In ungated assets, verifying a vehicle’s permission to park (payment, permit, validation, etc.) and creating a violation for those who do not have permission to park is just half of the process. After a violation is created, there’s a process that can last anywhere from hours to months in efforts to recover payment from unruly (or just forgetful) parkers.
On average, we see 80% of parkers pay using standard payment methods. When parkers don’t pay at first, they can rack up 2-3x the cost of an average parking period in violation fees. That’s why FLASH has a robust process for reaching out to parkers and getting them to pay notices and any other related fees.
Stage 1: A Notice is Issued
Once a violation is created in a manual enforcement operation, a notice will be printed and put on a vehicle windshield. After this initial physical notice is issued, parkers typically have between 15-30 days to pay off that notice before any additional steps are taken.
In automated enforcement operations, the initial notice is issued via text message and sent as soon as the violation is recorded in the system.
Stage 2: Reminder
If parkers were notified via text, a reminder text is usually sent 24 hours later if the violation still has not been paid. After the second warning, parkers flagged as violations in an automated enforcement system will also move to mail-based attempts to reconcile payment.
Stage 3: Escalation
After the initial 15-30 day notice period, fees are often escalated and an additional notice is sent. If the first notice was a printed violation placed on a windshield, this stage will often involve a text message notice.
Stage 4: Final Attempt
After contacting a parker by both mail and text message in an attempt to receive payment for a violation, a final notice will be sent by mail informing the parker that, if not paid, this charge will move to collections.
Stage 5: Collections
After multiple failed attempts to receive payment, the unpaid violations will be sent to collections, where violations may be placed on credit reports and the parker will be repeatedly contacted by phone and potentially even sued if there are multiple violations unaccounted for.
Why It Matters
We get close to half of all the parkers who skip out on standard payment methods to pay their violation fees, which generally add up to more than the standard rate would have been had all 100% of parkers paid with standard methods.
In today’s fast-paced, competitive parking environment, enforcement is a vital part of managing and maintaining operations. With FLASH, you can trust that even ungated assets are protected and monitored to ensure maximum revenue collection.
Here at FLASH, we are committed to helping our customers better serve their customers. We make tools designed to empower you and help you propel your business forward in the changing mobility ecosystem.
Curious how our robust enforcement toolkit keeps asset owners and operators in total control while creating lasting customer value?
Learn more about Flash Parking enforcement solutions.
