Hi, I am a totally clueless newbie to this and genuinely somebody who likes to tell the truth and probably ends up getting advantage taken because of it.. I would love some help in dealing with my current issue. Short version: Girlfriend on way home from london to Wallington train station which is right next to lidl's car park. I am a worrier of partners and recently in the area we have had a few police incidents with regards to females attacked in the area. Nevertheless I get to the empty carpark a little early and enter the car park at 23.01. I didnt notice the signs but they are clear and in the open. my girlfriends train is late only by 3minutes but I leave the car park at 23:23 and drive home. This was 4 days ago. Letter was sent to my partner who's the owner of the car (im insured driver) and I decided to simply email them my justification and below is what I wrote: So after reading old threads on here that i googled I am worried that I've admitted I am the driver and even more worried that if I ignore the letters I will become that statistic whom pays through the nose. HELP PLEASE! Many Thanks.

A family member borrowed my car last week and parked in Lidl. The shopping bill came to £133.55. I've got the receipt.I'm not in the mood to appeal, send the receipt or provide details of who the driver was.I'm thinking of:1/ Writing to them stating: This is not an appeal but a statement of fact that I won't pay them a penny or divulge who the driver was as I don't believe their speculative invoice represents any realistic loss to the retailer (Lidl) given the amount spent in their store. 2/ Going on the attack and serving them with a 'Subject Access Request' under the Data Protection Act. Requesting all data (including CCTV and any information as received from the DVLA ............. Just to give some attitude!!! back 3/ I've researched the companies House site and have the names of the directors including their email contacts. I'll copy them in along with any Lidl contacts I can muster.4/ Invoicing them (say £1000) for my time in responding and stating that I want compensation for the many sleepless nights suffered due to the bogus notice and my age related blood pressure.What'ya think?

I’ve noticed that some kind folks on this site have provided advice to people who have been sent extortionate parking charge notices. I have received such a notice, and will be very grateful for any advice on whether I am likely to be able to avoid the charge, and how to go about doing so. The specifics relating to my case are: The car park attached to our local Lidl store used to allow one hour’s free parking (I believe ostensibly for customers, but actually used by non-customers also); this allowance has evidently been changed without my noticing it as I have received from Athena ANPR Ltd. a “Civil Parking Charge Notice” demanding £90, subject to a discount of £45 if paid within 14 days. I parked in the car park on 16th September (but did not purchase anything in Lidl), and received the notice today, 20th September. I returned to the car park today to check signage (picture attached); the period of free parking for non-customers is now 10 minutes, which period I exceeded by 21 minutes. While I accept I was daft to miss the new signs, and am quite happy to pay reasonable parking charges, I believe that this kind of charge is completely unacceptable. My question for anyone knowledgeable on this subject is whether I have a good case to fight this charge as a non-customer of Lidl, and if so, how best to go about it. Many thanks in advance to anyone prepared to help.

Hi all, we have just received a parking notice from Rheidol car park, we recall reading the signs on site which said customer parking only. we did therefore do some shopping in Lidls, Argos and surrounding stores. Myself suffering from IBS also went in search of a toilet in Aberystwyth, on our return to the car my partner suggest that we go back into lidl for one of their rather tasty Danish pastries. we were in the car park from 10.39 to 13.43 including 2 shopping events in stores where it says customer parking only. I must admit I don't recall seeing anything for a 2hr limit only customers only. I will not be paying the charge, I will if we have receipts for the goods we bought share them with parking eye (I doubt we kept receipts for the Danish pastry) to prove our times in the shops, I will offer to pay for any losses should they be able to demonstrate to me what the additional time in the car park cost them in lost revenue. I will ask them for the car park owners details (as I wish to send them a copy of this letter) and what is the relationship between the landowner and your company? Please explain any involvement at all of the landowner with your company as well as specifically with the Parking Charge Notices. any other advice would be greatly appreciated Regards Rob

