BPM-POL-001 | Version 2
Blaze Parking Management Ltd. is an International Parking Community (IPC) accredited operator, that conducts its operations in accordance with the Private Parking Sector Single Code of Practice.
The company values feedback and views complaints as an opportunity to learn, improve, and put things right for the person making the complaint, where appropriate. Our policy aims to provide a fair complaints process that is clear and accessible. We are committed to ensuring that all complaints are investigated thoroughly and handled in a timely, impartial, non-discriminatory, and confidential manner.
The purpose of this policy is to ensure the company has a robust process in place that sets out how complaints will be accepted, recorded, investigated, responded to, and concluded; in order to ensure compliance with the Private Parking Sector Single Code of Practice.
For the purpose of this policy, the Private Parking Sector Single Code of Practice definition of a complaint is used.
A complaint is:
“a grievance raised about the conduct or process of a parking operator, its services, its employees or its appointed debt resolution agent, which might or might not relate to the issuance of a specific parking charge, but requires consideration and a response beyond the decision on whether to pursue or withdraw the notice”.
A complaint is not a challenge against the validity of the parking charge, and should a motorist wish to dispute a Parking Charge they should do so by following the Appeals Process which is outlined on the Parking Charge Notice.
In short, a complaint can be considered a grievance other than one that seeks to challenge a parking charge or unpaid tariff.
Should a complaint be received that on examination is considered to be an appeal against a Parking Charge, it will be treated as an appeal and sent to the Appeals Team to consider (if the complaint was received within the allowed appeal time frame).
Similarly, if a complaint also includes an appeal against the validity of a parking charge, that aspect of the correspondence will be treated as an appeal and sent to the Appeals Team to respond to (if the complaint was received within the allowed appeal time frame). The complaint aspect of the correspondence will be dealt with in accordance with this policy.
The date on which the appeal will be deemed to have been received (for the purposes of response obligations), will be the date the complaint was received. Should a complaint be referred to the Appeals Team, the complainant will be advised. Should the complainant not want the complaint to be handled as an appeal, they will need to advise the company in writing.
If after further investigation it becomes clear that the complaint is not relevant to an appeal or the complainant advises that they do not want it handled as an appeal, the process will revert back to the complaints process.
In line with the Single Sector Code of Practice, a copy of this policy will be displayed on the company’s website.
To ensure the full details of a complaint are accurately recorded and prevent ambiguity, complaints will not be accepted over the telephone and will only be accepted in writing. Written complaints must be made by email to: complaints@blazeparkingmanagement.co.uk.
On receiving a complaint, the Compliance Department will allocate an appropriate person to investigate and handle the complaint through to completion. A Complaints Handler will not be assigned to deal with a complaint that relates to themselves, and must not do so, if incorrectly allocated to them.
Any complaint relating to an employee must be investigated by a more senior colleague. Only employees that have completed and passed the following training where a pass mark is required, will be assigned to handle complaints:
All written correspondence received as a complaint, will be recorded in the Complaints Register. If on examination the correspondence is not deemed to be a complaint, the Complaint Register will be annotated with the details of the department the correspondence has been referred to. Where the reassignment of a complaint takes place, the complainant will be informed in writing by the Complaints Handler and an annotation made in the Complaints Register noting the date and means by which the complainant has been advised.
The Complaints Handler will be responsible for ensuring the Complaints Register is updated for each individual complaint they deal with. The following information will be recorded in the Complaints Register for each complaint:
The Complaints Handler will also ensure a copy of the complaint and all correspondence is kept in a file containing the Complaints Register reference number.
The complaints log will be reviewed on a monthly basis by the Compliance Department for evidence of any patterns or repeated concerns that may require a review of procedures, or refreshing, rephrasing or clarification of guidance, or retraining of staff.
An acknowledgement will be sent to the complainant within 14 calendar days of receiving the complaint, advising them the complaint has been received and is being investigated. The acknowledgement will follow the way in which the complaint was initially lodged i.e. as email will have been used, the response will be sent to the complainant via email, unless the complainant has specifically requested a response through another form of communication.
The acknowledgement will be sent to the email address provided. In the absence of valid contact details, it may not be possible to process a complaint or process it within the published timeframes.
Investigations will be completed by trained Complaints Handlers only. The Complaints Handlers will:
Complaints will be investigated and concluded within 28 days of receipt.
The response will follow the way in which the complaint was initially lodged i.e. as email will have been used, the response will be sent to the complainant via email, unless the complainant has specifically requested a response through another form of communication.
The response will be sent to the name and address, or email address provided. In the absence of valid contact details, it may not be possible to process a complaint or process it within the published timeframes.
The outcome of the complaint investigations will be recorded in the Complaints Register.
The concluding complaint response will also provide the complainant with the details of how to refer the complaint to the IPC if they are not satisfied with the outcome of the complaint investigation.
Where exceptional circumstances prevent the complaint from being concluded within 28 days, the Complaints Handler must write to the complainant and explain why the matter will not be concluded within the timeframe and inform them when it will be concluded.
When the complaint is concluded, the complainant must be advised and the process as set out in Sections 11 and 12 followed.
If the complaint is upheld, any required corrective action will be recorded in the complaints log. Corrective action may include:
Where the investigation identifies an issue(s) that constitute a breach of the Code of Practice, the Complaints Handler will advise the Compliance Officer who will report it to the IPC for investigation. The IPC will be provided with all the information gathered from the original complaint and subsequent investigation.
All material breaches of the Code of Practice must be reported to the IPC within 3 working days of becoming aware of the breach. Serious breaches should be notified within 1 working day of becoming aware of it.
A material breach is a breach which is likely to result in risk to an individual, the operator, the industry, or the IPC. A serious breach is a breach which is likely to result in sanction points under the sanction scheme.
In addition to the requirements above, where a complaint is received from a Member of Parliament (MP), upon resolution of the complaint, the MP will be referred to the MP portal on the IPC website.
The following statement must be included in any response to an MP:
“We are members of the International Parking Community (IPC) Accredited Operator Scheme (AOS). The IPC is a DVLA Accredited Trade Association (ATA) and has a Code of Practice and an Independent Appeals Service (IAS) that allows a Motorist access to an independent adjudication process on the lawfulness of Parking Charges issued by their members. An important condition of being an AOS member is that operators must adhere to The Code.
If you are not content with the response we have provided you with, you can refer this to the IPC who will investigate and provide you with a response. To make this process as simple as possible the IPC has created a communication portal on their website https://theipc.info/login for you to use. They have created a username for all Members of Parliament. Your username will be your email address. An email will have been sent with your login details. There is an option for you to reset your password if you are unable to login. If you have any issues, please contact the IPC via email on mp.enquiries@theipc.info.”
Our Company keeps its complaints policy under regular review and places any updates on this web page. This complaints policy was last updated on 17 June 2026.
If you have followed this process and remain dissatisfied with our response, you may refer your complaint to the International Parking Community (IPC), the DVLA-accredited trade association under whose Code of Practice we operate.
www.theipc.info →