Parking fine at Sainsburys superstore

Go into the store and show them your bank statement and ask for a reprint of the receipt and talk to the manager but most of the car parks aren’t anything to do with the supermarkets so just pay up. They can and do take you to court if tou don’t and a cheap fine will end up at £370 before you know it

I had this for overstaying at Tesco one evening. I sent them a photo of my receipt & they dropped it.

If you don’t have a receipt, maybe use the entry from your bank statement to show you were shopping at Sainsbury’s that day? It’s supposed to deter people from using the car park for other purposes not to penalise genuine customers.

They do actually.

The car park companies can hold the keeper of the vehicle liable, but they have to do certain things to do so. Often they fail to do that.

Making a false statement about who the driver was is a bad idea.

But the keeper of the vehicle should definitely not confirm who was driving it. If they don't, then one route of appeal could well be whether the car park company complied with the obligations to hold the keeper liable - they often don't.

Why? In this context, it's the DVLA registered keeper of the vehicle who is legally liable, not the driver. It's a civil not criminal matter.

It would only change if the vehicle was hired / leased and then liability could be transferred to the hirer. Euro Car Parks are not going to ask the OP for the name and address of the driver!

I’m not really saying there can’t be fines, I agree there has to be control of parking, but there is a rip off angle to them in the private parking world that I think needs contesting. Such as 20 mins max in a busy Tesco express or a costa where people think they can sit in - quite likely to get fined here, too likely I think. Also fines for driving in/out but unable to park due to no spaces, or very poor signage - and these shouldn’t be fines but people pay. I also think they’re too expensive. I know private parking fines are more than council ones for example - even double.
Then there’s the exponential raising of the fine if it’s not paid immediately, and pretty aggressive letters.
This won’t be all parking fine companies but the one I contested was known for this - advertising slogans ‘don’t pay or we’ll take it away’ which apparently they weren’t even entitled to use.
I’d prefer council run car parks or direct ownership by relevant pub/shop etc to keep it moderate as well as controlled.
Personally though I wouldn’t ignore, wouldn’t debate, and just pay the initial fine as it was very time consuming and stressful and dragged on and on - though in my case I only got the follow up letter charging £160 so maybe I’d still have to look into that still!

@MsJinks the problem is though that if there were no repercussions for parking beyond time limits then there would be chaos and less parking for everyone who wanted to use the shop/pub/hospital/whatever. It is an effective deterrent against people taking the pee

I had a local car park fine in 2017 - I didn’t pay as I never got the letter- first letter I got was the first chaser in 2021!
I did contest after reading MSE thoroughly as there were several angles to it to contest and the parking firm was known to push push push with letters and then drop. I did win but it took so many many stressful hours I’d have to be completely being ripped off and the fine be incredibly incorrectly applied to do so again. Plus the chaser was already something like £160 which annoyed me.
I had to get SARs, photos of signage from wayback page, laws around 10 mins and other things (then) grace time etc etc and even do a full (50 page defence with images) as they kept going till due in court and dropped it the day or so before.
MSE has lots of info and were very helpful, and are clear what is worth contesting and why - but even if they did say it is worth contesting be prepared to spend too many hours and worry on it. I think they’re less worth contesting nowadays though as they’ve tightened all bad practices.
Don’t ignore at all - I effectively ignored and 4 years later they followed up, and the fines increased each letter very quickly - it won’t go away whilst they’re owed cash.
Best bet, as above, is to go and explain at Sainsbury’s.
This is not to say these type of fines are right at all - nor any follow up bully tactics - they especially upset vulnerable and/or elderly people. They were going to be looked at a few years ago by the government but it fell through- you can write to your MP and they used to monitor numbers of fines on MSE as well.

I got one cancelled last weekend. It was one of those chain pubs with a big car park. You were apparently supposed to give your reg at the bar but there wasn't any signs where I parked - I came in the side entrance and parked right by the side door. I facebooked the pub and it was cancelled within 10 mins.

Didn't have a receipt as my mate bought me the one drink I had. Was for £100, reducing to £60 if paid immediately.

This is not true. Many people in Scotland have been prosecuted for ignoring these.

Yeah its a time limit for our Sainsburys around me, although they don't have changing rooms so if I buy anything, I just take it back if it doesn't fit. You could try appealing with the receipts, but offer payment at the same time.

Someone told a dislike to pay machines in Dartford and smashed the lot up

Take a copy of your bank statement into the shop. I'm sure they'll sort it.

This did not work with Asda for me. I showed them the receipts. They said they had no authority to cancel the charges as they did not own the land outside or employ the company. I had to take it up with the company.

I think you are now dancing on the head of a pin here.

The point is the car parking firms claim that you are entering a contract to pay them £X amount if you park for in excess of Y minutes.

Calling it a 'charge for breach of contract' or a 'parking charge notice' doesn't change what it fundamentally is: a bill from one private individual to another claiming that they owe money which may or may not be correct.

Only a court can actually determine that there has been a breach of contract. Until then it is just an invoice. Which someone may or may not be liable to pay.

In OP's circumstances there are potentially very solid reasons to consider that she may not be liable to pay it because she did not not, in fact, breach the contract that the company claims she entered into.

Can You show them your bank statement?

Often they don’t need proof anyway and Sainsburys will cancel it out of goodwill if they believe you.

It is. It’s their car park, and they decided to employ this company to police it. Sainsburys can get any parking charges cancelled
if they so wish, and they normally do if you show you were a genuine customer.

No speak to Sainsbury’s and they WIlL cancel it, as you can show you were a genuine customer in their store for
a long time and spending lots of money.

You dont have to pop back, email them.

It's not about Sainsbury's.

Do you think Sainsburys would care? Their profits were £242 million in this years report up 76% year on year.

Of course you can charge people for breach, happens all the time. Pay late on a contract/fail to pay? Incur a fee, enforceable in civil courts.

You can’t charge people for breaching a contract, you charge people in line with the contract - which is if you stay over 2 hours a £50 charge applies. The company are pursuing you for their contractual payment - a contract you agreed to by parking having had the opportunity to read the clear signs. They could call it a penalty charge but it is still a contractual clause.

@ConveyancingHelll seriously, you're wrong.

But of course to allege that they need to demonstrate that you entered a contract to pay them that money in the first place.

No they don't. They just need to prove that you entered into a contract to park on land controlled by them according to their terms and conditions. The terms and conditions are on the signs. You parking on the land means you have accepted the terms and conditions on the signs. You doing anything that breaks the rules on the signs (staying too long, parking in a disabled bay without a blue badge, returning too soon etc) means that you've gone against the terms and conditions and have breached the contract you accepted by parking.

https://bridgelawsolicitors.co.uk/a-short-guide-to-dealing-with-unfair-parking-tickets/

'it is effectively a notice to pay for a breach of contract.'

https://insights.doughtystreet.co.uk/post/102ike8/private-parking-charges-why-pay

'the alleged breach of contract which forms the legal basis for a PCN '

I hope you're not actually a conveyancer!

I think I might be petty enough to return everything (assuming got receipt) and let Sainsbury's know that I needed to, to pay the fine. 2 hours before xmas is miserly for families. I'd also be looking for a supermarket with 3 hours.

ONE OF - not the only grounds for appeal. In any event Not all parking companies have signed up to this code of conduct