Council Penalty Charge Notice: which stage you are at and what to do
A Penalty Charge Notice from a council or Transport for London is a civil penalty issued under traffic law, and it moves on a fixed timetable whether or not you engage. You get 50% off if you pay within 14 days (21 days for some postal notices based on camera evidence), then 28 days to pay or challenge in full. If nothing happens, a Notice to Owner goes to the registered keeper, then a Charge Certificate adds 50%, then the debt is registered at the Traffic Enforcement Centre with a £10 fee, and finally enforcement agents are instructed, adding £79 before they have even visited. Every stage has a deadline, and the earlier you act the more options you keep. This page covers England and Wales.
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A Penalty Charge Notice from a council or Transport for London is a civil penalty issued under traffic law, and it moves on a fixed timetable whether or not you engage. You get 50% off if you pay within 14 days (21 days for some postal notices based on camera evidence), then 28 days to pay or challenge in full. If nothing happens, a Notice to Owner goes to the registered keeper, then a Charge Certificate adds 50%, then the debt is registered at the Traffic Enforcement Centre with a £10 fee, and finally enforcement agents are instructed, adding £79 before they have even visited. Every stage has a deadline, and the earlier you act the more options you keep. This page covers England and Wales.
Written by Nathan Deeble, OneLetter founder · How we check this · Last reviewed: September 2026 · Checked against gov.uk · Information only, not legal advice
Council Penalty Charge Notice (PCN): the essentials
- What it is
- A civil penalty from the council or TfL, not a criminal fine and not a private charge
- Typical amounts
- Usually £50 or £70 outside London; £80 to £160 in London depending on the borough band and the contravention. Check the figure on your notice
- Discount
- 50% if paid within 14 days of service (21 days for postal PCNs based on camera evidence)
- Challenge routes
- Informal challenge, then formal representations to the Notice to Owner, then the independent tribunal
- Tribunal
- Traffic Penalty Tribunal (England and Wales outside London) or London Tribunals. Free, independent, 28 days from rejection
- If ignored
- +50% Charge Certificate, +£10 court registration, then enforcement agent fees of £79, £247 and £116
Which stage is your letter?
| Letter | What it means | Your deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Penalty Charge Notice (on the windscreen or by post) | The penalty has been issued. Discount available | 14 days to pay at 50% (21 for postal camera PCNs); 28 days to pay in full or challenge |
| Informal challenge rejected | The council has considered your challenge and said no. Many re-offer the discount for 14 days if you challenged inside the discount period | Pay at the rate offered, or wait for the Notice to Owner and make formal representations |
| Notice to Owner | The council is formally asking the registered keeper to pay or make representations on the statutory grounds | 28 days |
| Notice of Rejection of Representations | The council has rejected your formal representations | 28 days to appeal to the tribunal |
| Charge Certificate | The penalty has increased by 50% because nothing was paid or challenged in time | 14 days before the council can register the debt |
| Order for Recovery (with TE9 form) | The debt is registered at the Traffic Enforcement Centre, plus £10 | 21 days to pay or file a TE9 witness statement |
| Notice of Enforcement | Enforcement agents have been instructed; £79 has already been added | Pay or agree a plan before the visit date to avoid the £247 enforcement fee |
The grounds that work for formal representations
Formal representations against a Notice to Owner have to fit the grounds in the regulations, and the council must consider them properly. The main ones are that the contravention did not occur (wrong signs or markings, a valid ticket or permit, loading or unloading where permitted, a Blue Badge correctly displayed, still within the paid or permitted time plus the grace period); that you were not the owner at the time (sold before, or bought after, with DVLA evidence); that the vehicle was taken without your consent; that you are a hire firm and the hirer signed for liability; that the penalty exceeds the amount applicable; that the traffic order is invalid; that the penalty has already been paid; and procedural impropriety, meaning the council did not follow the process (for example a Notice to Owner served before it was allowed to be).
Councils also have discretion to cancel for mitigating circumstances outside those grounds: a medical emergency, a breakdown, a first offence with a genuine explanation. It is worth stating them plainly with evidence, but do not rely on them alone. Photographs of the signs and markings taken from where you parked, the pay-and-display ticket, the app receipt, the Blue Badge, the breakdown report or the delivery note are what change decisions.
