It pays to complain. At least when it comes to parking fees and parking stalls. A calculation from 2021 shows that over 50 percent of motorists can tear the stalls over.
The parking company and the parking attendants are some scoundrels. At least when you look at the decisions that have gone against them in recent years.
In 2021, a report from the Parking Complaints Board showed that the majority of motorists are absolutely right when they feel treated unfairly by the parking attendants and their employers.
It basically costs DKK 175 to complain about a control charge (a parking charge, ed.) with the Parking Complaints Board. But if the driver wins the case, the money must be paid back.
And not only that. Every time they lose a case, the P-companies must pay DKK 3,500 in fees for the stupidity. However, the motorist does not immediately receive any compensation for the unjustified inspection fee.
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Out of 885 cases that the Parking Complaints Board managed to complete in 2020, the drivers won in 483 of the cases. So in 54.5 percent of the cases.
To TV2 Kosmpol , which at the time called itself TV2 Lorry, FDM pointed out in 2021, however, that the vast majority of parking companies give up chasing motorists for the money they think they are entitled to before the cases reach the Parking Complaints Board.
APCOA Parking, which calls itself Denmark's largest parking company, was also the one that in 2020 had to give up most of its claims in the complaints board. Out of all 885 cases, 44 percent of control charges were from APCOA Parking.
However, the fact that motorists are usually right has not stopped the public transport companies from deceiving since. In May last year, the company Q-Park was found to be charging illegal parking fees. Read more about it here .
A look at the appeals board's website in July 2024 also reveals that the parking companies still find it more than difficult to follow the rules they administer themselves. The majority of the decisions, which are currently available in the appeals board's database, fall out in favor of motorists.
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