Parking fine at Sainsburys superstore

No, the contract is free parking for two hours. If you stay longer you've breached the contract and the company can pursue you through the civil courts for that breach. To avoid that you can pay the penalty charge of £50 which settles the civil course of action. Or, you can challenge the allegation of breach, either by arguing the company has not upheld their side of the contract (insufficient signage etc) or by arguing that in pursuing the suit they are deviating from the broad purpose of the contract which is to provide parking for shop customers (which is when you ask the shop for help and show your receipts).

The CAB is a wonderful organisation with a great ethos and a good starting point for people who have no where to go, but specialist advice it isn't. You might get lucky but it's unlikely they would be able to guide you through challenging a parking ticket. As is proved by you saying it can't be done based on the CAB advice.

Ah so you DO agree with the advice on the MSE thread!

It is not a breach of contract, it is just the contractual terms: you can park under 2 hours for free or for more than 2 hours (or whatever) for £50.

I had one of those earlier this year. The circumstances were a little annoying (the cashpoint at Sainsbury's was out of order and the main reason I overstayed was that I walked into town to find one that was working) but ultimately I'd committed the infringement I'd been fined for and couldn't have proved mitigating circumstances so I just paid it. I'm still petulantly boycotting Sainsbury's because it's not particularly inconvenient to use another supermarket.

It's not an invoice. It's a claim for breach of contract that can be settled by a set amount (£50 in this case).

Can't you jus go now and sort it

Show customer services your banking app if you spent a large amount of money it shows you where in there for a long time. There only interested in fining people who park and sod of somewhere else they're not trying to piss of there actual customers

It depends on whether you have the time and inclination to fight this. I personally do not and would just pay it. I don’t want threatening letters through the door and pseudo-bailiffs knocking on my door, it’s not worth the £50 I would save by not paying it especially when I did actually overstay

Entirely agree - the terms of which contract are required to be clearly displayed on site. Unclear signage is pretty much the only successful grounds for disputing this kind of ticket.

Why do you question the country’s most well known and established for 80 years advice organisation which is well respected as a source of help for people experiencing all kinds of legal and financial issues? Which requires staff and volunteers to undertake many months training and ongoing updating of knowledge?

oh sure it is! That is extremely unlikely. Funny how so many people are saying the MSE advice is rubbish but can't actually say why.

OP - if you can't get to Sainsbury's at all before the time lapses for the reduced charge, you should get your challenge in anyway. You can always try with Sainsbury's afterwards.

With Euro Car Parks, the reduced charge will still be available if your challenge if rejected (and to be clear, it will be rejected, they always are).

Take a bit of time to familiarise yourself with the law on this. Ignore those claiming this is a fine - it's not. It's an invoice. If someone posted a note through your door saying you owe them £50 because they'd washed your windows without your knowledge, you presumably wouldn't just pay it even if they say they'd take you to court if you don't.

This has essentially the same legal standing. It is a claim by the company that you entered a contract when you parked, and that contract now means you owe them £50. Disputing a contractual claim is not like refusing to pay a fine.

The fact of the court order is what ruins your credit rating whether or not it is later paid. The most important thing is to prevent it getting to that point. What happens a lot of times is that people move house, don’t update DVLA records and/or don’t set up postal redirection and so miss the initial claim / summons and so end up with a CCJ they know nothing about.

I think the training and up to date information of the CAB is more definitive . Just saying

To be clear, it is not twelve years old.

It was started twelve years ago and updated since then. Which is why it refers to multiple developments in the law over the past twelve years.

Once again, this is not a fine. It is an invoice. If it is paid, there is no route to challenge it, and no grounds to challenge it.

Why do you think it is a 'stupid idea' not to pay and instead challenge it?

What is it you think would happen that would be so damaging to the OP?

Try ringing head office or sending them a message on Twitter first - that’s got to be worth a try surely?

They are just as enforceable as any other contractual debt in Scotland. The only question is whether the company would bother pursuing it through small claims court.

Care to share which piece of advice is awful and why? Or are you going to keep it to yourself? The first step on the "bloody appalling" advice is something that a significant proportion of people on this thread have also advised so you will be helping everyone on the thread by being more precise and sharing the benefit of your wisdom.

The parking rule is entirely separate from being a regular customer and spending lots of money in a particular shop. People are conflating the two. Most parking lots use number plate recognition and there’s really no arguing with that. I reluctantly paid mine and now I’m ultra careful and set a timer on my phone.

Pisses me off no end, that DLVA share (sell) my personal details to these Cowboys - no clue how it’s legal

Do you have a Nectar card? If you do then it will show the date & time that you paid and if you ask customer services nicely then they may well be able to reprint your receipt for you. If no luck in store then phone the careline and they may be able to email the receipt to you.