Car parking fine appeals
If you believe you have received a parking fine, officially known as a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN), in error, please see below for how and when you can appeal.
Grounds on which a challenge/representation may be lodged
- Valid pay and display ticket subsequently produced
- Notice made out incorrectly
- Member of party taken ill (medical evidence required)
- Return delayed for extraordinary reason (evidence required)
Fines issued for the following reasons will not normally be cancelled
- You were parked in a disabled bay and you do not have a disabled badge
- You were not parked wholly within a marked bay
- You were not parked in a bay at all
- You did not display a valid permit (even if you have one)
- You left the car in the car park without buying a pay and display ticket
- Your Blue Badge had expired
- You overstayed the maximum stay period
- You exceeded the departure time on the pay and display ticket
Reasons for cancellation of a PCN
Notices issued for the following reasons may be cancelled, especially for a first offence. Please send your valid pay and display ticket or details of your Blue Badge with your appeal.
- You had displayed your Blue Badge or permit incorrectly
- You had forgotten to display your Blue Badge or it had fallen from view
- Your valid pay and display ticket had fallen from view or was obscured
How to make a challenge against your PCN
Should you wish to make a challenge against the issue of the PCN you may do so within 14 days of the date of issue by:
- Pay online
- Writing to the address displayed on the PCN itself
- Completing an appeal form and sending it in by post.
Challenges must be made by post, email or online. We cannot make decisions over the phone.
If we receive your correspondence within the discount period, then the charge is held at the discount rate until we review your appeal. If we receive it after the discount period, then it will be held at the full rate until reviewed.
How are challenges considered?
Challenges are handled by specialist case officers experienced in parking issues and customer care. They consider:
- The full legal facts - that the ticket was issued correctly and is valid according to the terms and conditions of the Traffic Management Act 2004
- If there are any exceptional circumstances where a discretionary view can be taken. Every case is judged on its own merits
A case officer will reply in writing with the decision on the challenge. If it is unsuccessful, then you have 14 days to pay the PCN.
What happens if I am not happy with the decision?
If you do not agree with the decision, you can submit a formal representation once the Notice to Owner letter has been served providing you have new information to declare. This will be reconsidered by a different case officer to the one who considered the challenge, who will notify you of their decision in writing.
If you have received a Notice of Rejection of Representations from us and you disagree with the decision, you can appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. See link below.
What happens if I don’t pay my PCN?
If the charge remains unpaid, a Notice to Owner will be sent to the registered keeper of the vehicle, who must either:
- Pay the full charge within 28 days
- Or make a formal representation. Even if you have made an informal challenge within 14 days of the penalty charge notice being issued you will still need to make a formal representation if you wish to challenge it
Independent adjudication
If the representation is turned down, the registered keeper will be sent details on how to take an appeal to an Independent Parking Tribunal.
This will be conducted by an impartial legal representative who will reassess your case, either at a personal hearing, by telephone hearing or by post. The result of the Adjudicator’s decision will be binding on all parties.
You may only appeal to an Adjudicator if you have been through the representation process detailed above.
More details of the Adjudication process can be found on their website www.patrol-uk.info
If you do not pay or make a representation against the Notice to Owner
If you do nothing when you have been sent a Notice to Owner, a Charge Certificate will be sent after 28 days and the charge will increase by 50 per cent. If you receive a Charge Certificate, you must pay it within 14 days.
There is no right of appeal at this stage.You should make the Council aware if there are extenuating reasons why you could not submit your representations in time (evidence will be required).
If you do not pay the charge, it will be registered as a debt in the County Court, a court fee of £7.00 will be added and an Order of Recovery will be sent to you. If you receive an Order of Recovery you must either pay the charge within 21 days or complete a Witness Statement to the court.
If you do nothing, the court may grant authority for a warrant to be issued and a enforcement agent will be asked to recover the debt from you. The enforcement agent will add charges for any work carried out.