Please note: You should always refer to your loan agreement for exact repayment amounts as they may vary from our results.
Late repayments can cause you serious money problems. See our debt help guides.
Do parking tickets and speeding tickets affect your credit score?
A parking or speeding fine can end up affecting your chances of getting a loan, but there are steps you can take to stop this happening.
A speeding ticket or parking fine will only affect your credit score if you’re taken to court as a result of not paying it. As such, the easiest way to ensure your credit score isn’t affected is to pay the fine as soon as possible.
Will unpaid parking or speeding fines be visible on my credit file?
If the issue is settled outside of court, it won’t affect your credit score at all.
Even if the issue does go to court, it’ll still only appear on your credit file if you lose the case, then you fail to pay the county court judgements (CCJ) within 30 days.
It’ll be the unpaid CCJ that appears on your credit report, not the reason you were served it.
Unpaid CCJs do tend to wreak havoc to credit scores, so it’s highly advisable not to let the issue drag on for this long. In this case, as well as having to deal with the consequences of a damaged credit score, you’ll have to pay additional fines and court costs.
Will unpaid parking or speeding fines affect my chances of getting a loan?
If the issue of the unpaid fine drags on enough to appear on your credit report, it’s likely to have a serious impact on your chances of getting a loan.
An unpaid CCJ is a major flag to lenders, because it shows that you’re prone to leave debts unpaid for a significant amount of time.
It’s likely you’ll be unable to access the best deals on a loan immediately after an unpaid CCJ appears on your credit file, and it could take months or years of sensible borrowing to overcome the negative impact that this incident causes.
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Tips
Do
- Pay your speeding or parking fines within 14 days of receiving them. You’ll usually get a 50% discount if you do.
- Appeal against your fines if you believe you have grounds to do so. Even if it goes to court and you lose, you’ll still have 30 days to save it from affecting your credit record.
Don’t
- Delay paying parking and speeding fines unless you plan to appeal them. Regardless of their impact on your credit file, you’ll end up with extra charges if you delay payment.
Example: Luke's loan application and his credit score
Luke appealed a parking fine and the issue was escalated all the way to court. Luke lost the court case and was forced to pay additional fines and court costs. However, as he paid all that was due within 30 days of the court case, his credit record remained unaffected.
* This is a fictional, but realistic, example.
The bottom line
It’ll take a lot of resistance from you before unpaid parking or speeding fines appear on your credit record. You’ll be given several chances to pay your debts before this happens. It’s recommended you take the first chance you’re given to pay these debts in full. If you’re the type of person who delays paying your debts by this much, other lenders are right to want to know about it.
Read about how different factors can affect your score
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Ask an Expert
I have been slapped with recovery notice by enforcement agency due to penalty notice going to my previous address. Am I liable? There has been no voluntary default but due to non receipt of penalty notice,things got delayed.will credit score be affected and is there any way it can be rectified?
Hi Rajeev,
Thanks for your inquiry.
A speeding ticket or parking fine will only affect your credit score if you’re taken to court as a result of not paying it. If the issue is settled outside of court, it won’t affect your credit score at all.
I hope this helps.
Kind regards,
Bella