Do I have to name the driver to ParkingEye?

No. There is no legal obligation to name the driver in a private parking case, and naming them voluntarily simply hands ParkingEye the keeper-liability route they may otherwise lack. Appeal as the registered keeper, address every defect in the Notice to Keeper, and let the operator try to prove who was driving. Under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, if keeper liability is not properly established, the charge cannot be enforced against you as registered keeper alone.

What is the difference between ParkingEye, POPLA, and the council?

ParkingEye is a private company operating under contract with the landowner, Aldi. The council has no involvement and no power to enforce. POPLA, the Parking on Private Land Appeals service, is a free independent body funded by the British Parking Association that hears appeals after ParkingEye rejects an internal challenge. POPLA decisions bind the operator but not the motorist, so you keep your right to defend a county court claim even if POPLA goes against you.

Should I pay the discounted £60 to make it go away?

Only if you accept the charge is owed. Paying the discount is an admission and ends any prospect of refund. If any of the POFA defects above apply to your Notice to Keeper, or if you have a valid customer receipt, you have a strong appeal at no cost and no escalation risk while the appeal is live. Operators must place the charge on hold during a properly lodged appeal under the British Parking Association Code of Practice.

What if I was charging an electric vehicle at Aldi?

Aldi rapid-charge bays are usually exempt from the general time limit because the charging session itself takes longer than ninety minutes. Submit your charging session record from Pod Point, Allego, or whichever provider operated the unit, alongside any in-store till receipt. The signs at most Aldi charging bays state a separate maximum stay aligned to the charging session; if ParkingEye has applied the standard ninety-minute limit, the contractual terms have been misapplied and the charge should fall away.

What happens if I ignore the Notice to Keeper?

Ignoring it is the worst option. ParkingEye will issue reminder letters, then send the file to a debt-collection agency such as Debt Recovery Plus or ZZPS, and may eventually instruct solicitors to issue a county court money claim. By that stage the sum has typically climbed past £170 with added administration and legal costs. Appealing within twenty-eight days costs nothing, preserves all defences, and forces ParkingEye to prove its case in a paper trail you can use later.

Can ParkingEye take me to court?

They can issue a county court money claim, and they do so regularly. However, they have to prove a valid contract, a clear breach, that signage created reasonable notice, and either that you were the driver or that keeper liability under Schedule 4 has been validly established. A well-evidenced defence relying on paragraph 9 defects, signage photographs, and any customer receipts wins the majority of contested cases. Costs are limited under Civil Procedure Rule 27.14 on the small claims track, so the financial downside is contained.

ParkingEye Aldi PCN Appeal: Win at POPLA 2026

A Parking Charge Notice from ParkingEye in an Aldi car park is a contractual claim, not a statutory fine. ParkingEye is an Approved Operator under the British Parking Association code, which means you have a route to POPLA, the independent appeals service, after the internal appeal is rejected. Aldi typically offers ninety minutes of free parking for genuine customers, and the most common reasons motorists are pursued are ANPR misreads, app-payment failures, brief overstays while shopping, and double visits the same day where entry and exit pairs are misaligned. The single biggest legal lever you have is the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4. If the Notice to Keeper does not strictly comply with paragraph 9, ParkingEye cannot transfer liability from driver to registered keeper. Combine that with consumer-law fairness arguments under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and you have a strong appeal package.

Grounds that work for ParkingEye at Aldi parking charge notices

Notice to Keeper does not comply with POFA Schedule 4 paragraph 9

Section 9 of Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 sets out strict content requirements for a Notice to Keeper to transfer liability from driver to registered keeper. Paragraph 9(2)(a) requires the operator to specify the vehicle, paragraph 9(2)(f) requires it to specify the period of parking, and paragraph 9(2)(e) requires the amount to be stated clearly. Where ANPR has misread a plate, or where only an entry time and an exit time are listed without the actual period of parking, the notice fails 9(2)(f) and keeper liability cannot apply. State this defect on the face of the appeal and ParkingEye must then prove the driver, which they almost never can.

Notice to Keeper served outside the relevant period

Paragraph 9(5)(a) of Schedule 4 requires the Notice to Keeper to be given to the registered keeper by post so that it is deemed delivered within fourteen days of the alleged contravention. Section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 deems first-class post delivered two working days after posting. If the notice is dated more than twelve days after the parking event, or if you received it more than fourteen calendar days after the date the car was in the car park, keeper liability is lost. Check the issue date, the postmark, and any second-class indicator on the envelope and reference all three in the appeal letter.

No genuine contract because of inadequate signage

A Parking Charge Notice is a claim in contract, so ParkingEye must show that signage at the entrance and within the car park was sufficient to create a contract on reasonable terms. The British Parking Association Code of Practice version 9 (2024) requires entrance signs to be clearly visible, well lit at night, and to state the maximum stay and the charge for breach. Photograph the actual signs at the Aldi site, including height, lighting, and any obstructions such as trolleys or vans. ParkingEye v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67 only worked because signage was unusually prominent; weak signs defeat the contract.

Customer exemption and bona fide shopping use

Aldi car parks operate primarily as customer facilities. If you can show that you were a genuine customer making a purchase, the operator should withdraw the charge as a matter of fairness under section 62 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Gather your till receipt, contactless statement entry, or Aldi app order. Where the receipt timestamp falls inside the period of parking, send this as evidence and ask Aldi store management directly to instruct ParkingEye to cancel. Many Aldi stores will email ParkingEye to withdraw the charge for verified customers; this is the fastest route and bypasses POPLA altogether.

ANPR misread and double-visit pairing errors

ANPR systems regularly pair an entry from one visit with an exit from a later visit, producing an apparent overstay that is in fact two short shops. Where the period of parking claimed exceeds the actual time on site, the notice misstates the period of parking and again fails paragraph 9(2)(f). Submit dashcam footage, fuel-station receipts from a nearby forecourt, mobile-phone location data exported from Google Maps Timeline, and any contemporaneous bank-card transactions. Each independent timestamp helps prove the true sequence of entries and exits, and POPLA assessors routinely find for the keeper where ANPR pairing is shown to be unreliable.

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Local detail: ParkingEye at Aldi

Aldi free parking is typically ninety minutes but check the entrance sign for the specific site
Aldi store managers can request ParkingEye cancel a charge for verified customers, always try this first
ParkingEye accepts appeals via its online portal at parkingeye.co.uk under appeals
Keep all till receipts and contactless statements for at least twenty-eight days after every shop
If you used the trolley bay near the rear of the car park, photograph the signs in that zone
POPLA appeals must be lodged within twenty-eight days of the rejection letter from ParkingEye
Never ignore the NTK; non-response forfeits the keeper-liability defence and risks a county court claim

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How to Appeal a ParkingEye PCN at Aldi

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