CAR parking apps are bombarding drivers with added fees and extras including “contents insurance” and “text alerts” which can double the cost of parking.
Parking apps have become the default way for drivers to pay to leave their vehicle in a car park or on the street, as hundreds of traditional ticket machines have disappeared.
There are now around 30 different parking apps, according to the RAC, and you need to download an app for each individual company depending on where you’re parked.
But research by The Sun has found these apps charge drivers up to 72p extra (see our table above) for one hour of parking in fees just for using the app to pay for their parking – even though in many cases it is the only way to pay.
They would not have been charged these fees in the past to use a traditional parking ticket machine.
We have also found in some cases, extra costs like contents cover are being pushed on drivers even though they may not need it.
“Convenience” fees
Apps such as JustPark, RingGo and PayByPhone promise customers that they will be able to buy a ticket quickly and easily using these smartphone apps.
But motorists are now being charged an additional “convenience fee” for the privilege of buying their ticket, despite paying by app often being the only option.
PayByPhone charges motorists up to 35p as a “convenience fee”, which it sometimes calls a transaction fee.
Meanwhile RingGo charges a convenience fee of up to 20p per transaction, which it said covers the cost of running the service and allows it to invest in new features and innovation.
The cost will vary depending on the area you park in.
PayByPhone said the charge covers all costs of running the service including payment processing, email receipts, geolocation services for its Maps and the ability to extend your parking remotely.
But Scott Dixon, motoring disputes expert at The Complaints Resolver, said these fees are “a rip-off” given parking apps are often the only way to pay – and the apps are making deals with local authorities.
“Ring-Go is the most popular parking app used by local authorities, which often arrange with it to split the income from the convenience fees as additional revenue,” he said.
“Other app providers will be coming to similar arrangements with car park providers and local authorities.”
Contents cover
Meanwhile, other features in these apps encourage drivers to add optional extras to their payment, pushing up the total cost of their booking.
PayByPhone has an insurance option, called PayByPhone Protect, which protects the driver’s belongings and broken side and rear window glass up to £2,000 per claim.
Motorists who make a claim on this insurance also do not need to pay an excess.
But, expensive car equipment and accessories such as wheels or sat navs, items in roof boxes or luggage racks and any other damage to the car body are not covered.
PayByPhone said this insurance will help to “simplify the journey for our motorists” and “help them save money”.
But Jeffrey Salmon, an insurance loss assessor at Salmon Assessors, said these contents insurance policies are “highly questionable”.
“The insurance available through parking apps often costs as much as the parking itself,” he said.
“For example, a £4.20 parking transaction for a 12-hour period could cost you £8.40 with insurance.
“This will get costly if used multiple times per year and could be much more expensive than buying a standalone policy.”
These policies also require evidence of forced entry for the claim to be considered, Mr Salmon warns.
This means that if thieves broke into the car with a remote device then there is no proof of forced entry and the insurance company will not pay the claim.
Items stored in a car will already be covered by a car insurance policy but it may not be worth making a claim if they are not very valuable as a typical excess is around £200.
Other firms offer similar policies but still require the driver to make a claim on their insurance.
For example, JustPark offers an optional service called “Parking Peace of Mind”, which is charged at an hourly fee.
Motorists who take out the policy will be covered in case of any damage to their vehicle while it is parked.
If their car is damaged during this time then JustPark will refund them the amount they pay as an excess on their insurance claim, up to a total of £1,000.
But the driver will still need to make a claim on their own car insurance policy.
In an example seen by The Sun one motorist said she was charged £1.16 to add insurance when booking her car in Twickenham, London.
She was also charged a 99p transaction fee, which increased the total cost of her parking from £9.49 to £11.64.
Another disgruntled motorist described being charged 80p in fees to pay for car parking using the RingGo app as “ridiculous”.
Meanwhile, a third urged “bring back cash payments” after being forced to pay a 20p convenience fee.
Responding to this, a spokesperson for PayByPhone said: “With regards to PayByPhone Protect, we emphasise that this coverage is entirely optional.
“We know not all motorists will want to use it, and not all motorists will feel they need it. They can, of course, use their existing car or home insurance policies to file a claim, if their policies provide cover.”
Charges for text reminders
RingGo, JustPark and PayByPhone all also charge extra for text reminders that a car parking ticket is about to expire.
At RingGo this would add up to 20p to the cost of your booking.
Meanwhile, JustPark charges motorists 5-20p to have a confirmation of payment sent via SMS, while a reminder that your parking session is about to end also costs up to 20p.
The company justifies the 20p fee by saying that parking fines can cost anywhere from £50 to £100, so the motorist would save money if they were able to avoid being charged.
In comparison, at PayByPhone it costs up to 20p to receive text reminders.
But Mr Dixon dismisses additional fees to receive an SMS reminder as “blatant extortion”.
“SMS reminders are simply additional sources of revenue to rip off motorists at every turn,” he said.
“It costs nothing for an automated system to send out SMS reminders, so to charge motorists for it is unreasonable.”
By senior consumer reporter Adele Cooke
PARKING apps promise motorists convenience but often customers are left frustrated or unable to pay when they try to use them.
Poor internet signal, confusing signage and additional fees can often make it harder to pay with a smartphone app than with a ticket machine.
Plus, opting in to added extras such as text alerts and parking insurance can almost double the cost of your booking.
Parking companies need to make their fees clear to customers before they start a transaction so they know exactly how much they will pay.
