Received a parking ticket?
This is our step by step guide on what to do if you have received a parking ticket now known as a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) for a parking contravention.
If you have received a penalty charge notice for a moving traffic contravention such as a prohibited turn or a yellow box contravention or for a bus lane contravention then please click the relevant section above.If you have received a parking charge notice for parking on private land please see our section on private land parking.
This section provides general advice on how you may be able to have your parking ticket cancelled.The information on this page will assist you in deciding whether to appeal by informing you of the many rules and requirements which local authorities must follow. This includes the procedure, the very specific wording which a pcn must contain to be valid, service of the pcn, tips on phrasing the appeal,CCTV tickets, statutory Government guidance to enforcing authorites, traffic regulation orders, compassionate grounds etc.
Of course penalty charge notices are issued for lots of different contraventions (offences) such as waiting on yellow lines and remaining beyond paid for time at a parking bay. So once you have looked at this section go to the specific section for the contravention that you are alleged to have breached. You must look at the specific grounds of appeal if you want to appeal as there are many specific ways to have a penalty charge notice cancelled for each contravention. To access the relevant section simply choose the correct one from the menu on the left or above or simply enter the contravention code in the box above.
We even have summarised adjudicator’s decisions where motorists have won.
All the information is set out in a very clear and concise format.
When debating whether to appeal please consider the following.
Tip! Did you know that up to 20% of all parking tickets are cancelled by the authority upon receipt of a representation? That’s over one million tickets a year cancelled in London alone! and many more Nationwide. These figures will vary annually.
Tip! Although some PCN’s state that you cannot make a representation until you receive what is called a “Notice to Owner” (NTO), we have yet to find a local authority who will not both accept a representation and maintain the discounted rate for a further 14 days if they do not accept your representation, so long as it is received within 14 days of the date of issue. So you have nothing to lose by writing into he enforcing authority. If you are in doubt due to the wording on the penalty charge notice then contact the authority for clarification.
Tip! Tickets can be cancelled by local authorities on compassionate grounds.
Tip! If the authority reject your representations and you believe they have done so unfairly then you can still appeal to the parking adjudicator. The parking adjudicator is a free service but if he rejects your appeal you will have to pay your ticket at the full rate
Tip! The odds are still in your favour because on average the parking adjudicator allows over 50% of appeals made to him and in The City of London 98.75% of motorists won their appeals in the year ending 2012 (figures vary each year) In fact, many local authorities don’t even contest a great number of the appeals made against them! Please note the parking adjudicator cannot cancel a PCN on compassionate grounds but can refer a matter back to the local authority if he doesn’t think they have exercised their discretion properly.
If you have made an informal representation and the council have rejected it and re-offered the discount, you should not let this dissuade you from making a formal appeal if you think that you have a case.
If you are going to appeal do not make payment until you have heard back from the local authority or the parking adjudicator.
If you are going to appeal you can usually do so by post, email or usually via the council’s own website which is probably the easiest.
There are 20 potential ways to have your penalty charge notice cancelled listed below which is for members only. Plus all the specific grounds. We ask for a small contribution to help us recoup costs and to fund our relentless campaign to have this unfair and revenue orientated system changed. Members also benefit from our helpline via email if they have a specific question. Our site is the most comprehensive in the country and is constantly updated as the rules change and as we hear of new adjudicators cases Thank you.
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