How Much Is A PCN Parking Fine?

This blog serves to answer the question “How Much Is A PCN Parking Fine?” A PCN Parking fine is just £70 (or £130) for a higher level parking violation and £50 (or £80) for a lower level parking violation. It is also important for you to remember the list of parking violations which lead to a lower level and higher level PCN, which are also mentioned in this blog.

How Much Is A PCN Parking Fine?

A PCN Parking fine is £70 for a higher level offense and £50 for a lower level offense, for councils outside London. For London Borough Councils a parking fine is set at £130 for a higher level offense and at £80 for a lower level offense.

You need to understand that this parking fine value can also be reduced to £0 if you successfully challenge your PCN or be raised to £105 or £195, if you fail to pay the original amount within 28 days.

 A higher level parking PCN (£130 or £70 worth) is charged for committing a higher level parking offense which can include parking your vehicle in a space or car park not intended for that kind of vehicle. It could also be charged for stopping your vehicle on a crossing area marked by zig zags, or for parking your vehicle completely or partially on a cycle track.

You can also be charged a higher level parking PCN for parking your vehicle in an area meant for police vehicles and also for parking your vehicle in an electric vehicle’s charging space during restricted hours, without charging. A higher level parking PCN can be charged to your vehicle for being parked on a taxi rank.

So you need to make sure that you don’t end up with a higher level parking PCN, that corresponds to these offenses. Higher level parking PCNs are also harder to challenge than lower level parking PCNs.

What are the different types of higher level PCN fines?

You can see the different types of higher level PCN fines mentioned below:

• Your vehicle was parked in a restricted street during its operational hours.

• You left your vehicle parked in a residential parking bay without displaying a pay and display ticket.

• Your vehicle stopped on a taxi rank or parked there.

• Your parked vehicle was blocking traffic in the area.

• Your vehicle was parked with one or more of its wheels positioned over a footpath.

• Your vehicle was parked in a parking zone reserved for blue badge holders or police vehicles.

• Your vehicle exceeded the permitted height or length of the vehicle that can be parked in the parking zone.

• Your vehicle has failed to follow a restriction order for vehicles entering a pedestrian only zone.

• Your vehicle was left parked at an electric vehicles parking space during its operational hours without charging.

• Your vehicle was left parked adjacent to a dropped footway

• Your vehicle was stopped at a restricted area outside a school

• Your vehicle was left parked in a restricted area in a car park

• Your vehicle was stopped on a pedestrian crossing

• Your vehicle was parked in a parking space designated for police or for diplomatic vehicles only.

What are the different types of lower level PCN fines?

The different types of lower level PCN fines are listed below:

• Your vehicle was parked again in the same parking zone within one hour of leaving the zone.

• Your vehicle was parked with its engine on, in a parking zone where this is prohibited.

• Your vehicle was not parked within the correct markings of a parking bay or parking space and a full wheel of your vehicle was outside its allocated parking space.

• Your vehicle was still parked in a parking zone when its indicated time limit had expired.

• Your vehicle was parked in a disc parking space without clearly displaying the parking disc.

• Your vehicle was parked in a paid parking zone without any pay and display ticket.

• A vehicle which was left parked within an electric vehicle’s charging space without being charged (in restricted hours)

• A vehicle parked without paying the required parking charge.  (with a 10-minute observation time)

• A vehicle left parked in a parking space for a duration longer than that allowed by the car park.  (with a 10-minute observation time)

• A vehicle parked after the expiry of the time limit mentioned on the parking permit or pay and display ticket (with a 10-minute observation time)

• A vehicle parked in a car park without clearly showing the parking permit or pay and display ticket on its windscreen  (with a 10-minute observation time)

• .A vehicle parked in a car park with payment made to extend(parking) beyond the original time limit first paid for. You can only buy parking for your vehicle once when you bring your vehicle to the car park and this amount (time duration) should be enough for your visit.

• A vehicle that is shown not to be clearly parked within its designated parking space.

• .A vehicle that has been reparked within the same car park within one hour of leaving the zone

• A vehicle has been left parked inside a car park, while the car park was closed.

• . A vehicle that has been left parked inside a pay-and-display car park without properly displaying 2 pay and display tickets where required.

• .A vehicle that has been left parked within a parking zone for a different purpose than that which the car park is meant for.

• A vehicle that has been left parked in a car park with its engine on (where prohibited)

Can I submit a challenge to a Parking PCN on the council website?

Yes, you can challenge a parking PCN, 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. 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 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.

What will happen if I don’t pay my Parking PCN within the 28-day limit?

You should not ignore traffic contraventions or the Penalty Charge Notices resulting from them or cultivate a careless attitude towards driving in your local Council. As per your driving license rules, you are bound to abide by Parking, Bus Lane, and Moving Traffic contravention codes in your Council.

If you neither pay your Parking PCN within 28 days nor decide to appeal against it, you will be sent a charge certificate from the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. The charge certificate increases your PCN fine by 50%, which means you will be paying £105 (or £75) now. You should pay the charge certificate within 14 days as it cannot be appealed and ignoring the charge certificate may result in the filing of a court order (for recovery of debts) against you by your local council.

You will be sent a “Notice of Debt Registration” and a witness certificate from the Traffic Penalty Tribunal if you don’t pay the charge certificate amount within 14 days. The unpaid amount will be treated as a debt with the Traffic Enforcement Centre at the Northampton County Court.

The court order for debt recovery enforces that the charge certificate amount must be paid in full within 21 days or the county court will have to use additional powers to recover the money from your possession which means employing Enforcement Agents to (contact you or) visit your personal premises.

Conclusion

This blog post addressed the question “How Much Is A PCN Parking Fine?” A PCN parking fine is just £70 or £50 but what matters is your effort which can be put into challenging a PCN successfully to get it cancelled (and thus down to £0). If your parking PCN challenge fails, you can further contest your “Notice of Rejection” with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, the London Tribunals or POPLA (for private car park PCNs).