I am in a similar situation with a civil parking notice from Athena ltd. I had one of those back in April last year and I paid straightaway for over stay. I received another for over staying in a LIDL branch Lewisham. I actually did shop that day where I am a regular customer. I spoke to the store manager who confirmed he knows me as a regular visitor but told me that they do not deal with parking, and offered no help. I spoke to LIDL costumer services. They told me to appeal to Athena with a previous receipts from my bank accounts showing invoices and receipts from previous shopping). But the lady who answered the phone did not seem very persuasive and I thought I just pay the reduced amount of £45 to close the case. Having a full time job is really taking the toll on my free time. Then I saw on this site and the advice given and I thought I have it a go. I used kelly’11 letter (but adopted) to write an appeal to Anthena. I also wrote to them that I am a regular customer to that branch. I received a rejection from them today with the Appeal Verification Code from POPLA. Not a word about any proof that I might have as regular customer or anything like that. I want to appeal to POPLA now but the reduced rate runs on 16th. If I am to appeal to POPLA what sort of reason to use? 1- I am a regular customer and a good guy who follows the rules (but forgets parking time) or 2- Use the technical terms about contracts and so provided here? Please any advice?? P it would be, most welcome!

Hello all - I'm hoping someone can help me please. I have today received a Final Demand from Anthena ANPR Limited re parking in a Lidl carpark. I parked in my local Lidl car park a few weeks ago, got back to my car within the allotted time but sat in the car for about 20 minutes or so as I felt unwell. A few days later I received a parking charge notice from Athena and having researched private company parking invoices for a friend a few months ago followed the advice I read then, as in ignore it. I've since received the 'your 14 days are up' letter and now the one saying as the registered keeper I am liable for the full parking charge and as a result my case will be transferred to a debt collection company if full settlement is not received within 14 days. I'm a tad worried now, as having looked on the site today I see people are saying not to ignore it. Financially I'm slightly screwed anyway, as I have a debt solutions agreement in place to pay off debts my ex left me with, and am a single mum of two on a low wage - I don't have £90 spare to pay it, even if I wanted to. I apologise for adding yet another thread onto your forum, but wanted to check that the info I (hopefully) get is up-to-date and relevant to me! Thanks for reading and any advice would prevent the inevitable migraine that will soon start due to worrying about this.

Hello. Her indoors has received a lovely bit of paper from Athena as she stayed longer than the 10 minutes allowed for non customers in the Dundee City Centre Lidl. The paper is headed 'Civil Parking Charge Notice' and has come to me as I'm the RK of the car. Am I right that I just ignore this, or has the game changed recently? Thanks Doug

I was interested to read on the Parking Pranksters website that POPLA has decided that addresses outside England and Wales are acceptable as serviceable under the Protection of Freedoms act. I fear this may upset the BPA and the PPC's who have always stated that serviceable addresses for the vehicle driver must be in the area covered by POFA. One wonders if a new can of worms has just exploded as I do recall posting some time ago during the introduction of POFA mentioning the number of people who travel from Outer Mongolia borrow a car and shop at Lidl's.

Hi, Please can someone help ! I've received a civil parking charge in Lidl in Barnsley saying I was 10 mins over the 1hour 30 mins allowed. Photographic evidence sent. I am fortunate enough to have a company car so these notices are sent to the office first then forwarded on to myself. I have already paid one of these last year for ten mins over and having looked on the forum I notice Lidl do this regularly . What should I do next as I really don't want to have to pay again for just shopping ! Thanks

Hi, my wife has received a Civil Parking Charge Notice from Athena ANPR today for overstaying her allowed parking time of 1 hour at a LIDL's car park last Thursday (17/05/14) by 21mins and 41secs. She was genuinely shopping at LIDL's for that long, in fact her receipt was 1hour and 21secs after she entered the car park, but on leaving the shop she met a friend outside and stood talking to her for 15 - 20mins, therefore running up the extra time. Having read a number of threads here it would appear that I should make a representation (appeal) to Athena but I am unsure what to appeal for, should I state that my wife was genuinely using the shop for this length of time or should I appeal that the charges are excessive and unlawful? if it is the latter does anyone have an example of what the appeal should include and also what is the best way to submit it (by email or registered post). Thanks for any advice you can give.

I am in the same predicament at the moment.....what did whatamess send to POPLA....please

my husband just recieved 2 letters in the post from Athena. he is currently 150 miles away, and has been for 8 months, he has given me permission to open his letters that come here. i googled the name as soon as i logged onto the computer this afternoon, and found loads of threads saying to ignore the letters. but then i read another recent thread on here which states that the letters should not be ignored now. so what shall i do? i will not pay the money, and nether will my husband. any advice would be great.

I contacted Lidl and got this response, talk about passing the buck! Dear Mr ..... Re: Parking Charge in our Store Unit 4, Aberconway Road, SM4 5LN Morden We refer to your recent communication with us regarding the Parking Charge Notice you received, whilst parked in our Morden store. As you are probably aware, Lidl UK GmbH is a national retailer. As such, we have stores in locations with limited parking space and in common with many of our competitors, our store car parks are abused to a significant and detrimental extent. We have therefore judged it necessary to take measures so that our stores parking facilities are available first and foremost to our customers. In order to ensure that sufficient parking spaces are available at all times to our customers, Lidl employs third party contractors to monitor and control our car parks. So far, this service has proved reliable and effective in reducing car park abuse and in freeing up spaces for our customers. If you wish to contest a parking charge please contact the Car Parking Company directly via one of the following methods: Athena Email: Phone: 08444 778 009 Mail: Athena ANPR Ltd PO Box 306 Chertsey KT16 6ED Legitimate appeals can only be submitted in writing. To aid your appeal please send copies of any supporting documentation you may have. Please note that we cannot cancel car parking charges on behalf of the Car Park Management Company as we would not comply with the regulations set out by the British Parking Association. In closing, we hope that you can understand our position on this matter and that you will continue to be a valued Lidl customer. Yours sincerely, For and on behalf of Lidl UK GmbH [name edited] Customer Service Tel – 0870 444 1234

Hello Guys, I have also just had a letter from parking eye advising if I don't pay £85 they're going to take me to court. The car park in question is for a Lidl store and my gym which I have been a member for 10 years. This car park was free to everyone with a 3 hour limit now it is free with a 1 hour limit but I get 2 hours when I'm using the gym. I run over by 2 minutes one day and they sent me a charge notice for £45 which I appealed, now this letter has come through for £85 charge if not they will take me to court. Any advice on the next step I should take? I've been told they can't take me to court and ignore it.

My wife and I shopped at Littlehampton Lidl. 3 days later I received a Parking Charge Notice from Althena showing that we had overstayed the 90 minute parking time by 10 minutes. I was being charged £90 with a reduction to £45 if paid within 14 days from the date of issue. Suppressing my anger I found the address and phone number of Lidl South head office. I spoke to Tim Hazeldine who asked me to send a copy of the notice and my bill (ALWAYS KEEP YOUR BILL) to him. These I emailed to him and I have now received confirmation that he has asked customer services to make sure that this will be cancelled immediately. My reason for overstay was that there was a delay at the checkout added to time spent trying to locate items in an unfamiliar store. DON'T IGNORE. PHONE UP IF GENUINE, Cowplain Property Office in Hampshire 02392 258 495 or contact Lidl Customer services

Hi Not sure how to start a new thread, so have added this. Basically received a charge letter from Athena ANPR for a supposed overstay in a LIDL car park. So far sent three e-mails, first one Nov 4 basically asking them to prove who was driving the car admitting no liability. Last e-mail from them was to attached a template letter on not driver (England and Wales), I have again challenged them to prove who was driving the vehicle and to either drop the threat or take me to court, and don't know if it matters but threatened to get the BPA involved. Best advice on next step, just ignore anything further now? Just want it out of the way really.

ADVICE PLEASE. I have today rcvd a "Civil Parking Charge Notice from Athena, showing a photo my vehicle entering and leaving a Lidl car park 17.32mins after the allotted 1 1/2 hrs free parking. Does the fact that I was in a blue badge bay with badge displayed have any bearing on this charge or am I worrying unnecessarily? Should I just ignore the request for payment? Like previous writers very concerned about threats of court action for financial and health reasons.

I was also charged £45 for overstaying a couple of hours in a Lidl car park. I paid the bill, thinking it was fair dues as I had overstayed and it was advertised around the car park that you would be charged if this happened. Thought the £45 was a bit steep tho! Next thing, yesterday I receive a letter threatening me with court action and a higher bill claiming my 'cheque had been returned unpaid'. Checked my bank account, and there was the cheque payment shown going out!! Called my bank to clairfy, they said that definietly the cheque I made out to Athena had been paid. So they have my money, and are now sending me threatening letters saying I need to pay £90, and I will be taken to court if I don't. My bank suggested that they send me a copy of the cheque, and then I can send it to Athena if necessary. However, not sure I will even bother with that reading some of the messages on here!

Hi I recieved one of these a couple of weeks back and after doing some resurch on some forums i decided to email them the following letter: Dear whom it may concern I refer to your invoice dated the 13th August 2013 and received on the 15th August 2013. Parking Charge notice number: In response, I would ask you to note the following. When an invoice is issued under the law of contract to a vehicle which although allowed to park on the land, is in breach of the conditions relating to parking, it could be argued that the charge being demanded is so high that it amounts to a penalty and is therefore unlawful under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999. Therefore should it be your intention to pursue this matter further, I will require the following information., 1) Precise details of the calculation used to establish the sum pursued in this case, taking account of the following statement issued by the Department for Transport. Charges for breaking a parking contract must be reasonable and a genuine pre-estimate of loss. This means charges must compensate the landholder only for the loss they are likely to suffer because the parking contract has been broken. For example, to cover the unpaid charges and the administrative costs associated with issuing the ticket to recover the charges. Charges may not be set at higher levels than necessary to recover business losses and the intention should not be to penalise the driver. 2) I also require written proof that as a third party agent you have contractual consent from the land owner to raise legal proceedings on their behalf. Furthermore, should you fail to provide a detailed response to any of the points raised in this correspondence a POPLA reference will be required in order that this issue can be progressed to the independent appeals body. I am of course fully aware that the decision of POPLA is binding only on the pursuer and not the defender. I hope this information clearly outlines my position and I look forward to your detailed written response. I got the following reply yesterday: Thank you for your correspondence in relation to the outstanding parking charge. The car park is on private land and a private landowner is free to impose any terms they wish on the use of their land by others. The terms on which customers are allowed to use the car park are clearly stipulated on the signage and people have the option not to park there if they do not wish to incur those charges. There are a sufficient number of signs in the car park, which clearly state that if you fail to comply with the terms you will be liable to pay a parking charge. When you drove into the car park and parked your vehicle, you agreed to the parking terms detailed on the signage. Further to your request, we are not required to provide you with the breakdown or precise calculations of the charge. There is photographic evidence to show that you failed to comply with the parking terms. Therefore we are entitled under those terms to require you to pay the parking charge and to take enforcement action against you if you refuse or fail to pay. We are under no obligation at present to provide you with a copy of our contract with the landowner, but be advised that we do have the appropriate contractual authority to levy these charges and we can provide proof of this to both POPLA and the small claims courts. In light of the above the parking charge remains outstanding at £45. To prevent further action being taken please either contact us on 08444778009 to pay by telephone or send a cheque to Athena ANPR Ltd, Po Box 306, Chertsey, KT16 6ED. Cheques should be made payable to Athena ANPR Ltd. Regards Athena ANPR LTD ------------------------------------------------ Shall i just ignor it now? Has this ever got messy for anyone. Im assuming i wont have people knocking on my door or wont end up going to court? Thanks

Hi there, I have read everything on a previous thread and I am looking at some advice or help with my situation I have received the parking charge notice stating I was caught on camera staying 15 minutes longer than the 60 minute allowance. In the first letter they sent me they had all the jargon and causal threats with 2 photos of my entering and leaving the Lidl car park. Therefore, I replied to them asking how they got my details and saying I am the registered keeper but don't know who the driver was. They have replied: "Thank you for your correspondence in relation to the outstanding parking charge shown above. You have stated that you were not the driver at the time, but have not advised us in writing who was driving your vehicle. This is not a valid reason for an appeal and you need to be aware of the latest legislation concerning parking on the private land. This is contained in Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2013 (POFA). The drive is responsible for payment. However, under the law we have the right to recover unpaid parking charges from the registered keeper of the vehicle if they do not confirm us who the driver was. Consequently if you do not wish to pay, you much inform us in writing within 28 days the name and address of the driver. The period of 28 days begins the day after which the "Notice of Keeper" was served. The "Notice to Keeper" you received explains this. Therefore, to avoid further action, we look forward to either receiving payment or the name and address of the person who was driving at the time. You may pay online at Athena website by phone or by sending a cheque or postal order to the address below." My question is; Should I respond in writing with this template letter a few others have used with success: "I refer to your invoice dated the [x] and received on the [xx.xx.xx] In response, I would ask you to note the following. When an invoice is issued under the law of contract to a vehicle which although allowed to park on the land, is in breach of the conditions relating to parking, it could be argued that the charge being demanded is so high that it amounts to a penalty and is therefore unlawful under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999. Therefore should it be your intention to pursue this matter further, I will require the following information., 1) Precise details of the calculation used to establish the sum pursued in this case, taking account of the following statement issued by the Department for Transport. Charges for breaking a parking contract must be reasonable and a genuine pre-estimate of loss. This means charges must compensate the landholder only for the loss they are likely to suffer because the parking contract has been broken. For example, to cover the unpaid charges and the administrative costs associated with issuing the ticket to recover the charges. Charges may not be set at higher levels than necessary to recover business losses and the intention should not be to penalise the driver. 2) I also require written proof that as a third party agent you have contractual consent from the land owner to raise legal proceedings on their behalf. Furthermore, should you fail to provide a detailed response to any of the points raised in this correspondence a POPLA reference will be required in order that this issue can be progressed to the independent appeals body. I am of course fully aware that the decision of POPLA is binding only on the pursuer and not the defender. I hope this information clearly outlines my position and I look forward to your detailed written response. Yours faithfully" ...And then wait? Also, after I have sent this should I await their response and if they don't give me sufficient evidence for 1 or both, then appeal to POPLA? Any info on this would be highly appreciated as I'm a bit worried now. Kind regards,

Hi Folks, First time poster but heres the story. Back in August I was issued an invoice by Athena ANPR which I ignored based on advice as its not legally enforceable for parking on private land (Lidl). They recently sent me a final demmand but having read up on the increase of cases going to court I replied requesting a POPLA code as I was not happy with their demmand for payment and that they are not entitiled to issue such charge or enter into a contract with the driver as they are not the land owner. I demmanded to see contractual paperwork proving otherwise. They have replied stating because I didnt appeal via them within 28 of recieving the invoice they cannot consider any appeal and have also ignored my request. However I am now wishing to take that further as they have no legal right to bill me but they are ignoring requests for a POPLA ref. What should I do now? Should I contact POPLA directly or simply ignore them and fight them in court should they wish to take it that far?

this happened to me at the weekend, I parked there for 23 mins, whilst the allowed duration of stay states as being 10 mins on the civil parking charge notice I was sent yesterday, which I didn't know.... I will obviously appeal but I have to admit I am not too comfortable at ignoring threatening notices coming through my door in the next few weeks, in the hope that it will stop them sending these... Someone told me that his friend just paid. He also said that you can ask Lidl to have the period of duration extended to 1 hour. Quite frankly, who expect to be able to shop within 10 mins, especially since we all know we will be likely to have to queue at Lidl checkouts for over 10 mins anyway! I am glad that I read this trail of messages - very helpful

Hi I got one of these letters from ANPR Ltd after allegedly overstaying at Lidl, along with photographs of my car entering and leaving the car park. I had not visited this site at that point. I wrote back to ANPR admitting that I was driving the car, but pointing out to them that when I arrived at the car park is was already dark, and the pay and display machine stated that parking was free after 6pm. If there are signs up in Lidl I was certainly unable to see them as it was evening and already dark (as can be seen on my photos). Athena APR have sent their usual "The car park is on private land etc etc" letter back to me today. They have not acknowledged anything that I put in my letter of defence, just stating that they are entitled to require that I pay the parking charge or they will take enforcement action against me. What should I do?

Bailiffs come to Scotland with the consent of Lidl Athena Anpr are currently writing to Scottish recipients of parking charge notices suggesting that failure to pay may result in Bailiffs visiting their home to conduct enforcement action on the strength of a County Court Judgment.Alternatively they may instruct debt collection agents. (OK, who cares about debt collectors who are in my opinion simply w- - d and p- -s merchants) Nevertheless, I find it absolutely remarkable that a company of such magnitude should allow their third party agents who are nothing more than car park attendants to dictate and blatantly mislead their core customer base into believing that this completely dysfunctional industry or County Courts have some form of legitimacy in Scotland. SHOOOOOOOO! Please don’t tell anyone that Lidl’s have already conceded in writing that their parking charges are penalties (legally unenforceable).Please note that this information is held in strict confidence and will only be made available to everyone in the UK upon request. In the meantime, any contribution of monkey nuts and bananaswould be very welcome in order to ensurethat the poor misguided Bailiffs will not suffer the indignity of starvation during the process of repatriation

Hi Guy's Thank you by making this web site to help us I have a question about the Parking Charge from Lidl, I have just received one right now, following your advised "to ignore them" Which I am expecting to do But, is it going to affect my credit regard ??? Please advised Thanks again by opening your eyes regarding this matter