Supermarket Car Park Fines: Why Leaving "Out of Hours" Can Still Cost You £100

You nip into the supermarket, pick up a few bits, and drive home. Days later, a letter arrives demanding up to £100 for a visit you barely remember. Sound far-fetched? For many drivers it isn't, and recent reporting suggests the incoming rule changes will not make this problem disappear.

According to a report in The National, drivers may still face private parking charges of up to £100 for leaving supermarket car parks outside store opening hours, even after new grace periods are introduced. Here is what is going on, how the technology works, where the law stands, and what you can do about it.

What the report says

The National's coverage centres on a gap between what many drivers assume the new rules will do and what they may actually do. Headlines about grace periods and fine caps have given the impression that private parking firms are being reined in across the board. The reality is more nuanced.

The report explains how ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) enforcement works at supermarket sites and outlines two new concepts:

• A consideration period, which gives drivers time after entering a car park to read the signs and decide whether to stay.
• An exit grace period, which gives drivers a short window to leave once their permitted parking time has ended.

The warning is that neither protects a driver whose car is recorded leaving outside the store's opening hours. If your vehicle is still on site long after the shop has shut, a grace period measured in minutes is unlikely to help.

I have not reproduced exact timings here, because details can shift between consultation, the final code and its start date. Check the current wording of the official code before relying on any figure.

How ANPR turns a shop visit into a charge

Most big supermarket car parks no longer use barriers or attendants. Cameras at the entrance and exit read your number plate and log the times. Software then calculates how long you were on site.

That is efficient for the operator, but it has quirks drivers rarely appreciate:

• The system records arrival and departure, not behaviour. It does not know whether you were shopping, sitting in the café, or visiting a neighbouring business.
• Time is calculated automatically. If the car park has a maximum stay, or is only for customers during opening hours, the system flags any plate that falls outside the rule.
• A human may never look at the evidence first. A letter can be generated from camera data and a DVLA keeper lookup. Errors, such as misread plates, are possible, which is why accuracy matters (see our piece on ANPR camera accuracy and parking errors).

Where an operator restricts a car park to "customers only during opening hours", a vehicle logged leaving at, say, midnight may look like an overnight stay. It does not matter whether you were stuck in a queue for the cinema next door or simply lost track of time.

Why a grace period does not solve this

Grace periods are designed to fix a particular unfairness: being charged because you took a few minutes too long to find the ticket machine, or because your paid time expired as you walked back to the car. Our post on the 10-minute grace period in private parking covers that ground, so I will not repeat it here.

The supermarket "out of hours" problem is different because it is not a few minutes over the limit. It involves:

1. A different type of rule. Opening-hours restrictions sit alongside, or separate from, stay-length limits.
2. A much larger gap. Several hours past closing time is not a marginal overrun.
3. A different purpose. Operators say these restrictions deter overnight parking, fly-parking, and people using the car park as free commuter or nightlife parking.

So the new rules may help the driver who dawdles for ten minutes but not the one whose car is recorded overnight. That is the point The National's report makes, and it is worth taking seriously.

The legal angle

Contract, not fine

A private parking charge is not a fine in the legal sense. It is an invoice based on the idea that, by entering and staying, you accepted the terms on the signs. These are civil matters. Only councils and the police can issue penalty notices backed by statute. For a primer, see our guide on whether you have to pay a private parking charge.

The Beavis case

The leading authority remains ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67. The Supreme Court held that a £85 charge at a retail car park, where parking was free for two hours, was enforceable. The charge was not an unlawful penalty because the operator had a legitimate interest in managing the car park, and the sum was not extravagant or unconscionable. The court also noted that the signs were clear and prominent.

Two lessons follow. First, courts will accept that a car park operator can legitimately restrict how, and for how long, a site is used. Second, the decision leaned heavily on the clarity of signage. If the signs are poor, hidden or confusing, that opens up arguments.

Keeper liability

If the operator does not know who was driving, it can pursue the registered keeper under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, but only if it follows strict steps, including serving a compliant notice within set time limits. If a notice does not meet those requirements, the operator may be unable to transfer liability from the driver to the keeper. That does not erase the claim against the actual driver.

