Employers

FAQ - Commuter Check for Parking

How do employees use the Commuter Check for Parking voucher?
Employees order Commuter Check(s) made out to their parking operator in the amount of their daily, weekly, or monthly parking payment. Employees provide the check(s) to their parking operator just as they would a personal check. Any parking operator that accepts personal checks can accept the Commuter Check for Parking.

Which parking operators accept the Commuter Check for Parking?
Commuter Check has an extensive network of affiliated parking operators. We work with all of the major national parking operators including Central Parking, Colonial Parking, InterPark, Standard Parking, and System Parking. We also have relationships with many local operators. Chances are your employees’ parking operators are already part of our network of participating operators. If your employees’ parking operators are not part of our network of affiliated providers, we will contact the provider to add them to our affiliates.

What if parking expenses are part of our office’s monthly lease payment?
If parking expenses are paid as part of your office’s monthly lease payment, Commuter Check for Parking can accommodate you in one of two ways. Commuter Check for Parking can send you a check that aggregates the payments for participating employees and is made out to the management company. You can then include this check along with your check for the balance of your monthly lease payment. Alternatively, Commuter Check for Parking can send you a check that aggregates the payments for participating employees and is made payable to your company. You can deposit this check and write one check to your management company for your total monthly lease payment.

What if an employee’s parking operator refuses to accept their Commuter Check for Parking?
In this case, your benefits administrator can contact Commuter Check for Parking and we will contact the parking operator directly regarding use of the Commuter Check for Parking voucher. The vast majority of parking operators will accept Commuter Check for Parking voucher once they understand that they can deposit the Commuter Check for Parking voucher just as they would any other check they receive. If, after our direct intervention, the parking operator continues to refuse to accept the Commuter Check for Parking voucher, you or your employee can return the unused Commuter Check for Parking to us for a full refund or credit.

Can employees use their Commuter Checks to pay for parking expenses?
No. Only Commuter Checks for Parking can be used to pay for parking expenses. Regular Commuter Checks must be redeemed for transit expenses. Commuter Checks used for transit expenses are generic vouchers that can be redeemed at any participating transit authority. Commuter Checks for Parking must be made payable to your employee’s parking operator and must be in the exact amount of the employee’s daily, weekly, or monthly costs. In either case, Commuter Checks cannot be exchanged for cash nor can change be given should your expenses be lower than the face value of your voucher.

What information do employers supply Commuter Check to get started offering the parking benefit?
If the employer is participating in Commuter Check Office, the employer must gather the parking operator name, location, rate, and number of checks requested from each participating employee. The employer then reports this information using the online order form. If the employer is participating in Commuter Check Direct, the employer notifies employees to enroll in the parking benefit on the Commuter Check Direct website. Employees must go to the website and place their own order. Commuter Check takes care of all the administrative details based on the order the employee has placed on the Commuter Check Direct website.

How is the parking benefit enhanced in the Commuter Check Direct program?
Employees experience enhanced service when their employers offer Commuter Check Direct. In addition to being able to order Commuter Check(s) for their parking expenses, employees can request direct payment of their parking operator. With a direct pay order, the employee no longer needs to make monthly payments. Employees have their automatic payroll deductions and Commuter Check takes care of all payment details with the parking operator. The employee will receive a confirmation email each month when their payment has been sent to their parking operator. After placing their initial recurring order employees need not take any further action unless their parking operator or their parking rate changes.

What if an employee’s parking provider raises their rates, changes management, or the employee changes parking locations?
In the Commuter Check Office program, the employees need to notify the office benefits administrator that they need to order a check made out to a new parking operator or need to change the amount of the check they receive. In the Commuter Check Direct program, employees can return to their online ordering page at any time to modify, cancel or update their order. Using the online ordering page, employees can update the amount of the order, their account number, the billing name, and the billing address of the parking order. The employee is responsible for keeping his or her order up to date.