The Appeals Process
An owner who receives a Penalty Charge
Notice (PCN) and believes they were legally parked can
make a challenge against the issue of the PCN to the
Council.
If you are going to challenge the issue of the penalty, you must
do so within 14 days from the date of its issue. We ask also
that you do not make payment at this time. The penalty will
be held at the lower rate whilst the challenge is being
considered. If your challenge is unsuccessful you will be given a
further period of time to pay at the lower rate.
The Traffic Management Act sets out the
grounds on which you can make the challenge.
These are the only legal grounds for claiming
that the parking ticket was incorrectly issued:
- 1. The alleged contravention did not occur
- 2. The penalty exceeded the relevant amount
- 3. The traffic order was invalid
- 4. You were not the owner/keeper of the vehicle at the
time of the contravention
- 5. The vehicle had been taken without consent
- 6. You are a hire firm, and have supplied the name of
the person hiring the vehicle.
- 7. There has been a procedural impropriety
- 8. The traffic order concerned is invalid
- 9. The notice should not have been served because the PCN
has already been paid
The council will however consider challenges for other reasons
(mitigating circumstances) and if you have sufficient grounds, the
Council will cancel the PCN and no payment will be required.
You can complete fully online form for a challenge against a
penalty charge notice, or you can download a form,
both are linked from the bottom of this page.
If the Council rejects the challenge, the owner is still
not satisfied and does not make appropriate payment, then
the owner need do nothing else. The council will send
out a Notice To Owner (NTO), after 28 days from the date the
Penalty Charge Notice was issued. The owner of the
vehicle should return the NTO to make formal representation
against the PCN. If the representation is rejected, a
rejection letter will be sent to the owner together with details on
how the owner can appeal against the decision to the Traffic
Penalty Tribunal (TPT). An adjucator, independent of the
council, will deal with the appeal by post or, if the owner
requests, at a personal hearing.
The adjudicator's ruling
is final.
If payment is made at either the discounted or normal amount
and the motorist challenges the PCN, and the challenge is
rejected, then the case is considered as being closed. If the
motorist then wishes to take the case to TPT they must write
to the council asking for the case to be reopened. The money
paid will be refunded and after the 28 day period a NTO will be
sent.