How Can I Challenge A Parking PCN With The Contravention Code 80?

This blog serves to answer the question “How Can I Challenge A Parking PCN With The Contravention Code 80? Whenever you decide to use a parking zone, it is important for you to ensure that the parking permit you purchase covers your entire duration to be spent there so that you don’t end up overstaying this period of time. As with any other Penalty Charge Notice it is imperative for you to attach evidence supporting your PCN challenge to prove the authenticity of your version of events.

How Can I Challenge A Parking PCN With The Contravention Code 80?

If you want to challenge a parking PCN with the contravention Code 80, you can either mention some genuine mitigating circumstances relating to a major health emergency which prevented you from returning to your vehicle to remove it from the (council or department for Infrastructure ) car park or clearly state that the traffic violation never happened. If you did not have a serious emergency, you should have a video clip of your vehicle’s stay inside the council or Department for Infrastructure car park, which should demonstrate the amount of time your vehicle stopped there.

You should remember to always follow the time limit on your pay and display ticket and preferably arrive 5 minutes or so before it expires to remove your vehicle from its designated parking spot. If you have been careless in doing so, it will demonstrate a lack of awareness of the enforced parking contravention and a disregard for traffic rules in place at council car parks.

The text of your PCN challenge will state that you did not overstay the time limit on your parking permit and you can attach a copy of the same alongwith a video clip showing your vehicle parked in its designated space for the specified time limit.

If you are sending in your PCN challenge by mail, you can attach photographs of the incident by converting the video clip into snapshots through a video editor. These stills which show the time stamp on the video when you removed your vehicle (and display our video leaving the spot) from the area can be printed out and mailed to your local council.

In many cases, PCNs are not enforceable and you may be able to win your case and avoid having to pay your fine.

You could begin the process by speaking to an online solicitor for as little as £5. 

Which Parking contravention codes can be enforced by Penalty Charge Notices?

The following are some of the Parking contravention codes can be enforced by Penalty Charge Notices:

• For a vehicle that has been parked in a prohibited street during prescribed hours. Vehicles are not allowed to park on yellow lines during prescribed hours except those driven by a blue badge holder (a person registered as disabled). Contravention Code 1

• For a vehicle that has been parked in a restricted street within 15 meters of a junction (on double yellow lines) Contravention Code 01x

• For a  vehicle that has been parked in violation of traffic cones in a street that has been closed off. Contravention Code 01P

• For a vehicle that has been parked in a resident’s parking zone without having a valid parking permit or a valid pay and display ticket.

• For a vehicle that has been parked in a resident’s parking zone (in the pay and display bay) following the expiry of a pay and display ticket. A pay and display ticket should be purchased for the entire duration of time you might have to park your vehicle in a particular spot. 

So if you might need to spend 20-30 minutes more you should probably choose a different parking ticket in the first place.

• For a vehicle that has been left parked in any pay and display bay not clearly showing the parking ticket. The pay and display ticket should be properly visible to the CEO or CCTV camera watching the parking bay. A 5 minute observation period will be granted to fix the situation before issuing the PCN

• For a vehicle that has been brought into and parked within the same parking bay within one hour or any other specified no return time limit (after leaving the parking area.)

• For a vehicle that has not been parked entirely inside the markings of a parking bay and with one full wheel shown to be beyond the correct limits of a parking zone space.

• For exceeding a vehicle parking ticket’s time limit by 10 minutes or more. Blue Badge or disabled parking holders are exempt from this rule

• For being parked in a disabled person’s reserved parking space without clearly showing a blue badge

• For a vehicle incorrectly parked in a mandatory cycle lane instead of being parked in a parking bay.

• For a vehicle that has been left parked on any portion of or inside a school keep clear marking.

• For a vehicle that has been left parked within a pedestrian zone. It also applies to a vehicle’s entry into a pedestrian zone, as vehicle entry is banned from these areas.

• For vehicles that have been left parked on any portion of the footpath located adjacent to a pedestrian crossing.

• For a vehicle that has failed to move out of a pedestrian crossing area in time or has been braked or brought to rest by a driver on a pedestrian crossing.

