Got a parking ticket letter?
Find out which kind it is, and what to do.
Council penalties and private parking charges use almost the same words on purpose. The process behind each is completely different, and so is what happens if you do nothing.
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Two completely different things arrive looking like parking fines. A Penalty Charge Notice from a council or Transport for London is a real penalty with a fixed legal timetable and a free tribunal behind it. A Parking Charge Notice from a private company is an invoice for allegedly breaking the rules on a car park sign, capped at £100, with a free independent appeal. Which one you are holding decides the deadlines, who you argue with, and how bad ignoring it can get.
Reviewed by the OneLetter editorial team · Last reviewed: September 2026 · Information only, not legal advice
Parking Tickets & Charges at a glance
The common parking tickets & charges and what each one means, how urgent it usually is, and the deadline to be aware of.
| Letter | What it means | Typical deadline | Urgency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Council Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) | A civil penalty from a council or TfL for a parking, bus lane or moving-traffic contravention | 14 days for the 50% discount (21 for some postal camera PCNs); 28 days to pay or challenge | Medium |
| Notice to Owner | The council has not been paid and is formally asking the registered keeper to pay or make representations | 28 days to pay or make formal representations | High |
| Charge Certificate | The penalty has gone up by 50% and will be registered as a court debt | 14 days before the council can register it | High |
| Order for Recovery (TE7/TE9) | The PCN is now a registered debt at the Traffic Enforcement Centre, plus a £10 fee | 21 days to pay or file a TE9 witness statement | Very high |
| Private Parking Charge Notice | A private company's invoice for allegedly breaking the terms on a car park sign. Not a fine. | 14 days for the 40% discount; 28 days to appeal | Medium |
| Parking appeal rejected (POPLA / IAS) | The company's own review is over; you can go to the free independent appeals service | 28 days for POPLA, 21 days for the IAS | Medium |
| Debt recovery letter (DRP, DCBL, ZZPS) | A collector chasing an unpaid private charge, usually with £70 added. Not a court letter. | None by law, but a Letter of Claim gives 30 days | Medium |
| County court claim form | The company has sued. Ignoring this is what creates a CCJ. | 14 days to acknowledge, 28 to defend | Very high |
Common parking tickets & charges explained
Is a Parking Charge Notice the same as a Penalty Charge Notice?
No, and the difference matters more than anything else on this page. A Penalty Charge Notice is issued by a council or Transport for London under traffic law. It is a genuine penalty, it escalates on a fixed timetable, it ends with a court-registered debt and enforcement agents if ignored, and it comes with a free independent tribunal. A Parking Charge Notice is issued by a private company (APCOA, ParkingEye, Euro Car Parks, UKPC, Smart Parking and dozens more) for allegedly breaching the terms on the signs in a private car park. It is a claim for money under contract law, capped by the industry code at £100, and the company can only make you pay by winning a county court claim against you. Look at the top of the letter: a council or TfL name means penalty; a company name and a BPA or IPC logo means private charge.
Can a private parking company actually fine me?
Not in the legal sense, but the money is real. The Supreme Court decided in 2015 (ParkingEye v Beavis) that a parking charge of £85 for overstaying was enforceable as a contract term, so 'it's only an invoice' is not a reason to ignore one. What the company cannot do is clamp or tow your car (banned on private land since 2012), add penalty points, give you a criminal record, or send bailiffs without first winning in court. What it can do is pass the debt to a collector, add £70, and sue you in the county court, where the same arguments you could have made on appeal get decided by a judge.
Should I pay or appeal?
Pay at the discounted rate if you clearly broke the rules and have no ground to stand on: it is the cheapest way out and it ends there. Appeal if you did not break the terms, paid but made a keying error, could not see or read the signs, were inside the grace period, or have any of the mitigating circumstances the industry code says must be accepted. Appeal to the company first, within 28 days. If you appeal within the discount period and are rejected, the code says you must still be allowed to pay at the discounted rate for a further 14 days, so appealing early costs you nothing. Escalating to POPLA or the IAS is also free, but at that point the discount is gone. Never pay and appeal at the same time: paying ends your right to appeal.
