The Appeals Process
If you receive a Penalty Charge Notice
(PCN) and believe that it should not be paid you should
submit a challenge against it.
If you challenge the PCN within 14 days and the challenge
is rejected the Council will generally extend the period within
which the reduced penalty charge may be paid. The
penalty will be held at the lower rate whilst the challenge
is being considered so there is no need to make payment at this
time. If your challenge is unsuccessful you will be given a
further period of time to pay at the lower rate. If your challenge
is successful the Council will cancel the PCN and no payment will
be required.
The Countywide Cancellation Policy can be viewed in the
downloadable document section below.
You can complete an 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.
The Traffic Management Act sets out the
grounds on which you can make the representations
against a Notice to Owner.
These are the specified grounds:
- The alleged contravention did not occur
- The penalty exceeded the relevant amount
- You were not the owner/keeper of the vehicle at the time
of the contravention
- The vehicle had been taken without consent
- You are a hire firm, and have supplied the name of
the person hiring the vehicle.
- There has been a procedural impropriety
- The traffic order concerned is invalid
- The notice should not have been served because the PCN
has already been paid
The Council will also consider any other grounds you wish
to put forward.
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 or telephone hearing.