Tesco has the largest market share of supermarkets in the UK. Along with its other familiar named divisions, it also owns One Stop, F&F, Booker, Marko and Premier. A lot of these will provide parking for their customers. However, Tesco see this as another money making opportunity. They are now rolling out strict parking rules, and if not adhered to, you could find yourself getting a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) if you forgot to validate Tesco parking.
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How To Validate Parking In Tesco
Some Tesco car parks use Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems to monitor which vehicles enter and exit the car parks, and what the duration of their stay was. APCOA are the company that usually manage this system.
Common practice in the way validating Tesco parking works is the ANPR system logs the vehicle registration as it enters the car park. After you have completed your shop, you are given a voucher. You then need to enter your vehicle registration and voucher code into a terminal or online in order to validate your parking.
APCOA currently do this through their ParkToShop website. You need to have the 11 digit number from underneath the barcode on the parking validation ticket which is provided by Tesco.
Tesco Horizon Parking Fine
Horizon Parking manage car parks in the public and private sectors all over the UK. They currently manage 84 car parks for Tesco across the country. They are a Private Parking Company (PPC) who issue PCNs to motorists who breach their parking conditions.
Horizon Parking have also worked with Tesco to create a self monitoring car parking solution. This allows Tesco employees to patrol their own car parks and report any parking infractions via a handheld device.
Forgot To Validate Tesco Parking
If you have overstayed the free parking time limit, usually two to three hours, a charge will be required to be paid before validation of the ticket can be completed. It also applies if you who don’t spend the required minimum amount in the store, usually somewhere around £5.
If you don’t, or forgot to validate Tesco parking, the PPC managing the car park will usually send a Notice To Keeper to the registered owner of the vehicle.
Tesco Parking Fine Appeal
If you find yourself with a Tesco parking ticket, the first thing you will want to do before appealing is let the store manager know at the location where you received it. Sometime retail locations have a clause written into the contracts with PPCs to allow them to cancel PCNs for genuine customers.
Also if you were only in the car park for less than ten minutes, but still received a PCN, you could appeal it due to parking ticket grace periods required by the Government. This was done in 2015 and applies council car parks in England, Scotland and Wales. However, it must be noted this is voluntary for PPCs that aren’t part of an Accredited Trade Association (ATA).
If the grace period rule doesn’t apply to you, make sure all the information on the PCN is correct, irrespective of whether it is a Notice To Driver or Notice To Keeper. This includes things such as the date and making sure you were driving the vehicle at the time of the parking infraction. If anything is incorrect, this will give you more leverage during an appeal. Accompanied with evidence will help too.
There are also certain types of excuses that can be used to help cancel a PCN. Bear in mind, these kind of excuses may not be accepted as valid reasons for breaking the parking rules. Ultimately, the decision lies with the PPC.
The last thing to do is follow the appeals process on the PCN to fight your case.
Can You Ignore A Tesco Parking Fine?
It is never recommended to ignore a Tesco parking fine. By doing so could result in bigger problems further down the line. This could include things such as letters demanding payment and/or threats of court action, or worse, a debt collection agency and/or bailiffs are put on the case.
Remember that a debt collector doesn’t have any legal powers to collect a debt.
If you feel that the PCN you received is unfair, it is always recommended to follow the appeals process.
If you receive other correspondence from Horizon Parking, or any other PPC, in relation to a parking infraction at a Tesco car park, never ignore them either. By doing so could result in bigger problems such as a County Court Judgement (CCJ), which could affect your credit score.
TLDR: Forgot To Validate Tesco Parking?
- Horizon Parking currently manage 84 car parks for Tesco;
- APCOA commonly manage Tesco car parks with ANPR systems;
- If you overstay the free parking period, or forget to validate Tesco parking, you could receive a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) for the parking infractions that took place;
- Always try and get a PCN cancelled through the genuine customers clause first;
- Make sure you didn’t receive a PCN during a parking ticket grace period;
- Make sure all the information is correct on the PCN;
- Don’t forget about or just ignore a PCN.
Sources used to write this article: