How you got charged without seeing a warden
Supermarkets and retail parks don’t issue these themselves — they contract private operators (ParkingEye, Euro Car Parks, Smart Parking and others) who run ANPR cameras at the entrances. The cameras log your numberplate in and out; stay past the limit — typically 90 minutes to 3 hours — or fail to register your plate at an in-store terminal, and a charge is posted to the registered keeper automatically. It’s an invoice under contract law, not a fine, and the free two-stage appeal route applies.
The classic supermarket scenarios — and how each one wins
- You were a genuine customer. The whole point of the car park is customers — and the store can tell the operator to cancel. Appeal with your receipt or bank statement, and ask at the customer service desk too: store managers get charges for real customers cancelled every week.
- Keying errors. Typed your registration into the in-store terminal with one wrong character? You did everything asked of you and the operator lost nothing — the de-minimis keying error argument has an excellent record.
- A few minutes over. Operators’ codes of practice require a grace period of at least 10 minutes after the permitted time. “Twelve minutes over a 90-minute limit” often means only a couple of chargeable minutes — and big queues at the tills are worth mentioning.
- Two visits in one day. Morning top-up shop, evening return — and the cameras pair your first entry with your second exit, billing you for a nine-hour “stay”. If the times on the notice look impossible, say you made two visits and ask for the full ANPR record.
- Unclear signs. Terms hidden at the far end of the car park, faded boards, or signs contradicting each other — no clear signage means no contract was formed. Photograph everything.
Ask the store first. Before (or alongside) your formal appeal, take your receipt to the store’s customer service desk or contact their head office. Landowners instruct operators to cancel charges constantly — supermarkets don’t want to lose a regular customer over their parking contractor.
The process
- Step 1: appeal to the operator named on the notice within 28 days — state your grounds, attach receipts, bank records and photos. Don’t pay while the appeal is open.
- Step 2: if rejected, escalate free to POPLA or the IAS (the rejection letter names which). The operator must produce compliant signage evidence and paperwork — if it can’t, you win.
Related
- Company-by-company appeal guides — ParkingEye, Euro Car Parks, Smart Parking and more
- What happens if you just ignore it?