Driver Terms

These terms apply when you pay for parking through CarSpark by scanning a QR sign, entering a vehicle registration, and paying. Read alongside our Privacy Notice, Refund Policy, and Acceptable Use Policy.

1. About CarSpark

CarSpark (Cú Chulainn Tech Limited) is a technology platform that lets you pay for parking at a car park operated by someone else — a pub, gym, church, or other small business (a host). CarSpark is not the car park operator and is not a party to the parking contract for the space you use. We provide the payment and proof-of-payment service; the host provides the parking.

2. The parking contract is with the host

When you pay through CarSpark, you are entering into a parking contract directly with the host, on the host's tariff, terms, and signage. The host — not CarSpark — sets the tariff, decides who may park, and is responsible for enforcement of its own terms (including overstay charges, clamping, or other consequences it lawfully applies). CarSpark does not set or enforce parking terms, does not decide who can park, and does not control the physical car park.

CarSpark is not liable for the parking itself— this includes availability of spaces, the condition of the car park, any charges or enforcement action the host or its agents take, and any dispute about the host's tariff or terms. Our liability is limited to our own payment-facilitation service, subject to section 8 below and to any consumer right that cannot lawfully be excluded.

3. What you're paying for

Paying through CarSpark buys a prepaid parking sessionfor the duration you choose, under the host's tariff and terms, evidenced by a proof-of-payment link and, where you choose, an email receipt. It is not a guarantee that a space will be available, and it does not exempt you from the host's terms — for example, if you overstay the duration you paid for, the host's enforcement terms (shown on their signage) still apply.

CarSpark charges a flat driver service fee(by default €0.29 in the eurozone or £0.25 in the UK, and always shown on the host's sign) on top of the host's tariff, for providing the payment and proof-of-payment service.

4. Prices and fees

The total price— the host's tariff, our service fee, and VAT where the host has configured a VAT number and rate — is shown to you before you pay, every time a price appears. Where a host has not configured VAT, no VAT line is shown. There are no hidden or later-added charges beyond what is shown before payment.

5. How payment works

Payment is processed by Stripe. Card and wallet details (Apple Pay, Google Pay, or manual card entry) are entered directly into Stripe's secure payment element — CarSpark never asks for, sees, or stores your card details on any CarSpark-controlled page or field. The charge is created directly on the host's own Stripe account, with our service fee deducted as an application fee — the host, not CarSpark, is the merchant of record for your parking payment, and CarSpark never receives or holds your funds.

6. Vehicle details shown are indicative only

When you enter a valid registration, we may show a description of your vehicle (for example "Silver Volkswagen Golf"), drawn from third-party government vehicle data, as a courtesy so you can catch a typo before paying. This description is indicative only: it may be missing, delayed, or occasionally wrong, carries no warranty, and is never relied on to decide whether your payment is accepted. Your payment is valid based on the registration you enter, not the description shown.

7. Cancellation and refunds

A prepaid parking session is a service for a specific period that begins immediately, at your express request, as soon as your payment is confirmed. Because of this, and because it is a time-specific service, it is exempt from the standard 14-day statutory cooling-off/cancellation right that applies to many other online purchases (under the Consumer Contracts Regulations in the UK, and the equivalent exemption in Ireland's Consumer Rights Act 2022). By completing payment, you acknowledge that your session starts immediately and that you will not have a statutory right to cancel it once it has started.

This does not mean refunds are never possible. Hosts can, at their own discretion, issue a full refund (including our service fee) directly from their dashboard — for example, if you parked in error or a genuine problem occurred. This is a goodwill mechanism the host controls, not a statutory right. See our Refund Policy for how this works in practice.

Nothing in this section removes any consumer right that cannot lawfully be excluded — for example, your right under the UK Consumer Rights Act 2015 or Ireland's Consumer Rights Act 2022 to a service performed with reasonable care and skill.

8. Our liability

Our liability to you is limited to our own payment-facilitation service — for example, a failure to correctly process a payment you made through CarSpark. We are not liable for the host's parking service, enforcement action, tariffs, or the physical car park (section 2). Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including for fraud or for rights that are non-excludable under UK or Irish consumer law.

9. Acceptable use and reporting scams

Only use CarSpark to pay for a genuine parking session at a QR sign you believe is genuine. If a sign or code looks tampered with, damaged, or otherwise suspicious, please use the "Report a suspicious code" link shown on the driver page instead of paying. See our Acceptable Use Policy for more.

10. Governing law, contact, and changes

Ireland (primary, for our launch): for drivers parking in Ireland, these terms are governed by the law of Ireland, and the Irish courts have jurisdiction, without prejudice to any mandatory consumer-protection rights of your country of residence.

If you operate in / park in the UK (applies if/when CarSpark operates in the UK — not required for the Ireland-first launch): for drivers parking in the UK, these terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction, without prejudice to any mandatory consumer-protection rights that apply in your part of the UK.

Questions about these terms: [email protected]. Support with a parking session: [[SUPPORT EMAIL]]. We may update these terms from time to time; the "Last updated" date above will change when we do.