Formal representation
If you don't pay your parking ticket within 28 days, or we have rejected your informal challenge and you have still not paid the parking ticket, the owner of the vehicle will receive a document called a Notice to Owner.
This document is sent to the person believed to be the owner of the vehicle.
The Notice to Owner document will tell you that there is a further 28 days to either pay the full outstanding balance or make a formal representation to us.
Legal grounds for making a formal representation
There are 10 legal grounds that you can put in a formal representation for. These are:
- The alleged contravention did not occur
- I was not the owner of the vehicle at the time of the alleged contravention
- The vehicle was parked by a person who was in control of the vehicle without my consent
- We are a hire firm and the person hiring the vehicle has signed a statement accepting liability
- The penalty charge exceeded the amount applicable in the circumstance of the case
- The Civil Enforcement Officer was not prevented from serving the parking ticket
- The relevant designation order was invalid
- There has been a procedural impropriety
- The PCN was paid, either in full or at the discounted rate within the discounted period
- There are mitigating circumstances in my case which I wish you to consider
How to submit a formal representation
If you wish to submit a formal representation you must do so in writing within 28 days of receiving the Notice to Owner. The easiest way to do this is using our online challenge system.
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If you do not supply evidence to support your claim (e.g. a disabled badge holder not providing a copy of your badge, reporting a vehicle breakdown without evidence of breakdown or claiming to be loading/unloading but not providing delivery notes/receipts/invoices to prove this), your appeal will be rejected.
What happens next?
Once your appeal has been received, we will consider your formal representation and we'll write to you when a decision has been made. You'll get the decision via first class post.
If we accept your representations we will cancel the parking ticket and you will receive a letter confirming this.
If we decide the parking ticket shouldn't be cancelled, you will be sent a letter explaining why.
This is called a Notice of Rejection of Representations.
You will then have a further 28 days to either pay the charge or appeal to an independent parking adjudicator. An application form will be enclosed with the Notice of Rejection of Representations in order for you to do so.
If you fail to pay or appeal to the independent parking adjudicator, a Charge Certificate will be issued increasing the fine by 50% and giving you 14 days to pay the charge in full. There is no further right to appeal at this stage.
If payment is still not made, the unpaid Charge Certificate will be registered as a debt with the Traffic Enforcement Centre (Northampton County Court) and a sum to cover the Court costs will be applied to the outstanding balance at this stage. An Order for Recovery will be posted as notification. If the debt is not paid or a witness statement filed within 21 days, we will apply to the Court for a Warrant of Execution, which gives us the power to recover the unpaid amount using bailiffs which will result in additional costs from bailiff fees.