Postal PCNs from cameras: bus lanes, box junctions, school streets
Councils outside London have been able to enforce moving-traffic contraventions by camera since 2022, and postal PCNs for bus lanes, yellow box junctions, banned turns and school streets are now common. There is no windscreen ticket: the notice is sent to the registered keeper and doubles as the Notice to Owner, so your challenge goes straight in as formal representations within 28 days. The discount period for these camera-based postal notices is usually 21 days rather than 14. The footage is normally viewable online with the PCN number, and it is worth watching it before you write.
The tribunal: free, independent, and not a court
If the council rejects your formal representations you have 28 days to appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (England and Wales outside London) or to London Tribunals. Both are independent of the council, both are free, and both are run by legally qualified adjudicators who can decide on the papers or by telephone hearing. The council has to produce its evidence, including the traffic order and the sign photographs, and you can respond to it. If you win, the PCN is cancelled. Either side can ask for a review of the decision within 14 days, but reviews rarely succeed.
The adjudicator applies the same statutory grounds as the council, but without the council's interest in the outcome. Many appeals succeed on signage and markings that the council could not evidence, or on procedural errors in how the notices were served.
What a Charge Certificate means, and why 14 days matters
A Charge Certificate is the council telling you the penalty has gone up by 50% (a £70 PCN becomes £105) because you neither paid nor challenged within 28 days of the Notice to Owner, or you lost at the tribunal and did not pay within 28 days. From this point the ordinary challenge routes are closed. Fourteen days after the certificate is served, the council can register the debt at the Traffic Enforcement Centre, which adds a £10 fee and starts the 21-day clock on the Order for Recovery. If you have no grounds for a TE9 witness statement, pay at this stage: it is the last point at which the amount stops rising.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
The stages are broadly similar but the law, the deadlines and the tribunals are different. Scottish councils enforce under decriminalised parking enforcement with appeals to the Parking and Bus Lane Tribunal for Scotland and recovery through sheriff officers rather than the Traffic Enforcement Centre. Northern Ireland has its own Traffic Penalty Tribunal and its own PCN regime. If your notice is from a Scottish council or the Department for Infrastructure, read the deadlines on the notice itself rather than the England and Wales timetable above.
What happens if you ignore it?
A council PCN you ignore roughly triples before anyone knocks on the door. A £70 penalty becomes £105 at the Charge Certificate, £115 once registered at the Traffic Enforcement Centre, £194 the moment enforcement agents are instructed, and £441 if they visit, with a further £116 if goods are removed for sale and percentage fees on larger sums. Registration at the Traffic Enforcement Centre is not a County Court Judgment and does not show on your credit file, but a warrant lets enforcement agents take control of goods, including a car parked on the road, after 14 clear days' notice. If you have reached the Order for Recovery and one of the four TE9 grounds applies (you never received the notices, you made representations and got no answer, you appealed and got no answer, or you had already paid), file the witness statement within the 21 days. If none applies, pay the council directly and stop the fees.
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See what your letter means, freeFrequently asked questions
Can I still get the 50% discount if I make an informal challenge?
If you challenge within the 14-day discount period and the council rejects you, most councils re-offer the discount for a further 14 days from the rejection. Councils outside London are expected to do this under statutory guidance; London boroughs generally do the same. If the rejection letter does not say so, ask.
What if I never received the PCN or the Notice to Owner?
Non-receipt is one of the four grounds for a TE9 witness statement once the debt is registered, and a valid ground for representations earlier. If a Notice to Owner reaches you but you never saw the original PCN, say so in your representations; the council should then re-offer the discount rather than treat you as having ignored it.
Does a council PCN affect my credit file?
No. Registration at the Traffic Enforcement Centre is not a County Court Judgment and is not reported to credit reference agencies. The consequences of ignoring it are fees and enforcement agents, not a credit record.
Can the council clamp or tow my car?
Removal is possible in limited circumstances, particularly in London, for vehicles causing an obstruction or belonging to persistent evaders with several unpaid PCNs. For a single ordinary PCN the process is paperwork and, at the very end, enforcement agents acting on a warrant.
Is a PCN a criminal matter?
No. A council PCN is a civil penalty with no points, no criminal record and no effect on insurance. A Fixed Penalty Notice issued by the police or a traffic officer is a separate, criminal-law process with its own rules; check who issued your notice.
Official sources & free help
For the full detail, and free, independent advice, see: