How Do I Appeal a Parking Ticket in England or Wales?

Who this guide is for

People in England or Wales who have a parking ticket and want to know whether to pay it or challenge it. It covers a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) from a council, including bus lane and moving traffic PCNs sent by post, and a Parking Charge Notice from a private parking company, for example in a supermarket or retail park car park.

What this guide does not cover

• Scotland or Northern Ireland: see the Scotland guide or the Northern Ireland guide.
• A Fixed Penalty Notice from the police. GOV.UK says you challenge it at a magistrates' court. Ask Citizens Advice or a solicitor.
• PCNs from Dart Charge, or from Transport for London for red routes, the congestion charge or the low emission zone: GOV.UK says you make representations to Dart Charge or TfL. The notice explains how.
• Speeding and other driving offences, and penalty points: ask a solicitor. For a driving licence decision, see our DVLA decisions guide.
• Clamping or removal by the police, a council or DVLA, and hire vehicles: ask Citizens Advice.
• How much a particular ticket costs: the amount is printed on it. This guide gives no amounts.
• Defending a court claim in detail: see the small claims guide for England and Wales.

At a glance

• Check who sent it. A Penalty Charge Notice comes from a council. A Parking Charge Notice comes from a landowner or a private parking company. Citizens Advice says they can look alike, but they are different and are appealed in different ways.
• Council PCN: half price if the council receives payment within 14 days, or 21 days if it was sent by post because a camera recorded it (in London, 14 days for a bus lane or moving traffic PCN). You have 28 days to pay or challenge.
• Council PCN challenges go to the council first. If it rejects your formal challenge you get a Notice of Rejection, and 28 days to pay or appeal to an independent tribunal: London Tribunals in London, and the Traffic Penalty Tribunal in the rest of England and in Wales. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal says appeals to it are free.
• Private ticket: appeal to the company first. If it says no, Citizens Advice says to appeal to POPLA if the company is a British Parking Association member, or to the Independent Appeals Service if it is an International Parking Community member. POPLA is free.
• A private company can make the registered keeper pay, rather than the driver, only if it meets the conditions in Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, including strict time limits for its notice. Schedule 4 applies only in England and Wales.
• Do not ignore a ticket. An unpaid council PCN goes up by 50% with a Charge Certificate, and a private company can take you to court.

What the rules depend on

• Who issued it? A council (Penalty Charge Notice): the council steps below apply. A private company (Parking Charge Notice): the private steps apply. The police (Fixed Penalty Notice): not covered here.
• How did it arrive? Stuck on the car or handed to the driver: you can start with an informal challenge. Sent by post, for example after a camera recorded it: you usually make a formal challenge (representations) straight away. How it arrived also decides whether the discount lasts 14 or 21 days.
• What stage is it at? The letter's title tells you: Penalty Charge Notice, Notice to Owner, Notice of Rejection, Charge Certificate, Order for Recovery, or a letter from enforcement agents (bailiffs). What you can still do depends on the stage.
• Private ticket: were you the driver, or only the registered keeper? Schedule 4 decides when the keeper can be made to pay. It does not affect any other claim the company has, for example against the driver.

Council tickets (Penalty Charge Notices)

• Stuck on the car or handed to the driver: pay by the last day of the 28 days beginning with the date of the contravention. If the council receives payment within the first 14 days, you pay half (London Tribunals).
• You can write to the council to challenge it (an informal challenge). GOV.UK says you have 28 days to challenge, and if you challenge within 14 days and the challenge is rejected you may only have to pay 50%. London Tribunals says a challenge does not stop the 14 days running unless the council agrees to hold the discount while it decides, so check with the council.
• Notice to Owner: if the PCN is not paid within 28 days, the council can send a Notice to Owner to the vehicle's registered keeper. London Tribunals says the keeper is usually, but not always, liable whoever was driving. From the date the notice is served you have 28 days to pay or make a formal challenge (representations). GOV.UK says to explain your reasons in as much detail as you can and send copies of any evidence. The notice lists the legal grounds you can use; councils say you can also give compelling reasons why you should not have to pay.
• Sent by post (for example a camera recorded a parking, bus lane or moving traffic contravention): pay or make representations to the council within 28 days of it being served. If a camera recorded it, the discount lasts 21 days from the day the notice is served. In London, a bus lane or moving traffic PCN sent by post is half price for 14 days only. If it was posted because the officer was stopped from giving it or the car was driven away first, the discount lasts 14 days. The notice shows its own dates.
• A notice sent by post is normally treated as served on the second working day after the day it was posted.
• Notice of Rejection: if the council rejects your representations, you have 28 days from when the Notice of Rejection is served to pay or appeal to the independent tribunal (GOV.UK). The notice explains how to appeal.
• Which tribunal: London Tribunals for a PCN from a London council. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal for PCNs from councils and charging authorities in England outside London and in Wales, including parking, bus lane, moving traffic and Clean Air Zone penalties. Its adjudicators are independent lawyers, and the council and the motorist both have to accept the decision.
• Charge Certificate: if you do not pay or challenge in time, the council can send a Charge Certificate, which adds 50% to the charge. Councils say there is no right to challenge at that stage, and that an unpaid Charge Certificate can be registered as a debt at the county court and passed to enforcement agents. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal website has help for people who have a Charge Certificate, an Order for Recovery or a bailiff's letter.
• Councils say paying is treated as accepting the charge and closes the case, so decide whether to challenge before you pay.

