1. About ParkingHero
ParkingHero provides information, support and case-handling services relating to private parking charges.
ParkingHero is not a firm of solicitors and is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Our services are intended to help motorists understand and respond to private parking charges. Nothing in these Terms guarantees that a parking charge will be cancelled or that an appeal will be successful.
2. Our Services
Depending on the service you purchase, ParkingHero may:
- Review your Parking Charge Notice and supporting documents
- Assess your circumstances and potential grounds for challenge
- Explain your options
- Prepare an appeal or other correspondence
- Submit an appeal or correspondence on your behalf where authorised
- Communicate with a private parking operator on your behalf
- Assist with POPLA or IAS appeals where appropriate
- Review debt recovery or pre-action correspondence
- Provide other parking charge assistance agreed with you
The exact service being provided will be explained to you before payment is requested.
Services outside the agreed scope may require an additional fee. We will tell you about any additional charge before carrying out that work.
3. Submitting a Case
You can ask ParkingHero for assistance by submitting your case through our website.
We may require information including:
- Your name and contact details
- Your Parking Charge Notice
- Correspondence relating to the charge
- Photographs or other evidence
- Details of what happened
- A signed Letter of Authority
Submitting a case does not require ParkingHero to accept your case and does not, by itself, create a contract for paid services.
We may review your submission before deciding whether we are able to assist.
4. Letter of Authority
Where ParkingHero needs to communicate with another organisation on your behalf, we may require you to sign a Letter of Authority.
By signing it, you authorise ParkingHero to communicate with relevant organisations regarding the parking charge identified in your case.
This may include the parking operator, its representatives and an applicable independent appeals service.
You remain responsible for the parking matter and for ensuring that the information you provide to ParkingHero is accurate.
5. Fees and Payment
The price of your ParkingHero service will be made clear before you agree to purchase it.
You are under no obligation to purchase a paid service simply because you have submitted a case.
Unless we agree otherwise, payment must be received before ParkingHero begins providing the paid service.
We will not charge you for additional work outside the agreed service without informing you of the additional cost and obtaining your agreement.
6. When Our Contract Begins
A contract for paid services begins when:
- ParkingHero has confirmed that we can provide the service
- You have agreed to the service and its price
- Payment has been received or another payment arrangement has been expressly agreed
We may decline to accept a case at our discretion, including where we do not believe we can reasonably assist, insufficient time remains before a deadline, or the matter falls outside the services we provide.
7. Your Responsibilities
You agree to provide ParkingHero with information that is accurate and complete to the best of your knowledge.
You must:
- Provide clear and readable copies of relevant documents
- Tell us about any relevant correspondence you have already received
- Inform us immediately if you receive new correspondence
- Tell us about any known deadlines
- Respond reasonably promptly when we request information
- Not knowingly provide false or misleading information
Our assessment and work will be based on the information available to us.
ParkingHero will not be responsible for consequences arising from relevant information being withheld, supplied inaccurately or provided too late for us reasonably to act upon it.
8. Deadlines
Private parking matters can involve strict deadlines.
You should submit your documents to ParkingHero as soon as possible.
Submitting a case to ParkingHero does not automatically pause, extend or protect a deadline imposed by a parking operator, appeals service, solicitor or court.
Where insufficient time remains for us to deal with a matter properly, we may decline to accept the case.
If you receive new correspondence containing a deadline after instructing us, you should send it to us promptly.
9. No Guarantee of Success
Every parking case is different.
ParkingHero cannot guarantee that:
- A parking charge will be cancelled
- An appeal will succeed
- POPLA or the IAS will allow an appeal
- A parking operator will discontinue a charge
- Court proceedings will not be commenced
Decisions may ultimately be made by parking operators, appeals bodies or courts over which ParkingHero has no control.
You are paying ParkingHero for the service, time and work provided, rather than for a guaranteed outcome.
10. Appeals
Where appropriate, ParkingHero may prepare or assist with an appeal against a private parking charge.
We may also assist with an independent appeal through POPLA or the IAS where that appeal route is available.