Why have I been charged a PCN with the contravention code 80?

You will be charged with a PCN with the contravention code 80, if your vehicle is observed (by CCTV camera of a Civil Enforcement Officer) as parked on single or double yellow lines in an off street location. This means it was left in a restricted (or prohibited) area and you have to prove that you did not commit the parking contravention.

It is advisable for you to be aware of the restricted parking areas inside car parks you use or in other off street parking locations in your area. This will be very useful for avoiding being served a PCN owing to carelessness, and will enable you to gather evidence for challenging a future Parking PCN with the contravention code 80

You need to have a video of your vehicle being correctly parked inside a car park and not violating any single or double yellow lines. This will be with you if you regularly make video clips of your vehicle using car parks and save these on your computer (classified by date and time). If you are unsure of a parking space’s status (being restricted or open), it is better to find out where it is safe to park your vehicle before stopping it at a certain location.

Can I submit a challenge to a PCN with the contravention code 80 on the council website?

Yes, you can challenge a PCN with the contravention code 80, on the council website. You need to access the online formal representation form on the council website by entering your PCN number and your Vehicle Registration Number. 

In some cases you have to enter your PCN Number and your Contravention Code Number which is 80 Some councils also require you to enter a Web Code mentioned on your Penalty Charge Notice to access your Penalty Charge Notice details.

You need to select a formal or informal representation option on the website depending on the kind of PCN you have received. An informal challenge is only required for a CCTV Bus Lane PCN or a Parking PCN served by a CEO which had to be delivered by post. 

So generally if your PCN has been sent by mail, you have to submit an informal representation on the council website or by email, before you can get a chance to register a formal representation. If you left the scene of the traffic violation without taking your Penalty Charge Notice or were charged by a CCTV camera, you need to register an informal representation first.

On some council websites you have to select the contravention code (mentioned on your PCN) from a list of options and then choose an acceptable reason for your appeal from another list, Here it is important to understand that this reason that is being chosen will also be the same reason you will mention in your written formal representation and you have to provide authentic evidence material for proving the grounds of your appeal as well.

It is advisable to prepare the contents of your PCN challenge by typing it into a word processor first and eliminating any reasons which cannot be supported by available evidence material or which do not conform to the established grounds for challenging the relevant contravention code. 

Once you have ensured that your explanation reinforces the evidence material you are going to upload with your formal representation, you can copy the text into the online formal representation form.

Evidence to use with your PCN challenge can be stored inside a folder on your computer by filming video clips of your road journeys in the council, which can be used to show how the traffic contravention never happened. Other evidence files in picture formats or pdf, doc formats can also be saved in separate folders for easy access.

You never know when you might be handed a PCN so it is essential to always be prepared with evidence from your vehicle’s journeys in the parking zones of the council. It will be difficult for you to suddenly come up with evidence to use with a PCN challenge within 28 days and all this information would be lost unless you actively donate some time and effort into collecting and preserving evidence material..

Can I also challenge the Parking PCN with the contravention code 80 by mail?

The second method for challenging your PCN which is available in most councils is by using the postal service. You can write your formal representation on the last page of your Notice to Owner document or in a printed downloadable form (in some cases) and send it by mail to the council’s address.

You must remember to attach evidence material with your letter in this case as it is an essential component of your formal representation. Photographs from the traffic violation scene filmed by a passenger travelling with you, medical certificates to explain your mitigating circumstances such as a serious health condition or a pay and display ticket (for challenging a Parking PCN) can be placed inside a small transparent file or stapled to your Notice to Owner Document. 

You can mention a checklist of your evidence material at the end of your PCN challenge to ensure that no item escapes the attention of the parking officer judging your case. Another important point to remember when sending in your PCN challenge by mail is that first class mail takes 1 to 2 days to deliver your formal representation to the council and second class mail takes between 3 to 5 days. So you need to send in your appeal by the 22nd day after receiving your PCN, at the latest.

