticket machine without a risk of a meltdown. He has to be hand held everywhere. Appeal refused and then increased the fine to a £100. .Those who run this company are ghouls without empathy or emotions and make money on the backs of disabled children . I didn't believe that these people actually exist but unfortunately they do and they are called Initial parking.

Scam. Purchased a ticket which I displayed. I then got a fine in the post saying I didn’t get one. It’s disgusting how companies like this are allowed to operate.

There are numerous drivers who used the same parking payment place and all had the same problem of the ticket not displaying the fully typed numberplate. They refuse the appeal even though a ticket is provided and then offer a £20 reduced payment or face the full £100. It is scandalous that it is quite obviously a faulty machine, but they just steal your money.

Disgusting, very much disappointed. Paid the parking time still issued the unpaid tariff time.

Very bad service

Parked at St Michal's Mount overflow carpark. First attempt at using the ticket machine was painful from the get-go. Pressing the keypad to enter my reg lagged so badly that I had to try 3 times. On returning to my car, I found out that the first letter of my numberplate was missing. The glare on what was a very sunny day made it very hard to read the screen. I thought I had pressed the blue button for 3 hours, turns out it hadn't regestered my last press so only paid for 2. No problem I thought, I can just top up before I leave. Thats where the fun really began. We had joined 3 couples aleady standing at one of the six parking meters, all with equally baffling problems. I felt sorry for the elderly couple who were having various problems. Anyway, I thought I'd just top up with a bit extra, just to be safe. Tried to pay £6 for an extra 5 hours. A messege on the ticket machine popped up "SUSPECTED FRAUD". I am on O2. I have been in Cornwall on holiday for a week and had experianced bad or no signal but payment via my phone had always worked up to that point. I tried a number of times to pay but was met with the same messege. I am now sitting at my computer, about to appeal. I even have a screenshot of the screen showing the selected £6 payment and the "SUSPECTED FRAUD" messege. My phone was my only method of payment I had on me at the time. I tried the helpline (0161 503 3848) but was met by a recorded messege that they were experiancing technical difficulties so I was unable to speak to anyone. I also tried the automated payment number (01234 862 178) to pay but again, was met by the same messege. It would be wonderful if we could speak to a person but alas, this is the way everything seems to be going.

Your Action Plan: Don't Let Them Get Away With It!

Know Your Rights: The 10-Minute Grace Period is Your Shield.

According to the British Parking Association (BPA) Approved Operator Scheme Code of Practice, parking operators must allow a minimum 10-minute grace period at the end of a pre-paid parking session or free parking period.

If you received a ticket during this time, they have broken BPA Rule 13. This is your primary argument.

Challenge the Fine, Don't Just Pay It.

Immediately appeal the fine directly with the parking company. Use their online portal or send a letter.

State clearly that the ticket was issued in breach of BPA Rule 13, as it was within the 10-minute grace period.

Provide evidence: photos of the ticket showing the time of issue, a photo of your parking ticket showing the time it expired, and a clear photo of the sign indicating the parking terms.

Escalate to the BPA.

If your initial appeal is rejected, don't give up. The next step is to complain to the BPA directly.

As a member of the BPA, the parking company is bound by its rules. Their failure to adhere to Rule 13 is a serious breach.

Explain the situation and include all your evidence. This shows the BPA that the company is not operating in accordance with its code.

Why the DVLA is a Factor.

Parking companies get your details from the DVLA. The DVLA has a 'Keeper Liability' rule that allows this.

The DVLA is also responsible for ensuring that companies accessing their data have a "reasonable cause" to do so. A fine issued in breach of the BPA's own rules may be considered an unreasonable or improper use of DVLA data.

While complaining to the DVLA directly might not get the fine cancelled, it puts pressure on them to review the conduct of parking companies that repeatedly break the rules. It's about systemic change, not just your individual fine.

