How to appeal a parking ticket

Which kind of ticket do I have?

Start with who issued the ticket. A Penalty Charge Notice, or PCN, comes from a council or Transport for London. A Parking Charge Notice comes from a private company, for example at a supermarket or retail park. Council tickets and private charges each have their own appeal process, set out below.

A Fixed Penalty Notice is different. It can come from the police, a council or the DVSA, and to dispute one you go to a magistrates' court. The back of the ticket explains how.

The Department for Transport does not issue parking fines. A text message from it asking you to pay one is a scam.

How do I appeal a council ticket, step by step?

• If the ticket was put on your car or handed to you, write to the council with your reasons. This is an informal challenge. If you make it within the reduced-price period and the council says no, most councils offer the reduced amount again.
• If you do not pay, the council sends a Notice to Owner to the registered keeper. You then have 28 days to make a formal challenge, called representations.
• If the ticket came by post, for example from a camera, there is no informal stage and no Notice to Owner. You make representations against the postal ticket itself, by the date it gives.
• If the council rejects your representations it sends a Notice of Rejection. You then have 28 days to pay or to appeal to an independent tribunal: London Tribunals for a London ticket, the Traffic Penalty Tribunal for the rest of England and Wales. The appeal is free.

How do I appeal a private charge, step by step?

• Check the company belongs to the British Parking Association or the International Parking Community. Only members can get the keeper's address from the DVLA, and membership is what gives you an independent appeal.
• Appeal to the company first, in writing, by the method the notice gives. The industry code both trade bodies use allows 28 days for this.
• If it refuses, its reply tells you how to go to the independent service: POPLA for British Parking Association members, the Independent Appeals Service for International Parking Community members. Both are free, and both allow 28 days from the company's refusal.
• Do not ignore a private charge. Unpaid charges can end in a county court claim, and a claim you do not answer can lead to a county court judgment against you.

What should I put in my appeal?

• The ticket number, the vehicle registration, the date of the ticket, and your name and address.
• Your reason, in plain words, with only what you know to be true.
• Copies of your evidence, such as photos of the signs, a payment receipt, a permit or a repair note. Keep the originals.
• For a private charge sent to you as the keeper: you do not have to say who was driving.

Which grounds work?

• You did not break the rules: you had paid, held a valid permit or were within the time allowed.
• The signs or road markings were missing, hidden, faded or misleading.
• The payment machine was broken and there was no other way to pay.
• You were not the keeper at the time, or the car had been stolen or cloned.
• You were only a few minutes late back. Private operators must allow at least 10 minutes after time-limited parking ends, and councils in England should also allow a grace period.
• The notice is wrong, arrived too late, or leaves out information the law requires.

Not sure which of these fit your notice? Check it free. You see the verdict and the deadline before you pay.

What happens next?

Do not pay a ticket while you are appealing it. Paying is usually treated as accepting the ticket, and you cannot then appeal.

A council must answer formal representations about a parking ticket within 56 days. If it does not, it must cancel the ticket.

At the tribunal, POPLA or the IAS, both sides send their evidence and an independent person decides. If you win, the ticket is cancelled. If you lose, you normally pay the full amount, because the reduced amount has gone by then.