The same Act also banned wheel clamping and towing on private land without lawful authority, which is why ANPR and letters have become the main enforcement tools.

The Code of Practice

The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 requires a statutory code for private parking operators. The reported measures, including a £100 cap and grace periods, flow from the policy direction under that framework. Because the code's content and start dates may change, treat any reported figure as subject to confirmation against the final text on GOV.UK. Our summary of the £100 cap and grace period gives more background on the headline measures.

What drivers should know

This is general information, not advice on any individual case, but these points are worth keeping in mind.

Before you park

• Read the signs at the entrance, not just by the bays. Look for opening-hours restrictions, maximum stay, and whether parking is for customers only.
• Check when the store really closes. Some supermarkets have different hours for the café, pharmacy or petrol station. The car park terms may refer to a specific set of hours.
• Notice who runs the site. The operator's name and membership of an accredited trade body (BPA or IPC) should appear on signage. Membership affects which appeals service applies.
• Take a photo of the signage. A quick phone picture of the entrance board and bay signs is cheap insurance if a dispute arises.

If you might leave late

• Do not assume the shop's presence means you are covered. If you are visiting a nearby restaurant or event, find out whether the supermarket car park is intended for that use.
• Keep proof of what delayed you. Breakdown recovery paperwork, hospital records or a receipt time-stamped at a relevant moment can all matter. These are not guaranteed to succeed, but they provide context.

If a letter arrives

• Do not ignore it, and do not panic. Charges escalate with reminders and debt recovery letters, and some claims reach court. Equally, a letter is not a court judgment.
• Check the basics. Is the vehicle registration correct? Do the dates and times match your records? Was it you, or has your plate been misread or cloned? Our guide to leaving a site and your rights goes through common scenarios.
• Use the appeals process. Typically you appeal first to the operator. If that fails, an independent appeals service (POPLA for BPA members, IAS for IPC members) can review the case. See our POPLA appeals walkthrough. Be aware that making an appeal can affect whether any early-payment discount remains available, so read the letter's terms carefully.
• Consider independent advice if the sum is significant, you receive court papers, or your circumstances are unusual. Citizens Advice and consumer organisations can help you understand your position.

What may help your case

Appeals can turn on points such as:

• Inadequate or unclear signage about opening-hours restrictions.
• Errors in the notice that stop keeper liability applying.
• ANPR misreads, wrong time stamps or a mismatch with other records.
• Whether the amount claimed is consistent with what the code allows.
• Exceptional circumstances such as medical emergencies or breakdowns, though operators have discretion.

None of these are guaranteed winners. Every case turns on its own facts.

Why this matters beyond one headline

Supermarket car parks are a front line in the wider debate about private parking. Retailers argue they need to stop abuse of free spaces. Motorists argue that automated systems penalise honest mistakes and long-standing norms, like popping into a pub after a shop, for minimal harm.

The difficulty for reformers is that the harder an opening-hours restriction is enforced, the more it exposes the gap between what drivers believe is reasonable and what the contract technically says. Grace periods tackle small timing errors, but they cannot reconcile that bigger disagreement.

Looking ahead

Expect three things over the coming months.

1. Detail will matter more than headlines. The final code, start dates and transition arrangements will determine how far the new protections go. Watch for official publications rather than relying on summaries.
2. Signage will be under scrutiny. If operators lean on opening-hours restrictions, clarity of signs, and how prominently times are displayed, will be central to disputes.
3. Appeals services will be tested. How POPLA, IAS and the courts treat out-of-hours cases will shape how much practical protection drivers actually get.

For now, the safest approach is simple. Treat every supermarket car park as having its own rules, read them before you leave the car, and keep your own record of the visit. The grace period may save you from a few minutes' overrun. It will not necessarily save you from a night on site.

This article is general information about UK parking and motoring rules and is not legal advice. For guidance on your own situation, consult official sources such as GOV.UK, the relevant appeals service, or a qualified adviser. Original reporting: The National.