Will a parking ticket affect my licence, insurance or credit score?
A council PCN and a private parking charge are both civil matters. Neither adds points to your licence or creates a criminal record, and neither appears on your credit file on its own. A private charge only reaches your credit file if the company sues you, wins a County Court Judgment because you did not respond, and you do not pay it within 30 days. A council PCN registered at the Traffic Enforcement Centre is a court-registered debt but not a CCJ and does not show on credit reports. The only route to insurance consequences is a police Fixed Penalty Notice, which is a different, criminal process and is not what either of these letters is.
Explain a specific letter
Guides to the individual letters people ask about most in this category:
What happens if you ignore parking tickets & charges?
The two paths end in different places. Ignore a council PCN and it rises by 50% at the Charge Certificate stage, gets registered as a debt at the Traffic Enforcement Centre with a £10 fee, and then goes to enforcement agents who add £79 the moment they are instructed and £247 when they visit. A £70 penalty can pass £400 without anyone knocking on your door. Ignore a private Parking Charge Notice and you lose the discount and the appeal, a debt recovery firm adds £70, and eventually a county court claim form arrives. Ignore that too and a County Court Judgment is entered by default, which sits on your credit file for six years unless you pay within 30 days. Nothing bad happens to anyone who responds by the date on the letter; almost everything bad happens to people who don't.
Why these letters are so hard to understand
Both say 'PCN'. Both quote a discount if you pay within 14 days. Both threaten extra charges and 'further action'. Private operators design their notices to look official, and councils write theirs in the language of the Act they enforce under. The result is that most people can't tell whether they are looking at a legal penalty or a company's invoice, and the right move is different for each.
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Parking Tickets & Charges: frequently asked questions
How do I tell a council PCN from a private parking charge?
Read who it is from. A council PCN names the council (or Transport for London), calls itself a Penalty Charge Notice and usually refers to the Traffic Management Act 2004 or a London Local Authorities Act. A private notice names a company, calls itself a Parking Charge Notice (or 'parking charge'), carries a British Parking Association or International Parking Community logo, and often quotes Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.
Can they clamp or tow my car?
Private companies cannot. Clamping and towing on private land without lawful authority has been a criminal offence since 1 October 2012. Councils and TfL can remove vehicles in limited circumstances, mainly for causing an obstruction or as persistent evaders, but for an ordinary PCN the route is paperwork, not a tow truck.
What is the 10-minute grace period?
The industry code requires private operators to allow a minimum consideration period of 5 minutes for you to read the signs and decide whether to stay, and a grace period of at least 10 minutes after paid or permitted time runs out in most public car parks. A charge issued inside those windows should be cancelled on appeal. Councils have their own 10-minute grace period after a paid or permitted period ends, set by law since 2015.
Do I have to say who was driving?
For a private charge in England and Wales, no. But if the notice was sent to the registered keeper and it meets the strict rules in the Protection of Freedoms Act, the keeper can be held liable if the driver is not identified. In Scotland and Northern Ireland there is no keeper liability, so the company has to prove who was driving. For a council PCN the registered keeper is liable regardless of who drove, with narrow exceptions such as a stolen car or a hire agreement.
Official sources & free help
This page is written in plain English and checked against official guidance. For the full detail, and free, independent help, see:
- Parking tickets, GOV.UK
- Parking tickets, Citizens Advice
- Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4 (keeper liability)
- POPLA appeals process
- Independent Appeals Service (IAS)
- Traffic Penalty Tribunal (England and Wales outside London)
- London Tribunals
- Traffic Enforcement Centre forms (TE7, TE9), GOV.UK
- Private parking code of practice consultation, GOV.UK
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