We may advise you not to pursue a particular appeal or course of action where, based on the information available to us, we do not consider it appropriate.
The final decision on how you wish to proceed remains yours.
11. Court Proceedings
If your case has progressed to court proceedings, you should tell us immediately and provide copies of all court documents.
Our standard parking charge service does not include representation at a court hearing.
ParkingHero is not a firm of solicitors and does not provide services that may lawfully only be carried out by an authorised legal professional.
Where appropriate, we may recommend that you obtain independent legal advice.
12. Starting Work During the Cancellation Period
Where you purchase our services online, you will normally have a statutory 14-day cancellation period.
Because parking cases can involve short deadlines, you may ask ParkingHero to begin work before this cancellation period has expired.
Where you expressly request that we begin work immediately, we may start providing the service before the end of the 14-day period.
If you subsequently cancel after requesting that work begin, you may be required to pay a reasonable amount for the work already performed up to the point at which you tell us you wish to cancel.
If the service is fully completed during the cancellation period following your express request and acknowledgement that your cancellation right will be lost once the service is fully performed, your right to cancel may end when the service has been completed.
Nothing in these Terms affects your statutory consumer rights.
13. Cancelling Your Service
If you have a statutory right to cancel, you can exercise it by clearly contacting ParkingHero and telling us that you wish to cancel.
You do not need to provide a reason.
If we have not started providing the paid service, payments will be refunded where required by law.
If you expressly asked us to begin work during the cancellation period, any amount payable or refundable may reflect the work already completed where permitted by law.
14. Refunds
A parking operator rejecting an appeal or refusing to cancel a parking charge does not automatically entitle you to a refund.
This is because ParkingHero provides a case-handling service and does not sell or guarantee a particular outcome.
However, this does not affect your statutory rights.
ParkingHero will provide its services with reasonable care and skill. If we fail to do so, you may have remedies available under consumer law.
15. Free ParkingHero Advice
ParkingHero also provides free information through our website and community channels.
You do not have to purchase our paid service to access general information or participate in our free community.
Free information and community discussion are separate from our official paid case-handling service.
General information published by ParkingHero cannot take account of every individual's circumstances and should not be treated as personalised legal advice.
16. Communications
We will normally communicate with you using the email address, telephone number or other contact information you provide.
You are responsible for ensuring that your contact information remains accurate.
You should check your email, including your junk or spam folder, while your case is being handled.
17. Your Personal Information
ParkingHero processes personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
In order to provide the service, we may need to disclose relevant information to parking operators, appeals services and other organisations involved in your case.
You can read our Privacy Policy at parkinghero.co.uk/privacy.
18. Our Responsibility to You
ParkingHero will provide its services with reasonable care and skill.
We are not responsible for decisions independently made by parking operators, POPLA, the IAS, courts or other third parties.
We will not be responsible for a failure to act where this results from information or documentation being provided inaccurately, incompletely or too late for us reasonably to take the required action.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability where it would be unlawful to do so.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or restricts your statutory consumer rights.
19. Circumstances Outside Our Control
ParkingHero will not be responsible for delays caused by circumstances genuinely outside our reasonable control.
If such circumstances materially affect our ability to provide the service, we will tell you as soon as reasonably possible and explain your options.
20. Complaints
If you are unhappy with the service provided by ParkingHero, please contact us and explain your concerns.
We will investigate complaints fairly and aim to resolve them as quickly as reasonably possible.
Making a complaint does not affect your statutory rights.
21. Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms & Conditions from time to time.
Any updated Terms will apply to future purchases.
The Terms applicable to an existing paid service will normally be those that applied when you purchased that service, unless a change is required by law or you expressly agree otherwise.
22. Severability
If any part of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue to apply.
23. Governing Law
These Terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.
If you are a consumer resident elsewhere in the United Kingdom, you may also benefit from mandatory protections and rights available under the law applicable to you.
Nothing in these Terms restricts any right you may have regarding where legal proceedings can be brought.
24. Contact ParkingHero
If you have questions about these Terms, your case or a ParkingHero service, please contact us using the contact details provided on our website.
ParkingHero
parkinghero.co.uk