Supermarket overstay charges
Most supermarket car park charges come from cameras that record when a vehicle arrives and leaves. We check what the cameras recorded, how the time limit was applied, and whether the operator followed the rules.
How an overstay charge is worked out
Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras photograph the registration as a vehicle enters and leaves. The parking company treats the time between the two as the length of the stay. If that is longer than the time allowed, it sends a notice to the registered keeper by post.
The stay recorded by the cameras includes driving in, finding a space, walking to and from the shop, and queuing to leave. The Private Parking Sector Single Code of Practice, which members of the British Parking Association and the International Parking Community must follow, allows for this in two ways:
- A consideration period at the start, for the driver to find a space, read the terms and decide whether to stay.
- A grace period after the parking period ends, during which a charge must not be issued. It applies only where the other terms were kept.
The minimum periods depend on the type and size of the car park and are set out in a table in the code. Where parking is free for a set period of an hour or more, the minimum grace period is 10 minutes, and the minimum consideration period is 5 minutes, or 10 minutes at sites with more than 500 spaces.
Points we check
Two visits recorded as one
If you visited the same car park twice in a day, the cameras may have missed the exit from the first visit or the entry for the second, so that two short stays appear as one long one. Two till receipts, a card statement or a fuel receipt showing the times can show what actually happened.
Missing or partial camera records
We ask the operator for the full set of images and timestamps it relies on. We look for a partial plate read, a record of only one movement, or times that do not match your own evidence.
Customer terms and registration terminals
Many supermarket car parks are for customers only, and some require customers to enter their registration on a terminal in store. Under the code's Appeals Charter, a charge should be cancelled where the driver paid any tariff but made a minor error typing the registration. A first charge should be reduced where the driver made a larger keying error, or did not enter the registration at a site where the vehicle would have been allowed to park.
Signs
The maximum stay must be clear at the entrance and within the car park. The code requires the entrance sign to show the length of any free parking period.
Keeper liability and the timing of the notice
Where nothing was put on the vehicle, keeper liability under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 only arises if the conditions are met, including that the notice to keeper was delivered within 14 days, beginning with the day after the parking ended. A posted notice is presumed to arrive on the second working day after posting, unless the contrary is proved. If the conditions are not met, the keeper cannot be held liable under Schedule 4, although the operator may still pursue the driver. See private parking charges for the full conditions.
More than one charge
The code says an operator must not issue more than one charge in the same calendar day for the same parking event.
Keep your receipts
A till receipt, card statement or app record showing when you shopped is often the most useful evidence in an overstay appeal. Some retailers can ask the parking company to cancel a charge for a customer, so it can also help to ask the store, taking your receipt with you.
What we do
- Ask the operator for the full camera images and timings it relies on
- Compare them with your receipts, card statements and other records
- Check the consideration and grace periods applied against the code
- Check the notice to keeper against the Schedule 4 conditions and dates
- Write to the retailer, on your authority, to ask for its support
- Appeal to the operator, then to POPLA or the IAS
What we do not do
- Claim the cameras were wrong without evidence, or promise a charge will be cancelled
- Give, or suggest you give, false or misleading information about who was driving
- File, sign or send a court defence for you, or write to the court on your behalf
- Handle car parks in Scotland or Northern Ireland
If a court claim arrives, see what happens next.
The appeal deadline
Under the code, you can appeal to the operator within 28 days. If you appeal in that time and the appeal is rejected, you can still pay at the rate that applied when you appealed for a further 14 days, so an early appeal keeps the reduced amount open. Send us the notice as soon as it arrives.
Common questions
I was only a few minutes over the limit.
The code requires a grace period after the parking period ends, and a charge must not be issued during it. Where parking is free for an hour or more, the minimum is 10 minutes. We check the recorded times against the periods that should have been applied.
I went to the shop twice that day.
Receipts or card records for both visits are the best evidence. They can show that the cameras joined two separate stays into one.
The notice came weeks after my visit.
If nothing was put on the vehicle and the notice to keeper was not delivered within the Schedule 4 time limit, the keeper cannot be held liable under Schedule 4. The operator may still pursue the driver, so the timing is one point among several.
I paid for parking but typed my registration wrongly.
The code distinguishes minor errors, such as a zero instead of the letter O, where the charge should be cancelled, from larger errors, where a first charge should be reduced. Send us the payment record.
Our status
Appeal Specialists is an independent consultancy, not a law firm. We are not solicitors or barristers and we are not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority or any other legal regulator, so you cannot complain about us to the Legal Ombudsman.
We provide non-reserved legal services only. We do not conduct litigation, file or serve court documents, or accept service of court documents for you. Where the law allows, we can speak for you at a small-claims hearing or a tribunal, but only with your agreement and, at small-claims hearings, only if you attend.
What you tell us is not protected by legal professional privilege. We never hold your money. We work on matters in England and Wales only. We do not guarantee any outcome.
All correspondence by email
We deal with everything in writing, so every point and every deadline is on the record. If you are replying to a letter from us, please quote our reference.