Car park security and your insurance

What "secure parking" actually means, what your own insurance does and does not cover, and the checks that take five minutes and save arguments.

Last reviewed 6 September 2026. Prices and car park rules change often — confirm the current details before you travel.

"Secure parking" appears on every airport car park's website, official and independent alike. It is a marketing phrase rather than a defined standard, so it is worth knowing what sits behind it and where responsibility actually lies if something goes wrong.

What to look for in a compound

Useful security is made of specific, checkable things:

• Perimeter fencing that actually encloses the site.
• Controlled entry and exit — barriers, gates or number plate recognition, so that vehicles do not simply come and go.
• Lighting across the parking area, not just at the entrance.
• Camera coverage, with recordings kept for a reasonable period.
• Staff presence, and what hours it covers.
• Recognised accreditation where the operator holds it.

An operator who answers these concretely is giving you real information. One who responds only with adjectives is not, and that in itself is worth noting.

Insurance: the bit people get wrong

There are two different situations here and they are governed differently.

Self-park, keys stay with you

This is the straightforward case. You park the car, you keep the keys, nobody else drives it. Your own comprehensive policy normally continues to cover the vehicle while it sits there, in the same way it would in any other car park.

Someone else drives your car

Meet and greet, valet, and some attended off-airport operations all involve a third party driving your vehicle. This is where the assumption that "my insurance covers it" can come apart.

Reputable operators carry their own insurance covering vehicles in their custody, both while driven and while stored. That is the cover that matters here, and it is entirely reasonable to ask what it is and to get the answer in writing before you book.

It is equally worth checking your own policy wording for how it treats the vehicle being driven by someone else with your permission in a commercial context. Policies differ, and finding out afterwards is the expensive way to learn.

Documenting the handover

Where you hand over keys, five minutes of documentation prevents almost every dispute:

• Photograph the car from all four corners in daylight if possible, plus the wheels and any existing damage.
• Photograph the odometer.
• Get a written condition report signed by both sides, and keep your copy.
• Repeat the photographs at collection before you drive away.

None of this implies you expect a problem. It simply means that if there is one, it is a matter of record rather than a matter of opinion.

What to take out of the car

Regardless of the parking type, do not leave things in the car that you would mind losing:

• Valuables, electronics and anything visible from outside.
• Documents — the V5C in particular should never live in the glovebox.
• House keys, and anything showing your home address alongside them. A car at an airport advertises that its owner is away.
• Spare keys to the vehicle itself.

That last group matters more than the usual advice about laptops. A car park full of vehicles whose owners are demonstrably out of the country is a specific situation, and it is worth not making a gift of your address.

If something does go wrong

• Inspect the car before leaving the car park, not at home.
• Photograph any damage immediately, in place.
• Report it to the operator while you are still on site and get the report acknowledged in writing.
• Keep your booking confirmation and handover paperwork.
• If the operator disputes it, your own insurer and the relevant consumer protections are the next step.

The single most useful habit is checking the car before you drive off. Once you have left, attributing damage to the car park becomes very much harder.