How we estimate the cost of answering a challenge
Revenger's counter shows an estimate of what it costs to answer a parking charge — the admin, time and fees each step in the process involves. We want that number to be honest, so here's exactly how it's built, and what it is and isn't.
The method
For each right you exercise, we show two things: a verified cash fee — only where a fee is publicly confirmed and actually applies — plus a modelled effort range: the staff time it takes to handle it, at a scenario proxy rate (not a documented or charged rate).
cost = external fee + (admin minutes × admin rate) + (legal minutes × legal rate)The rates we use
Freedom-of-Information requests use the statutory £25/hr rate set by the FOI (Fees) Regulations 2004. We deliberately do not use the litigation “guideline hourly rates” (£142–£210 for a paralegal) — those are for assessing costs in court, and would overstate an operator's true marginal cost.
What each step adds to the estimate
Costs we leave out of the counter
Before a charge even reaches you, the operator has already paid the DVLA £2.50 to look up your address, and if they instruct a debt collector that adds more. We keep these out of the counter on purpose, so the number only reflects cost caused by the rights you choose to exercise — not sunk costs they'd have incurred anyway.
Sources
Uncertainty & limits
These are broad estimates and may differ materially from any real operator’s actual staffing, automation, outsourcer and site arrangements. In particular:
- A public-sector enforcement contract is a comparator, not proof of a private operator’s cost.
- Annual staff cost ÷ headcount is a firm-wide payroll proxy, not a marginal per-action cost.
- A court fee may be prepaid, recoverable, never incurred, or paid by the other party — its stage and payer matter.
- A complaint route may exist without triggering a fee or a measurable response.
- A reported rate is only transportable to cases within the same contract, date and scope.
Cost model v2.0 · last reviewed 20 August 2026 · owned by Revenger, under solicitor review. Changes to the model, inputs, bands or wording go through legal/editorial approval.
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