How to Check Penalty Charge Notice

Did you receive a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) and not sure what to do next? Don’t worry. This guide is here to help you. Every month, more than 130,000 people use our website to learn about fines and parking tickets. Believe it or not, Churchill Motor Insurance reports that in 2022, UK councils issued an average of 19,631 daily parking fines, a 12% increase from the previous year.¹

We know that receiving a PCN can be quite upsetting and tricky. So, in this guide, we’ll help you to:

Understand what a PCN is and why you might have one.
Learn if you have to pay it at once.
Know how to challenge the charge if you feel it’s not right.
Find out situations where you might not need to pay.
Discover what could happen if you decide not to pay.

We’ve been in your shoes before, and we are here to assist you. Let’s help you understand the details…

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How Can You Check Your PCN?

Most local authorities provide an online portal for paying, appealing against, or checking the status of a PCN.

The link that follows takes you to the Transport for London website, and shows the initial portal page, where you have to enter your PCN number and vehicle registration to find the PCN.

This is typical of how these portals work, regardless of which one you have to use, depending on the local authority that issued the PCN.

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Penalty Charge Notice vs private parking fine

As previously mentioned, a Penalty Charge Notice is not the same as a private parking fine (Parking Charge Notice).

Penalty Charge Notices are covered by UK law whereas a Parking Charge Notice is an invoice which is only enforceable when a court order to pay is issued.

Check the right challenge process

Check whether you need to make an informal challenge, formal representations or an independent tribunal appeal. Follow the route and deadline printed on your notice. London cases generally go to London Tribunals; relevant cases in England outside London and Wales go to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. Other UK jurisdictions have different procedures.

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General information. The procedure depends on the notice and jurisdiction. Check the issuer’s instructions.

What To Check on Your Parking Fine

If you can check the penalty charge notice you have been issued using an online portal, but there are a few pieces of information you need to look at.

We have listed these below.

The date the PCN was issued. This is a very important date, as this is the date from which payment time limits run from.
Your name, address and contact details. This is important, as if a mistake has been made, this may mean you miss important communications from the council related to the PCN.
Details of the offence the PCN was issued for. Based on this information, you can work out whether you were actually guilty of the offence or not, or if the PCN has been issued wrongfully.

This is the basic information you need to check.

However, depending on any action you have already taken, you might need to check more info, as I have explained below.

Has payment cleared? – if you recently paid the PCN, you can check to see whether payment has been received.
The status of an appeal – if you are currently going through the informal appeal process, you can check to see the status of the appeal. I’ve prepared the following table to help you understand what stage of the appeal process you’re int.

When	Action
On receiving a council PCN	Read the notice, keep it, gather evidence and note all payment and challenge deadlines.
Windscreen or handed-to-driver PCN	An informal challenge may be available before the Notice to Owner. Early challenge can preserve a discount under the authority’s policy; 14 days is not a universal final appeal deadline.
Postal PCN or Notice to Owner	Normally make formal representations within 28 days as stated on the notice. Do not assume there is an extra informal stage.
Representations rejected	The Notice of Rejection explains how to appeal to the appropriate independent tribunal, normally within 28 days.
Appeal unsuccessful	Pay by the deadline given in the decision or obtain advice on any available review. Further statutory charges can follow if you do neither.
Other ticket type	Private parking charges and FPNs use different procedures; follow the actual notice.

Further guidance: Traffic Penalty Tribunal; Citizens Advice.

How Do You Check if It Has Been Paid?

If you have paid a PCN online, you should have received an instant notification that payment has been accepted, as your payment card will have been processed by the payment gateway.

But if you paid by phone, or sent a cheque by post, you might want to check to see whether the PCN has been paid.

You can do this by logging in to the online portal, and checking whether there is still a payment request pending.

If there is, your payment has not yet been received or processed.

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What if a Paid PCN Shows As Not Paid?

If you pay by phone, the payment may not appear against the PCN until the next working day.

In general, these are automated phone services that simply collect payment information.

Payments then need to be processed at some later stage.

If you pay by post, it could take some days for the payment to actually arrive. The council will wait for the cheque to clear before applying the payment against the PCN.

You could be looking at as long as 10-days for a payment to show up.

What Should You Do if the Details of Your Parking Charge Notice Are Wrong?

The answer to this question depends on exactly what the problem is with the PCN.

If the wrong details are basic problems such as your name or address being misspelt, or a date being slightly wrong, you don’t need to worry about this.

However, if details about the offence that the PCN was issued for are incorrect, or simply not true, then you need to take further action.

We explain the appeal process in the next section.

How do you contact your local council?

You can contact your local council by visiting the government website which provides an option to ‘find your local council’.

You can retrieve information regarding a Penalty Charge Notice by contacting the council that issued it.

It Pays to Double Check

If you are issued a PCN for any reason, it simply makes sense to check all of the details are correct, to head off any problems further down the line.

You may also find that you have been issued the PCN for an offence you didn’t commit when you check it.

Before using a paid legal information service

A paid service is optional. Gather your notice and evidence, check the deadline and decide whether you need professional advice about your circumstances.

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