HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY APPEAL A PARKING TICKET
Parking tickets are a nuisance. Some are issued fairly and many are not.
You need to prove your case on the balance of probabilities and beyond reasonable doubt to successfully appeal a parking ticket.
Motorists have been hit with more than 11m private parking tickets over the past 12 months.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A COUNCIL PARKING TICKET AND A PRIVATE PARKING TICKET?
Private parking tickets are called Parking Charge Notices (PCNs) and are invoices for a breach of contract on private land.
These invoices are deliberately designed to look like an official Council issued Penalty Charge Notice. Private parking operators use legalese jargon to intimidate and force you to pay an invoice for an alleged breach of contract.
A private parking operator cannot fine you. A private parking operator must belong to an accredited Trade Association to access keeper details from the DVLA. They must adhere to the Trade Association’s Code of Practice to do so.
Council parking tickets are called Penalty Charge Notices. These are legally enforceable and are fines issued by local authorities for infringements on public highways.
REASONS TO APPEAL A PARKING TICKET
Local authorities and private parking operators rarely do anything right or by the book. Evidence is key on all appeals. It is therefore important that you keep all receipts, photos, screenshots of a payment confirmation and any evidence you have to support an appeal.
The most popular appeal relates to obscure and hidden signs. All signs need to be clearly visible and to a prescribed criteria so you can make an informed decision. It cannot be said that you were given sufficient guidance to make an informed decision if this is the case.
Illegal signs = illegal fines.
PARKING TICKET APPEAL TEMPLATE LETTER
The template to contest a Penalty Charge Notice (council parking fine) in the UK is as follows (amend to suit):
Dear Sir/Madam
Subject: Penalty Charge Notice/Fixed Penalty Notice [delete as applicable] [reference details] [date]
I write to you in respect of the above Penalty Charge Notice issued to my vehicle which was issued for the alleged reason (description).
I wish to appeal it as the contravention did not occur for the following reasons:
(List reasons)
All signs need to be clearly visible and to a prescribed criteria so motorists can make an informed decision. If a sign is obscured and unclear, it cannot be said that the car park / road was adequately signed. I therefore cannot be found guilty of the alleged contravention.
I request that your authority therefore provide me with details of:
The Traffic Parking Tribunal (England and Wales)
PATAS (London)
NI Traffic Penalty Tribunal (Northern Ireland)
Scottish Parking Appeals Service (Scotland)
I enclose photos and supporting evidence to support my appeal for consideration.
I look forward to receiving confirmation that the ticket has been cancelled within 28 days.
Yours faithfully
PLEASE NOTE THIS TEMPLATE ONLY APPLIES TO COUNCIL ISSUED PENALTY CHARGE NOTICES WHICH ARE PARKING FINES.
THIS TEMPLATE DOES NOT WORK FOR PRIVATE PARKING TICKETS (PARKING CHARGE NOTICES), WHICH ARE INVOICES FOR AN ALLEGED BREACH OF CONTRACT FOR PARKING ON PRIVATE LAND – THESE ARE NOT PARKING FINES.
MY ONLINE SHOP IS NOW OPEN.
I have up to 20 different private parking ticket appeal letter templates with advice included which is tried and tested.
I have you covered on virtually every scenario you can think of.
You don’t have to look for any legalese wording as I have done all the hard work for you – all you have to do is put your name and address in the template.
HOW YOU CAN SAVE MONEY AND APPEAL UNFAIR PARKING TICKETS AND WIN POTHOLE CLAIMS
Have you been hit with a parking ticket that was unfair? Hit a pothole and don’t know where to start with a claim? A pothole claim can cost hundreds of pounds in damage and repairs to your vehicle.
You have a 1 in 4 chance of being hit with a parking ticket.
The average cost of a private parking ticket is £100 discounted to £60 if paid within 14 days.
You may never need to pay it at all. Few people contest a parking ticket, but more than half of appeals succeed. Here is how to fight one.
Here are a few reviews of my book that can be downloaded to read on any device for £6.99 / paperback £8.99
More tips, advice and other template letters to successfully appeal a parking ticket and win pothole claims are in my latest book How to Complain: The Consumer Guide to Cancelling Parking Tickets and Winning Pothole Claims.
It’s time for you to fight back. Knowledge is power – use it.
Hi
I have 2 tickets one is penalty charge and second one is parking both
Has been tasted on 13/05 /24.
