I’m in a spot of parking bother... can you help?

Have a question? Ask our expert Simon Calder

Returning from Vilnius to a £290 bill was a shock (iStock)

Q Can you help with a parking problem that cost me nearly £300? I pre-booked cheap offsite parking at Luton airport. I left home in plenty of time for my 6.30am flight to Vilnius in Lithuania. But there were overnight motorway maintenance closures which meant I was running short of time by the time I reached the airport. I had to park in short-term parking so I didn’t miss the flight. When I returned from five days away I got a fright in the shape of a £290 bill, more expensive than the flights and accommodation for a five-day trip for two had cost. What can I do now to recover some or all of the money?

James B

A If your travel insurance covers delays en route to the airport, then you may be able to claim – though you will need evidence from the police or Highways England, together with specifying your departure time from home and arrival time at the airport. This type of cover, though, is intended for missed flights rather than punitive parking charges, so don’t be surprised if it is rejected. Perhaps, though, you were simply unlucky and didn’t allow quite enough time. In this case all I can suggest is you ask the pre-paid parking firm nicely if they might deign to defer your now-elapsed spell for a future date.

My perspective on events like this is rather more positive. I regard short-term airport parking as an expensive insurance policy. (The same goes for returning a rental car without filling it up or the very high fares for some airport train links, such as walk-up tickets on the Heathrow Express.) They allow me to make the flight on occasions when luck or poor time management is against me. So rather than regret the extra cost, I am thankful that I was able, at a price, to rescue the journey. I hope you agree that even the eye-watering bill was better than missing a trip to the beautiful Lithuanian capital.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder