If you've been given a parking fine, you can't just ignore it.

After a Tesco Extra in Dover wrongly penalised customers who visited twice in the same day, it's important you know what exactly is right and wrong.

Follow this guide to find out more about the parking charge notice process, including how to appeal.

I've been given a parking ticket, what should I do?

Figure out what sort of ticket you've been given. Generally, tickets come in the form of three separate notices:

- a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) or an Excess Charge Notice (ECN) – usually issued by the council on public land, such as a high street or council car park.

- a Parking Charge Notice – issued by a landowner or parking company on private land, such as a supermarket car park.

- a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) – issued by the police on red routes, white zig zags or where the police manage parking.

The rules for a Fixed Penalty Notice or a Penalty Charge Notice are strict and we'll discuss what you should do with these later on.

Depending on the ticket issued, you should then decide whether or not you plan to appeal. You should only challenge any parking ticket if you genuinely believe it was issued unfairly or in error.

If you do plan to appeal, do not pay the ticket immediately but make sure you are prompt with responding to the notice. Most firms won't consider an appeal if you have already paid the fine.

Make sure you gather as much evidence as you can before leaving the car park. This should include photos and videos that prove you're not guilty of an offence or help show why the fine is unfair.

Most car park operators should be following a grace period, which gives you a certain amount of leeway after your time has expired to come and move your car.

What is the difference between a Parking Charge Notice and a Penalty Charge Notice?

The difference between the two affects your rights and your ability to fight the charges.

A Penalty Charge Notice is a legally enforceable fine. Parking Charge Notices are invoices rather than fines, but can still be enforced by a court.

If a Parking Charge Notice is just an invoice, why should I pay it? Will I be a criminal?

When you park in a privately-owned car park that is controlled by a landowner or a parking company, you enter an unspoken contract with them that basically agrees to follow the terms and conditions.

Terms and conditions can include paying for the time you are there and a maximum stay of any amount of time.

Some car parks also don't allow you to return within a certain time period.

Failure to adhere to these rules gives you less legal ground to stand on, and parking companies can and will pursue further methods of getting their money, which can include debt collectors and court proceedings.

If you genuinely believe the ticket was issued in error or was unfairly given to you and you intend to appeal it, do not pay the ticket immediately. It can be very tricky to recover money once it has been paid.

It is important you research what constitutes a valid reason to appeal a parking ticket. Landowners have a right to charge you for the use of their land but this is a contract and civil dispute and not a criminal investigation.

What are genuine reasons to appeal a parking fine?

If you believe any of the following apply to you, then you may want to consider appealing. This is not an exhaustive list and you are advised to do your own research.

- The parking operator who sent the charge was not responsible for looking after the land you parked on.

- You followed the parking rules.

- You bought a ticket and displayed it correctly.

- The signs were unclear or unreadable.

- You were not the registered keeper of the vehicle when the parking charge was issued.

- The vehicle broke down.

- The payment machines were out of order.

- There were compassionate reasons, for example, you were ill at the time or someone close to you has recently died.

Will this affect my credit score? What should I do if debt collectors come round?

The answer to this depends on how far the company is willing to go to get the money back, which is why it is vital you're sure you're in the right to appeal and not pay.

It should also be noted that debt collectors aren't bailiffs and have no right to take goods from you in order to recover the cost. If you are threatened by debt collectors, call the police.

nationaldebtline.org advises: "A parking charge notice will not appear on your credit file. Your credit file will only be affected if a county court judgment is given against you."

However, if the parking company is determined enough, they will not only continue to hound you for the fine while adding on expenses but could take the case to the county court.

As said before, this is not a criminal proceeding but rather a civil matter. If you do receive claim forms, there is a limited time to respond to the forms and you're urged to seek advice on those immediately.

If the parking operator gets a county court judgment, it is normally on your credit reference file for six years and your income and assets could also be at risk.

If a court order is awarded, it is here that bailiffs become involved and what they can legally do to reclaim the money can become very stressful for those affected.

If you need time to get debt advice and find a debt solution, you may want to consider applying for breathing space.

