Payments & Appeals
You have the option to appeal against the parking charge notice (PCN) you have received. However, we would issue the following guidance should you wish to pursue this course. A parking charge notice (PCN) is issued if a vehicle is parked in contravention of the advertised conditions on property we own, lease or have been contracted to patrol. Please be aware that our signage meets or exceeds the requirements of the International Parking Community (IPC) Code of Practice.
The car parks managed by Ocean Parking have clear terms and conditions, as detailed on the contractual warning signage in place within the car park. If you fail to comply with the car park terms and conditions, (for example, overstaying the free period or not paying for your parking), then a Parking Charge will be issued.
Landowners have a right to manage their private land as they see fit and allow motorists to use their land for parking under certain terms and conditions. Maximum stay periods are commonly used to ensure spaces are available for genuine customers, and to ensure there is a regular turnover of spaces. This is often the case at paid parking sites too, and car park management is required to ensure motorists are making payment in full for parking at that location.
Car park abuse is detrimental to landowners, and Ocean Parking ensures that the car park terms and conditions are adhered to and that parking spaces are used correctly.
You should choose whether to pay or appeal, you cannot do both. There is no requirement for us to consider an appeal that has been paid in full.
All appeals must be submitted in writing, via our website, a letter, or an email. Details regarding our appeals process can be found on the reverse of the Parking Charge. We are unable to accept verbal evidence, and therefore an appeal cannot be submitted over the telephone.
If the Parking Charge is ignored and no payment is received, then further action could be taken, which may include the charge being passed to a debt recovery agent, and court proceedings against you, all of which will incur additional costs.
The Department for Transport’s Blue Badge Scheme allows blue badge holders to park in certain restricted areas for up to three hours. However, this concession applies to the public highway only, and doesn’t apply on private land. Whilst some landholders provide disabled parking bays, these bays are generally subject to the same terms and conditions found elsewhere in the car park, including any parking tariffs and/or any maximum stay period allowed. You should therefore always check the terms and conditions displayed on the contractual warning signage on site.
We are members of the International Parking Community (IPC) and all parking charge notices are issued in line with the International Parking Community (IPC) Code of Practice.
It states in Section 13.1 of the IPC Code of Practice The parking operator must allow a consideration period of appropriate duration, subject to the requirements set out in Schedule 7, taking the following factors into account:
a) the time required for a driver to identify and access a parking bay appropriate to their needs; 1. For example, a driver seeking a Blue Badge parking bay or a parent and child parking bay, waiting for another vehicle to vacate a bay, returning to the vehicle to check the VRM, queuing at a payment machine, etc.
b) the time required for a driver to identify and read signs that display the parking terms and conditions, or the consequences of choosing to park where public parking is not invited;
c) the time required for a driver to identify and comply with requirements for payment; 2. This is particularly important for controlled land where the requirement is to pay and display a permit using on-site machinery, make an exact payment in cash using specific coins, or pay-by- phone or online through a process that could take several minutes.
d) the time required for a driver to leave the controlled land if they decide not to accept the terms and conditions;
e) the impact of the layout of the controlled land on 13.1a) to 13.1d); f) the impact of the number of vehicles accessing the car park on 13.1a) to 13.1d); and
g) the impact of the volume of traffic within the controlled land on 13.1a) to 13.1d). 3. The consideration period ends at the point where there is evidence that the driver has, by parking, accepted the terms, conditions and restrictions applying (whether or not they have chosen to read them) which may be evidenced by the driver parking the vehicle and leaving the premises, paying the applicable parking tariff, or turning off the ignition of the vehicle and remaining stationary for more than 5 minutes.
It also states in Section 13.2 of the IPC Code of Practice ‘A grace period as set out at Schedule 7 to this Code must be allowed by the parking operator at the end of the parking period, such that in calculating whether a parking charge is due the permitted period allows for a grace period beyond:
The grace period does not apply other than for the circumstances above where the driver has parked in compliance with the applicable terms and conditions – it does not apply in isolation so as to allow free parking up to the sum of the consideration and grace periods.
If you did not receive a Pay & Display ticket from the parking machine, it may be your transaction was not completed correctly and as a result, your payment may not have been successful.
Several of our car parks are monitored by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras, and our systems link your transaction from the payment machine to your vehicle registration.
You should therefore always ensure you enter your full and correct vehicle registration into the payment machine when purchasing a ticket.
We recognise genuine mistakes can occur, which may result in a parking charge being issued even when a motorist can demonstrate they have paid for their parking. In line with the International Parking Community (IPC) Code of Practice, a minor keying error is categorised as one letter or number incorrect or letters and numbers in the wrong order.
A major keying in error is one that has multiple number and letter keying errors, the first three digits only have been recorded or a completely incorrect registration number is used.
If you believe a minor or major keying error has occurred, we advise you follow our appeals process, and provide evidence of the ticket purchased.
The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 allows operators to pursue the keeper of the vehicle if no serviceable name and address is given for the driver of the vehicle.
We would therefore advise providing details of the driver of your vehicle at the time the parking ticket was issued, or you may still be liable for the Parking Charge.
All appeals are acknowledged within 14 days of being received. If you have not received an appeal acknowledgment, we may not have received your appeal.
Once we have received your appeal, the charge will be placed on hold, and remain at the charge amount and stage it was at when the appeal was received, until an appeal outcome is issued. Appeals are answered within 28 days of the appeal being received.
Please note, all appeals are answered by the means in which they are received. For example, if you email an appeal, your response will be sent by email, to the address from which it was received.
The Independent Appeals Service (IAS) is a certified Alternative Dispute Resolution entity pursuant to the European Directive on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) (2013/11/EU). It was created to provide a truly independent review on the lawfulness of parking charges that are imposed by private companies.
To submit an appeal to IAS, motorists must first submit an appeal to the operator who issued the Parking Charge.
If you lodge an appeal with IAS, then you will have already lost your right to the early payment discount offered. Should your appeal then be refused by IAS, to avoid any further action being taken, you should pay the outstanding parking charge amount within 28 days of IAS’s decision.