I went away from16/05/24
Until 20/07/24
And don’t know what to do
Hi Andy,
I am really depressed. I have paid already £1000s in unfair fines on my vehicles.
The most recent one is:
Letter of Claim of £170 through DCBLegal LTD by UK Parking Control Limited for an allegation of offense in mid December last year. I had my vehicle break down and it was in the bay. I had to hire a towing company to deliver it to the mechanic. I dont know if I was issued a PCN BUT all I know is that I have received a Letter of Claim asking for a swooshing £170.
Oops made an error.
Our notification has Penalty Charge Notice printed on it.
Hi,
Newbie here.
We received a DART Penalty Charge notice dated 4 April 2024, for a journey we made on 13th January 2024.
We made out outward journey via the A282, as the Blackwall Tunnel was closed.
We crossed at 13.33, and saw no signs.
We returned the same day at 18.31, using the same route, again seeing no signs.
We note your statement that, only councils can issue “Penalty Charge Notices”, and that private companies can issue “Parking Charge Notices”
Our notification clearly has “Parking Charge Notice” printed on it. It also has a DfT logo on it.
Operated by Emovis Operations Limited, on behalf of The SoS………
Would this be a grounds for appeal?
We want to appeal the Charge, on the basis we made the journey on the same day, and we didn’t see any signs, either way
I can try and post the notification if that helps?
I just have to work out how to do it.
Thanks
Hi,
I have a business in a multi-occupancy building owned by the council and managed by a managing agent. The managing agents have just engaged PremierPark to oversee the parking.
I have 3 spaces assigned to me on the lease, but they are almost always occupied by cars from other businesses in the same building. or cars from the nearby block of flats, or in one particular instance, an abandoned vehicle.
I have now received 2 PCNs for parking in other spaces in the same car park.
I had half expected that Premier would pull a stunt like this, but I made 2 mistakes:
1) When I asked another occupant to vacate my parking space, he said he was in the same position, and that he had spoken to the managing agents who assured him that for the moment, it was OK to park in any of the spaces assigned to our building. I believed him.
2) That if PCNs were going to be issued, it would be obvious from the yellow notices appearing on windscreens. Unfortunately, that was not the case, and as a result I have so far received 2 PCNs one of which has photographic evidence from 1/12/23, but received through the post 8/12/23, so I am expecting a sheaf of further PCNs which I will know nothing about until they arrive.
There are always spaces available in the car park so apart from general ill feeling that is generated, no one has been unable to park. I am assuming that I am not alone in this predicament and given that each PCN that I receive also means another 3 are issued to other drivers, I can’t help feeling that this is a very dubious practice, and wonder if you have any thoughts on how to deal with the situation.
I received a PCN from Islington Council after a breakdown on my motorcycle due to very low pressure in the back tyre. The extremely busy road had a bus lane and double red lines, so I slowly turned into a side road and pulled over. A quick check found a screw in the tyre. It was 22 degrees Celcius, I had full one piece leathers, gloves, boots, a crash helmet and a rucksack, plus a 200-kilo bike. To make things worse the whole road was for permit holders only and the vehicles parked were literally bumper to bumper. If I had managed to squeeze my bike between them, there would be no room for manoeuvre and effectively blocking them in. I moved the bike about 30 metres and had beads of sweat over my entire body. So much so my leathers were stuck to my skin and would not allow me to lift my leg over the bike to sit on it and take some rest. There were some small trees on the pavement which still left enough room for mobility scooters and parents with prams to easily pass . My bike was narrow enough to park on the edge of the pavement and leave a wider gap than the trees to pass by. And this can be clearly seen in the pictures they provided. And if I parked by the front and back of two cars, I was not obstructing anyone from opening their doors. At this point, I was overheating and dehydrated and knew there was a ten min walk to McDonald’s where there would be air conditioning and I could rehydrate. I did everything in my power as far as obstructing vehicles and pedestrians. It was the safest and most considerate of options I had at the time. I knew there was a very strong possibility that on my return there would be a parking ticket on my bike but after reading my appeal they would be more than happy with my reasons. I also sent them pictures of the said screw and you can clearly see by the wear marks on the tyre, it had been ridden on and massively underinflated at the time.
This was their reply.
