ANSWER:

Your options in this situation are as follows:

Pay: You only pay 50% of the full penalty if you pay within 14 days (taking Day 1 as the date on the PCN). After 14 days, the penalty increases to the full amount. In any case, payment needs to be made within 28 days, beginning with Day 1. Find out how to pay here.

Challenge: Follow the instructions on the reverse of the PCN and submit your challenge to the authority in writing. If you make your challenge within 14 days, the authority is more likely to re-offer the discount if the challenge is rejected.

Find out more here.

ANSWER:

No. To appeal you must follow the appeals procedure – find out more here. If you pay, the authority will consider the matter closed. If the discounted rate has been re-offered, an appeal does not preserve that offer and it will be lost.

ANSWER:

Contact the local authority that issued the ticket to check the status of the PCN. Their details will be on all correspondence received, or can be found here.

ANSWER:

If you have received a court order and payment of your penalty is not made within 21 days of the court order being served, the authority will obtain a warrant from the County Court and Civil Enforcement Agents will be instructed.

Your options in this situation are as follows:

Pay: You must pay the Civil Enforcement Agents.

Challenge: Contact the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) to make an ‘Out of Time Witness Statement’ as to why the debt has not been paid or representations submitted.

Contact TEC on 0300 123 1059 or visit their website.

ANSWER:

If you do not pay the penalty or make representations against a Notice to Owner (NtO) or Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) served by post by the end of the maximum 28-day period, the authority will send you a Charge Certificate: this increases the penalty by 50%.

Your options in this situation are as follows:

Pay: Contact the authority to pay the increased charge.

Challenge: It is not possible to challenge a Charge Certificate; however, if you do not pay the Charge Certificate within 14 days – taking ‘Day 1’ as two working days after the Charge Certificate was posted – the authority may register the debt at Northampton County Court – Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC). TEC will then send you a court order.

At this stage, it is possible to make a witness statement (or statutory declaration for bus lane PCNs) challenging the court order on one of four grounds. These are explained within the TEC documentation you will receive.

If you did not receive a postal PCN / Notice to Owner or the Notice of Rejection, it may still be worth challenging although the authority is not obliged to consider representations at this stage.

For further information, contact TEC on 0300 123 1059 or visit their website.

ANSWER:

Your options are as follows:

Pay: If you do not pay within 28 days of receiving the Penalty Notice, the penalty increases by 100%.

Challenge: Follow the instructions on the reverse of the Penalty Notice and submit your challenge to the authority in writing.

ANSWER:

If you make written representations to the authority in response to a Notice to Owner (NtO) or Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) served by post – and the authority reject these representations – you will be sent a NOR.

Your options in this situation are as follows:

Pay: You need to contact the authority to pay the full penalty, or the discounted penalty if they have re-offered it.

Challenge: The NOR provides information on how to appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT). Your appeal should be submitted within 28-days of receipt of the NOR.

Please note that you can either pay or challenge but may not do both.

ANSWER:

If the Penalty has not been paid within the 28-day payment period, the NtO will be sent to the owner of the vehicle involved in the alleged contravention. Even if the owner was not the driver of the vehicle at the time, they are still liable for the penalty (except in very limited circumstances). If you are not the owner of the vehicle but have received the NtO, you will still need to follow the ‘Challenge’ process.

Your options in this situation are as follows:

Pay: Follow the instructions on the NtO. Find out more about the payment process here.

Challenge: It is best to use the NtO form (with extra sheets attached if necessary) to make your representations. The NtO explains the grounds for representations. Taking ‘Day 1’ as two working days after the date the NtO was posted, representations need to reach the authority with 28 days. Find out more about the ‘Challenge’ process here.

ANSWER:

PCNs are served through the post when a contravention has been captured on CCTV (parking, bus lane, road user or moving traffic PCNs), or where it has not been possible to place the PCN on the vehicle or hand it to the driver (parking PCNs only).

Your options in this situation are as follows:

Pay: You only pay 50% of the full penalty if you pay within 14 days (taking Day 1 as two working days after the PCN was posted); or 21 days if the PCN was served for a parking contravention captured on CCTV. After the 14- / 21-day period, the penalty increases to the full amount. In any case, payment needs to be made within 28 days, beginning with Day 1. Find out how to pay here.

Challenge: Follow the instructions on the reverse of the PCN and submit your challenge to the enforcement authority in writing. If you make your challenge within 14 days the authority is more likely to re-offer the discount if the challenge is rejected.

Find out more here.

ANSWER:

PCNs issued by London authorities are dealt with by the London Tribunals. You can review your options on the London Tribunals Website.

ANSWER:

This is often known as an informal rejection. Your options in this situation are as follows:

Pay: The authority will usually extend the 14-day discount period if your challenge was received before the end of the original discount period. Find out how to pay here.

Challenge: If you still believe the penalty should not be paid, you should wait to receive a Notice to Owner (NtO) from the authority. Please note that the NtO will be issued to the owner of the vehicle.

Find out more about the ‘Challenge’ process here.

ANSWER:

Click here to enter your PCN and find comprehensive information on the process to follow.

ANSWER:

Private companies fall outside the statutory remit of civil parking enforcement by local authorities, so if a private company has issued your ticket, you should contact the company and follow their appeals procedure.

For further information contact the British Parking Association (01444 447 300).

ANSWER:

Your options in this situation are as follows:

Pay: You need to pay the necessary charges to release the vehicle.

Challenge: Even though you have paid the release fee, you can still make representations. Follow the instructions on the release notes you received following payment and write to the authority. If your written representations are unsuccessful, you may then appeal to the independent adjudicator.

ANSWER:

A full list of Contravention Codes can be found here.