Grounds for disputing a penalty charge notice

Before making an informal challenge or formal representation, you need to be sure you have valid reasons to dispute your penalty charge notice (PCN).

The Traffic Management Act 2004 gives statutory grounds or specific reasons to choose to dispute your PCN. If none of them apply, we may consider mitigating circumstances on a case by case basis.

Please choose the most appropriate grounds for the type of PCN you have received.

To dispute your PCN, see dispute your PCN.

Please explain your reasons fully and clearly and provide evidence, such as documents and photographs wherever possible.

Grounds to dispute a parking PCN

A parking PCN can be issued to you by a civil enforcement officer (CEO):

  • by being fixed to the vehicle
  • by being handed to the person in charge of the vehicle

A parking PCN can also be sent to you by post if the PCN was issued:

  • by CCTV
  • by the CEO but they were prevented from fixing the PCN to the vehicle
  • by the CEO but the vehicle was driven away before they could fix the PCN to it

These are the grounds for disputing a PCN:

Grounds to dispute a CCTV bus lane PCN

Grounds to dispute a moving traffic PCN

Understanding your PCN options

We have created an interactive guide to help you understand your options at each stage of the Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) life cycle, so you can make an informed decision on what to do next, visit Understanding your penalty charge notice (PCN).

Frequently asked questions about penalty charge notices

Visit penalty charge notice FAQs.

Page updated on: 6 December 2023

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