Parking
Primary Content Source: Andrew Sweetman
Overview:
Step 1: Informal challenge.
Step 2: Formal challenge.
Step 3: The Traffic Penalty Tribunal and London Tribunals.
Step 4: Requesting a review of the TPT’s decision
A summary of the steps to appeal a parking ticket is set out below, focussing on council-issued parking tickets (Penalty Charge Notices or PCNs).
There are also useful guides to appealing parking tickets on the Moneysavingexpert website here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/parking-ticket-appeals/ . There is also useful information from the Citizens’ Advice Bureau here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/parking-tickets/appealing-parking-tickets/when-to-appeal-a-parking-ticket/.
When to challenge:
There is little point challenging a parking fine if given properly (though if it is a first offence and you simply made a mistake, you can always try). But it is worth challenging where:
You received a parking ticket from the council within 10 minutes of paid or free parking expiring, and you otherwise parked properly. This applies to on-street and council owned or operated car parks, but only applies to private parking tickets if they are a member of the ATA (accredited trade association). This can be checked here and here.
You did not breach parking rules but were given a ticket anyway (for example, your blue badge was ignored).
The rules were wrong – councils should comply with their traffic regulation orders (TROs). These can be checked here: https://tro.trafficpenaltytribunal.gov.uk.
The parking signs or road markings were unclear.
There was no way to pay.
You were charged too much.
You weren’t driving when the ticket was issued, or the car was stolen.
You weren’t able to get back to your car.
Your car broke down.
The ticket or letter was incorrect or didn’t contain all the required information.
You have other mitigating circumstances, for example, a recent bereavement, you were dropping an ill person at hospital, you were attending a funeral, or you were dealing with an emergency – essentially anything beyond your control or where it would have been difficult to park properly and, if required, pay.
The below deals with parking tickets received from the council (usually on-street or council-owned car parks).
You can check the ticket to see if it is council-issued or privately issued. Only council-issued tickets will be ‘Penalty Charge Notices’. Private tickets usually have a similar but different name, such as ‘Parking Charge Notice’.
If you have received a parking ticket from a private car park or landowner, there are useful guides here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/parking-tickets/appealing-parking-tickets/appealing-a-parking-ticket and here https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/private-parking-tickets/.
Timings
Penalty Charge Notices (at the scene)
A parking fine received when the car was parked, often known as a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) if from the council, can usually be challenged within 28 days of receiving it. If you want to pay the fine, you should pay within 14 days as you normally receive a 50% discount. If you informally challenge the PCN within 14 days of receiving it, you will usually still only need to pay half the original fine, even if your challenge is not successful. If you think you have a good argument, it therefore makes sense to make a challenge. If you do, aim to do so within two weeks of receiving the PCN. However, if your informal challenge is rejected and you then make a formal challenge (set out below) and lose, you will have to pay the full penalty.
If you want to challenge the PCN, do not pay the fine unless your car was clamped or towed away – this is seen as an admission that the fine was correctly given. If your car was clamped or towed, you will need to pay first and then appeal.
Notice to Owner (in the post)
If you have received a ‘Notice to Owner’ (NTO) in the post and had not received a ticket beforehand, you have 14 days to appeal unless you were caught by a CCTV camera, in which case you have 21 days.
If you received a NTO after you unsuccessfully appealed a ticket given at the scene, you have 28 days to appeal.
Step 1 - Informal challenge
You can only make an informal challenge if you’ve received a PCN at the scene, for example by a traffic warden or if you found it on your car windscreen. The first thing to do is check the ticket and see who has issued it and how you can challenge it. If it was received from a private company rather than the council, the procedure may be slightly different to that set out here.
You will usually be able to make an informal challenge by emailing or writing to the address found on the ticket. You can find template letters online. Ensure that you include a full explanation of the reason you are challenging the ticket (set out in ‘when to challenge’ above).
You should also try to gather as much evidence as you can and include this in your email or letter to ensure your argument has as much weight as possible. For example:
photographs at the time you received the ticket showing you parked properly and had a valid ticket (if needed), or that the parking signs were unclear, and so on.
evidence of mitigating circumstances such as a recovery company if you broke down, or a hospital admission form or doctor’s note if you were taken ill.
A signed statement from a witness who can support your argument.
Step 2 - Formal challenge
You can make a formal challenge once you have received a ‘Notice to Owner’ (NTO), either because you weren’t issued with a PCN at the scene, or because you informally appealed a PCN which was rejected.
The NTO should contain a form to appeal it; simply fill this in and return alongside any evidence (see step 1 for suggestions). You can also send a separate letter instead if the form doesn’t give you enough space.
You should receive a response within 56 days or you win by default.
Step 3 – The Traffic Penalty Tribunal and London Tribunals
The Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) deals with PCNs which have been issued by councils in England or Wales, but not those issued in London, which are dealt with by London Tribunals. These tribunals are independent bodies that will consider the arguments again and decide whether to grant or refuse your appeal.
You can only appeal to the TPT or a London Tribunal once your appeals have all been rejected and you have received a formal Notice of Rejection of Representations.
You should have received a Notice of Appeal alongside notification that your formal appeal was rejected. It is a written process, although you can request an oral or telephone hearing if you want one. Return the Notice of Appeal with all the evidence and reasoning previously submitted – you may also want to send a separate letter (templates are available online).
The TPT’s website provides additional information: https://www.trafficpenaltytribunal.gov.uk/want-to-appeal/. The grounds for appeal are set out here: https://www.trafficpenaltytribunal.gov.uk/grounds-of-appeal-parking-penalty-charge-notices/
You can appeal to the London Tribunal online here: https://www.londontribunals.gov.uk/about/online-appeals or by writing to: PO Box 10598, Nottingham NG6 6DR.
TPT Costs
You do not have to pay anything to appeal the decision with the TPT. If you win your appeal the penalty will be cancelled, if you lose you will have to pay the full cost of the ticket (unless the adjudicator specifically states otherwise).
Even where you have spent money on a successful appeal (for example on travel expenses or you have paid someone to help you), the TPT does not usually require the authority to pay your costs, unless it finds that the authority behaved wholly unreasonably in their approach to the case. If you think this is the case, the online form to claim your costs can be found here. Equally, the TPT will not require you to pay the authority’s costs if you lose, unless there are exceptional circumstances such as the tribunal finding that you were wholly unreasonable in your approach to the case.
Step 4 – Requesting a review of the decision
The adjudicator’s decision is final, with four exceptions where you can request a review. The London Tribunals process is set out here: https://www.londontribunals.gov.uk/eat/appeals-process-explained
For the TPT these exceptions are:
You asked for a hearing but your case was decided before a hearing was arranged.
The tribunal made an administrative error processing your case.
New evidence has become available since the decision that could not have been anticipated.
There was an error in the law applied to the decision.
You cannot ask for a review simply because you do not agree with the decision. You will be required to pay the authority the amount set out in the decision within 28 days at the latest. Failure to do so means that the penalty can be increased by 50%.
If one of the four exceptional circumstances above applies to you, you can request a review of the decision by writing to the TPT within 14 days of the date of the decision. (If you request a review for any other reason it will not be successful.) You can request a review online if you have an online case by clicking the ‘what happens next’ information, otherwise you can contact the TPT to ask them to send you a review application form.