Abersoch Village Hall Mafia. They cleverly make it impossible to pay by cash or card because their machines don’t work. Near zero reception to download their crooked app surrounded by many others also failing. Try to pay on the app & it repeatedly rejects bank authorised payments (screen grabbed evidence). If you stay they do you. If you leave you’ve spent so much time trying to pay the anpr cameras do you. You appeal with the bank evidence and they don’t reply for two months until a bill for £170.00 lands on your doorstep from tax haven Jersey based debt collectors. You have two weeks to appeal to their “trade body” if your appeal fails - but as they don’t tell you it’s failed you can’t. Catch 22 with menaces. What a fantastic business plan. Turn £3.10 into £170.00 in two months by turning your meter off & telling your app to refuse payment. And it actually appears to be legal! DVLA get £2.50 a pop for giving these leaches your address too. One wonders if they keep all the loot or backhand some of it back to the landowners. In this case the village hall charity who are apparently bombarded with email complaints but refuse to reply to them. Holidaying in Jersey probably?

This company should not be allowed to operate. Their systems were down on the day I parked. I found it impossible to use their app (I took 20 minutes and it still didn’t work) and the card reader was down. I was told by the parking assistant to get a ticket on exit (which I did) and it would be fine when their systems are back up and running. Got home from holiday to find a pcn. Then tried about 30 minutes to try and pay it over the phone. I am fuming!

Entered praa sands car park in Cornwall ticket machines were not accepting card payments at that time and was told by an attendant that it was happening everywhere and I'm sure many others were told the same thing. Had no cash and no mobile signal. Was told that I could pay retrospectively, which I attempted to do via the app for several days, but kept getting a message saying no internet connection. Tried when I got back to the Midlands, had to update app and then only had option to pay for future parking so tried calling the helpline several times but nobody was answering the phone. Obviously got issued a PCN, appealed and got a response within 24hrs saying it was rejected. Obviously they didn't investigate properly and now going to appeal through POPLA and hopefully they will look at it properly.

Pathetic barely legally operating money grabbing "company".
Everyone - please be very very careful if entering a car park operated by this pathetic company. They operate a number of car parks in the Cornwall area and are only interested in taking your money.
I will never ever enter a car park operated by these thieves ever again. They should not be allowed to operate in the ways that they get away with.

Is it possible to give zero stars. Paid for parking at St Mary's Church in Betwy-s-Coed. Returned over an hour within the time limit. Did not retain ticket. Now have a fine for £100 and even though my credit card has the parking payment on my account, they won't accept it as proof.
Advise all people parking in future to take a photo of their tickets on their windscreen/dashboards and of the area surrounding their car as timed and dated proof for when this fraudulent company issue you a bogus fine. What a scam way to make money. I'll have to pay £60 early settlement but I'm going to request the parking refund via my credit card. Petty but why should they have two lots of my money?

Same story here. Paid for 2 hours parking near Holywell beach, returned and left within this time. Paid cash. Binned the ticket when cleaning the car when returned from holiday then got a PCN letter. Notice says I didn't pay. Am appealing but not hopeful. Won't park using Initial parking again. Zero stars.

25/07/25 Newquay Airport short stay car park.My wife and I took two cars to collect our family who arrived from Dublin. They were last through the arrivals gate and then had to spend 30 minutes to register that none of their luggage (4x cases 2x car seats) were on the flight from Dublin. I used one of the four machines in arrivals to pay for both vehicles. I entered the Full VRM for both vehicles and the charge displayed on the screen was £2.50. I paid by contactless and received a ticket with the VRM displayed and fee paid, along with a separate receipt for payment. I did the process for my wife’s car and received the same ticket and receipt. So payment was made for £2.50 for each car. We left the car park with our family but no luggage.
On 05/08/25 both my wife and I received a PCN for £100 reduced to £60 if paid within 2 weeks.
We both appealed supplying photo evidence of both tickets and receipts and a copy of a bank statement to prove that 2x £2.50 payments had been made to the airport .
Both appeals were refused.
I now realise (having returned to the airport today) that the £2.50 that appeared on the screen was for the minimum amount of time and it was up to me to alter the time spent in the car park to cover our stay there. I have used many car parks that use ANPR and when you put in the VRM into the the pay machine, it calculates what fee you need to pay, and it displays on the screen what fee is due. I have never known a car park where you have to calculate your stay time and alter the tariff on the machine.

This is an absolute disgrace of a system aimed purely to catch unsuspecting motorists out. Had the machine had displayed £4.50 (that is apparently the fee that was due ) I would have gladly paid it. The machine obviously knew what time I had entered the car park so why not display the amount due.