Breathing space will stop most types of enforcement, and also stop most creditors applying interest and charges, for 60 days.

The Parking Charge Notice process (if you've parked on private land)

There are three very different routes to fighting unfair private parking tickets. Which of the first two you take depends on whether the company that issued the ticket is part of a trade body.

Hopefully the ticket will say if the company is a member of a trade body, but if not you need to check with the British Parking Association (BPA) or the International Parking Community (IPC).

If the company has chosen not to be a member of a trade body, there's a totally different step-by-step process to fight unfair tickets.

The other route, fighting on a technicality, is open to anyone regardless.

The recommended approach you should take depends on if the issuing firm is a member of a trade body or not, as being a member of an accredited trade body means the firm can apply to the DVLA for your details.

The parking company issuing the ticket are part of the BPA or IPC

If the company that issued with the ticket is a member of a trade body, moneysavingexpert.com suggests you follow a by-the-book approach.

This means firstly following the steps laid out to you by the issuing firm on the ticket. Most tickets will include details of how to appeal on the back – this should include the address to send your complaint to.

You'll need to outline why you believe the parking ticket was unfair. It could be because there was missing or unclear signage.

Should this course of action fail, you should then use the evidence you've gathered earlier and appeal through the official trade body process.

There are two trade bodies and each has its own appeals process:

- Popla – for BPA members. You can appeal online or via post to Popla, PO Box 1270, Warrington, WA4 9RL.

- The Independent Appeals Service – for IPC members. You can appeal online, but if you want to appeal by post, you must use a different set of forms.

If you win, the parking firm should stop chasing you as the decision is binding with them.

moneysavingexpert says: "If you lose, you need to decide whether to pay, take the company on or ignore the decision and do nothing.

"Both the BPA and IPC state you should pay the full parking charge within 14 days.

"If you disagree with the decision, the operator would still need to go to court to enforce the ticket – and there's no guarantee this will happen.

"If they do take you to court, for an amount of this size it's normally (though no guarantees) a small claims action, which means the worst that can usually happen is you're ordered to pay the charge and the company could also reclaim the court fees (which initially can be between £25 and £410 plus more if there's a hearing) but other costs aren't awarded."

The parking company issuing the ticket are not a part of the BPA, IPC or any trade body

moneysavingexpert.com recommends the no-nonsense approach for this situation, which simply means writing to them to tell them that you won't be paying it and why you won't be paying it.

When writing, be firm with what the reason is but be wary of including any details that could contradict yourself or prove your guilt.

This is a perfectly legitimate and legal approach to take but extreme cases may see you have to be prepared to go to court, as if you refuse to pay, the company's only recourse is to take you to court.

In many cases it will not do that.

However, remember this company has chosen not to join a trade body which has an independent appeals process, and so has left you with fewer options.

Because of this, it is advised you don't follow the appeals route offered to you by the company as there is no guarantee its decision will be fair or just.

The third option - the technical route

A third option to appeal the fine is available to everyone regardless of their situation and this is known as the technical route.

Essentially, you're looking for evidence that the company issuing the ticket has not followed the rules.

A great deal of advice has become available on the internet over the years and moneysavingexpert.com has a guide to find out more, which can be found here.

I've been given a Penalty Charge Notice or a Fixed Penalty Notice

The government has a page dedicated to helping you understand what exactly to do in this situation, which can be found here.

There is a lot less wiggle room when it comes FPNs and PCNs but if you've genuinely been issued a fine in error or have good reason to appeal then do not pay the fine but do inform the authority straight away of your intention to appeal.

According to Kent Police, if you do not respond to an FPN within 28 days your case will be referred to court because you failed to provide the information you were asked for.

To appeal an FPN with Kent Police, you need to complete part one, two or three on the notice to identify either yourself or someone else as the driver. Failure to do this is an offence in itself.

Once the police receive this information from you they’ll send you a letter explaining the options available to you, including how to appeal.

With this in mind, it is important you're sure you want to appeal and that you're legally in the right - it can prove to be very expensive and time-consuming.