This formal representation can also first be typed into a word processing software such as MS word to remove any unclear sentences or reasons which display a lack of awareness of the contravention code, as all such grounds for a PCN challenge will be rejected. You can write down the same sentences on paper once you have matched the text of your formal representation with your available evidence material and clearly explained the cause and effect relationship between any mitigating circumstances which led to the traffic violation.

Can I further challenge a Parking PCN with the London Tribunals if my appeal is dismissed by my local council (inside London)?

If you have received a Parking PCN from a council of a local London Authority or by Transport for London, you can dispute your Notice of Rejection of Representations (from the Council) with the London Tribunals. 

Your Notice of Rejection of Representations has a form attached to it which needs to be completed.and posted to the London Tribunals. What you will write on the form will be the text of your appeal to the Notice of Rejection served by your council and needs to be carefully composed by mentioning your mitigating circumstances which led to the traffic violation or by stating how you think the traffic restriction was never breached. 

The contents of your appeal to the London Tribunals need to be based around evidence material as the London Tribunals is rejudging a case decided by your local council and will be provided by strong evidence from them to contest the trial.

Regardless of whichever council (local London Authority)you have recieved a Parking PCN from, you need to send the completed form to the following address (and ensure that you allow upto 2 days for first class mail to deliver your challenge and upto 5 days for second class mail) :

London Tribunals,

PO Box 10598,

Nottingham,

NG6 6DR

If you would prefer a quicker way to send in your challenge to the London Tribunals you can visit the London Tribunals Website. You can also choose to dispute the “Notice of Rejection” from your council with the London Tribunals online by clicking on the “Access the Appellants Portal” button on this webpage. 

All you will be required to do is simply enter your Vehicle Registration Number, PCN number, and the reference number or code from your “Notice of Rejection of Representations” letter. Evidence to be uploaded here can be different from the evidence material you have used to support the formal representation sent to your local council but the evidence needs to be properly matched with the case you have argued in your appeal to the London Tribunals.

 For your PCN with the contravention code 80, You might have some special circumstances to explain your situation too but they are unlikely to be accepted as you are supposed to be aware of the time limit mentioned on your parking permit (and that is also your permitted entitlement for parking in the designated space).

 Either way, solid evidence relating to your traffic violation has to be ready to send to the London Tribunals which refutes the case put forward by your council.

 The London Tribunals is an independent adjudicating authority and it impartially considers the case put forward by your council and your version of the events at the traffic violation scene. So if you have some crucial evidence that shows something new which escaped the knowledge of the council or the CCTV camera monitoring the traffic violation scene, the London Tribunals will consider these details to be true.

Can I further dispute a Parking PCN with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal if my local council (outside London) has dismissed my challenge?

A Parking PCN served from a local authority outside London can further be disputed with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal is responsible for addressing challenges to Notices of Rejections of Representations from councils in England (outside London) and in Wales.

The Traffic Penalty Tribunal website requires you to enter details given on your Notice of Rejection of Representations, after opening this webpage. Once you have entered these details, you can click on “Next” to access the Traffic Penalty Tribunal PCN challenge portal. Before you can access this challenge portal, you need to click on “Start Your Appeal Here” on this webpage and “Submit and Appeal To The Traffic Penalty Tribunal Now” on this webpage. If you access the Traffic Penalty Tribunal’s main webpage, you need to first select the kind of PCN for which you have received a Notice of Rejection from your council. 

In this case with the PCN contravention code 80, your Penalty Charge Notice is a Parking PCN. After this you will be redirected to the webpage where you have to select England (outside London). Once you click on England (outside London), you will be led to this webpage where you need to click on “Submit Your Appeal To The Traffic Penalty Tribunal Now”

You can watch this instructional video here to learn about your challenge process.  The Traffic Penalty Tribunal requires you to create an email address unless you already have one to dispute your council’s Notice of Rejection of Representations on its website. It is important for you to submit your challenge on the Traffic Penalty Tribunal Website within 28 days of being sent your Notice of Rejection to your Parking PCN..

Conclusion

This blog post addressed the question “How Can I Challenge A Parking PCN With The Contravention Code 80?”