We have noted your comments in your appeal of the above PCN that you had a flat back tyre and felt you had no option but to park on the pavement in order to reduce obstruction to pedestrians and road users. Having reviewed the images taken at the time the PCN was issued, it does not appear that your vehicle had a flat tyre at that time. Parking on the pavement is strictly prohibited as it can cause an obstruction to pedestrians especially those with mobility issues or those with a pram. In addition the pavement is not designed to take the weight of a vehicle and the damage caused can be costly to repair and cause further obstruction to pedestrians and road users. In the event of a fault with your vehicle you would be expected to park in a valid bay and remain with the vehicle, or pay for parking if you intend to leave the vehicle unattended. Based on the information available we are satisfied that the contravention occurred and the PCN was issued correctly.
I do feel I have been treated unfairly and penalised for a breakdown that could not of been predicted.
I received a PCN notice from Bristol Council last month and I paid the discounted amount of £60.00 Straight away. The only problem I didn’t notice that I had to pay an extra £9.00 for the Clean Air Zone. As far as I was concerned I had paid the council in time, but because this £9.00 I missed I got another letter last Friday saying “As the penalty charge in respect of this contravention was £120 Plus the CAZ charge of £ .0. To date £60 has been received. As the penalty charge and CAZ charge has not been been paid within the relevant period, therefore the penalty charge in question is now increased by 50% to £180.00 an the outstanding amount show above (which is £129) is now due. How is that possible. I have already paid £60, if anything it should be £69 rather than £129.00. It was an oversight for not reading the letter carefully, which I can admit to, but to increase the fee is just ridiculous. I wouldn’t pay £60 and avoid paying £9.00. Any help or advice will be much appreciated.
Many thanks
Zak
I received a ticket from Euro Car parks for parking in Sainsbury’s. I appealed but they returned saying simply ‘we’ve decided to reject’ etc. The issue I have is that because I appealed I can no longer pay the reduced charge (£50) from the original fine (£85)! Is this fair & legal? Thanks for any help.
Hi
DCBL REFERENCE NUMBER: 4457074
DATE OF CONTRAVENTION: 15/11/2022
PARKING NOTICE CHARGE: 611199
VEHICLE REGISTRATION: HX15MXJ
CLIENT: PARKMAVEN LIMITED
LOCATION: BICKENHILL PARKWAY (HOLIDAY INN)
REASON FOR CONTRAVENTION: NO VALID PARKING
I want to appeal my PCN however I’m not sure how to proceed with this. First things first, I received a letter from DCBL claiming for immediate payment of £170 for an unpaid parking charge. In respect of the letter where it was alleged that I have an unpaid parking charge, please note the following:
Prior to my letter, I had not received any letter to my current address relating to parking charges for which I was living from the 5th December 2023 and I can confirm that in the 4 weeks prior to this, I was living in hotels and again received no notification of any charge at my previous home.
I have emailed both Parkmaven Management and DCBL (Baliffs) of this along with the evidence of proof of payment and both have stated that this falls outside of the appeals timeframe and that I must pay the charge or the matter may go to court. How should I proceed with this? I am really worried.
Kind regards,
Patrice
Only Sent 3 Final Reminders for 3 days on training from Euro Parking Services, Birmingham.
I was officially on training through my Company. in Birmingham
i was told (Free parking available. Limited Parking)
The training provider stated free parking is available
I was not made aware of Parking restrictions,
Or that I had to give my car Registration to be exempt from the any parking Charges.
Then, more than a month later, I received 3 separate Final Reminders Letters.
I did not receive any initial letters at all, only 3 Final Reminders.
Point 1 – Did not receive any parking charge notice.
Point 2 – I did NOT receive the 1st initial letter for parking charge to my address.
Point 3 – I did NOT receive the 2nd reminder letter for parking charge to my address.
Point 4 – Not given a fair opportunity, to appeal.
I was told to do this: Send a letter requesting for original parking charges to be resend, so a fair opportunity to appeal is given.
is this correct?
Hi Scott
I’m in the process of appealing against a PCN + the subsequent towing away of my car whilst it was broken down with a flat tyre and waited AA recovery service on Xma day (2022) I have all my backing up evidence just need a bit of support in constructing my appeal letter. Thanks
This is the latest feedback from someone who won a copy of my book in my recent giveaway – that was a lucky win!
Hi Scott, I wish idfound you sooner. My car broke down with a flat tyre.
I was very surprised to receive PCN so I appealed with evidence, screen shots of calls to garage, payment for tyres and even a witness statement from the member of public who helped me. Luckily I’d got her details as I’d sent her a gift for her kindness. She helped me fix it and I was with my vehicle at all times. They rejected my appeal and now I have a legal company chasing me and they’ve increased the charge of £160! Should I use the template or wait for the Court to decide?