It happens to everyone once: you get in, drive off and only think of your parking session when you are home. Stop it immediately, because the meter runs until you do or until the end time you set is reached. Below you read what happens to the cost, and how to make sure it does not happen again.
Stop the session now
Open the app and tap Stop action, or open the session under Activities and tap Stop. Confirm in the Stop activity dialog. On an iPhone the Live Activity on your lock screen carries a Stop button; it opens the app straight on your parking session, where you confirm the stop. The sooner you stop, the less you pay.
What you pay
You pay the parking rate for the whole time the session ran, including the time after you drove off, plus a € 0.29 service fee. Only time within the zone's paid hours counts; if a session runs on overnight while the zone is free then, those hours cost nothing. And it cannot run much beyond your end time: that end time closes the session. In zones with a maximum parking duration the session ends at that maximum at the latest.
Can we reverse it?
No. The parking fee is paid to the municipality at the time of the session; SimplePark is only the intermediary. We cannot shorten a session retroactively, and the municipality does not refund parking tax for time your plate was registered.
How to prevent it
- Pick a tighter end time. When starting, set it to when you really expect to leave. If it runs late, you extend with one tap. See Setting an end time in advance.
- Let the notifications through. While your session runs, the app reminds you every hour by default, and warns you fifteen minutes before the end time. Both sit under Profile › Notifications, at Active parking action and Parking ends soon; switch Push notification on there and make sure push notifications for SimplePark are allowed in iOS or Android too.
- Look at your lock screen. On an iPhone you see a running session without opening the app, with the zone code, how long it has been running and the line "Ends at 18:03".
- Make it a habit. Stop the session when you open the car door, before starting the engine.
Forgotten several times?
Then the notifications are probably not reaching you. Check the settings as described in I am not receiving notifications. What exactly happens the moment a session ends by itself is in When does a session end by itself?.