// BBC BUSINESS NEWS — FINANZA
Will a new code end 'rip-off parking charges'?
Rosey Greenwood was asked to pay £1,906 because she took more than five minutes to pay for parking
"I was completely on edge, every single day," said Rosey Greenwood. "I had letters coming through - I had debt collectors after me."
Two years ago, Rosey was being told to pay £1,906 because she had taken too long to pay for parking.
Rosey had paid every single time she parked at the Copeland Street car park in Derby, and had bank records to prove it. But Rosey had unknowingly broken the car park's terms and conditions, which stipulated that drivers must pay within five minutes of entering.
Rosey could not afford to pay £1,906 - she was due to get married and also saving up to buy her first home.
As she prepared to fight the case in court, her fiance emailed the BBC and asked us to "shed some light" on what was happening.
The case was then raised in Parliament, external by Derby North MP Catherine Atkinson, who described the charges - which had caught out countless other motorists - as a "five-minute rip-off charge".
The parking sector subsequently banned the five-minute payment rule by updating its code of practice, external, but the government is going further by bringing in a statutory Private Parking Code of Practice.
"These charges leave people feeling ripped off and out of pocket, so I'm putting a stop to them," Prime Minister Andy Burnham said, external on Monday.
But will the new code actually put the brakes on "rip-off" parking charges?