Private parking tickets (Parking Charge Notices)

• A Parking Charge Notice is issued by a landowner or parking company on private land. It is not a council penalty.
• Appeal to the company first, using the details on the notice. Citizens Advice says not to pay a parking ticket you are appealing.
• If the company rejects your appeal and it is a British Parking Association member, appeal to POPLA (Parking on Private Land Appeals). POPLA needs the verification code the company sends with its rejection. Citizens Advice says you have 28 days from the rejection. For an International Parking Community member, appeal to the Independent Appeals Service; Citizens Advice says this is free within 21 days.
• POPLA says it is free, that the company must not chase you for payment while your appeal is with POPLA, and that its decision cannot be reviewed later, so send all your evidence with the appeal. If POPLA turns the appeal down, the company will expect payment, and POPLA says it may add charges or pass the case to debt collectors if you delay beyond 28 days.
• If you do not pay, the company can decide whether to take you to court (Citizens Advice). If you get a court claim, HMCTS says you must reply within 14 days of receiving it. If you need more time, send back the acknowledgment of service within 14 days: you then have 28 days from the date you received the court papers to send your defence. See the small claims guide.

When the registered keeper can be made to pay (England and Wales only)

• Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 lets a parking company recover an unpaid charge from the registered keeper, only if its conditions are met and the vehicle was not stolen.
• A ticket was put on the car or handed to the driver: the notice to keeper must be delivered in the 28 days that follow the first 28 days. Counting the day after the ticket was given as day 1, that is between day 29 and day 56.
• No ticket on the car (for example cameras recorded the car coming and going): the notice to keeper must be delivered within the period of 14 days beginning with the day after the parking ended.
• A notice sent by post is presumed delivered on the second working day after it was posted, unless the contrary is proved.
• The company cannot use this right until 28 days, beginning with the day the notice to keeper was given, have passed. It cannot recover more from the keeper than the amount stated in the notice to keeper.
• If the conditions are not met, the company cannot use Schedule 4 to make the keeper pay, but any other claim it has is not affected.

Clamping and towing on private land

• In England and Wales it is a criminal offence to clamp a vehicle, block it in or tow it away on private land without lawful authority. This has been the law since 1 October 2012.
• A sign saying drivers agree to be clamped or towed does not make it lawful.
• The exception is a fixed barrier that was already there when you parked, for example a car park barrier that is locked at closing time.
• A private parking company can still give you a Parking Charge Notice (see above).
• If your vehicle is clamped or towed on private land without lawful authority, you can report it to the police.

Parking companies' codes of practice

• To get the registered keeper's details from DVLA, a private parking company must be a member of an accredited trade association (the British Parking Association or the International Parking Community) and follow its code of practice.
• The government's own Private Parking Code of Practice was withdrawn on 7 June 2022, before it came into force. The government consulted on a new code from July to September 2025. A new code was laid before Parliament on 20 October 2026. It is not law yet: Parliament has 40 days to consider it, and it comes into force 21 days after it is issued (checked 9 November 2026).
• If you think the company did not follow its trade association's code, for example on signs, you can say so in your appeal.
• What the code says about grace periods, signs and charges: ask Citizens Advice.

Deadlines

• Council PCN at half price: payment received within 14 days, or within 21 days of service for a PCN posted after a camera recorded it (14 days for a London bus lane or moving traffic PCN).
• Council PCN stuck on the car or handed over: pay within 28 days beginning with the date of the contravention.
• Council PCN sent by post, or a Notice to Owner: pay or make representations within 28 days of it being served.
• Notice of Rejection: pay or appeal to the tribunal within 28 days of it being served.
• POPLA: 28 days from the company's rejection. Independent Appeals Service: free within 21 days (both from Citizens Advice).
• Private notice to keeper: day 29 to day 56 if there was a ticket on the car; otherwise within 14 days, starting the day after the parking ended.
• Court claim: reply within 14 days of receiving it.

Money figures

This guide gives no amounts. A council charge depends on the council and the contravention, and a private charge is set by the company; the amount is printed on the ticket. A Charge Certificate adds 50% to a council PCN.

Where to go for help

• London Tribunals (London council PCNs) or the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (the rest of England, and Wales): how to appeal is on your Notice of Rejection.
• POPLA or the Independent Appeals Service for a private ticket, after the company has rejected your appeal.
• Our free council PCN challenge letter.

Citizens Advice (England): 0800 144 8848

Citizens Advice (Wales): 0800 702 2020

Traps

• "PCN" can mean a council Penalty Charge Notice or a private Parking Charge Notice. Check who sent it before you rely on any deadline.
• The 14-day discount keeps running while the council looks at an informal challenge, unless the council agrees to hold it.
• Ignoring the Notice to Owner or the Notice of Rejection can mean losing the right to appeal and paying 50% more.
• Paying a council PCN is treated as accepting it and closes the case (council guidance).
• The keeper rules for private tickets are England and Wales only. They do not apply in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
• A police Fixed Penalty Notice is not a PCN and does not go to a parking tribunal.