If you want to, you can contact the Councils’ enforcement Contractor (Vinci Park UK), immediately after you receive the Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). This must be in writing and you should send any correspondence to:
The Parking Shop
6a Hemnall Street
Epping
CM16 4LW
You should aim to do this within 14 days of receiving the PCN if you want to preserve the right to pay at the discount rate.
Alternatively, you may visit The Parking Shop, 6a Hemnall Street, Epping CM16 4LW, between 9am and 5.30pm Monday to Friday, however you will still be required to submit your challenge in writing.
When writing, state your case clearly and simply. If you have evidence to support your claims (such as receipts or witness statements), attach these to your letter - it is recommended that you send only copies and retain the originals yourself.
Vinci Park UK will add the details of you challenge to the case held on the computer system, and pass the details of the challenge to EFDC council officers for consideration. The council will reply to your letter, either accepting or rejecting your challenge. If you have written within 14 days of receiving the PCN and your challenge is rejected, you will be offered a further period of 14 days (from the date of the rejection letter) to pay the penalty charge at the discounted rate.
If the Council reject your informal challenge, and you don’t pay the charge, the Council will send a Notice to Owner to the person or Company they believe to be the owner of the vehicle. By now, the full penalty charge will be payable.
This notice goes to the person believed to be the owner of the vehicle, because under the provisions of the Traffic Management Act 2004 it is the owner of the vehicle who is liable for any Penalty Charge Notices issued to it, irrespective of who the driver was. This is known as owner liability.
If you receive a Notice to Owner, you can use the form to make formal representations to the Council. The Notice to Owner form itself details the legal grounds on which a formal representation may be made. You must make your representations within 28 days of receiving the form. Again, state your case clearly and simply. If you have evidence to support your claims (such as receipts or witness statements), attach these to your letter. (It is recommended that you send only copies and retain the originals yourself).
If you don’t think you meet one of the legal grounds for making a representation, you may still state your case, since the Council may exercise discretion and cancel the PCN.
If the Council waives the Penalty Charge Notice, you will receive a letter informing you of this. If the Council decides that the PCN should not be waived, you will be sent a letter explaining why. This is called a Notice of Rejection of Representations. With this letter, you will receive a leaflet entitled ‘Your Right to Appeal against the Council’s Decision’ combined with a form called a ‘Notice of Appeal’, which must be completed to make an appeal to the Independent Parking Adjudicator. Alternatively you can pay the Penalty charge Notice and the matter will be closed.
If you decide to Appeal, the Notice of Appeal form must be completed and sent to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
On receipt of this form, some basic checks will be made and if everything is in order, it will be registered as a formal appeal.
As the term implies, in a postal appeal, the Adjudicator will consider the appeal based solely on written evidence you and the Council have supplied. A written decision will be sent to both parties, normally within a week of the case being decided.
Personal hearings normally last about 20 minutes and are held in premises independent of the Council. Details of the locations that you can choose from are included in the leaflet ‘Your Right to Appeal against the Council’s Decision.’
In common with most other legal proceedings, parking appeals are open to the public and, in theory anyone may attend as an observer, although this is rare. The Council may choose to send a representative although they may instead rely on their written submission alone.
Personal appeals are relatively informal in nature. Those attending are normally just the Adjudicator, the appellant and the Council representative. You will have the opportunity to put your case to the Adjudicator and to answer any questions he or she puts to you. Although those attending are not required to give their evidence under oath, all parties are reminded of their duty to tell the truth at all times. The hearing will normally be recorded.
You may choose to bring a relative or supporter with you to a personal appeal. Witnesses may also attend. Due to the informality of the proceedings, legal representation is seldom necessary.
At the end of the hearing, the Adjudicator will almost always give his or her decision. This decision is confirmed in writing to you and the Council, normally within seven days.
After the Adjudicator has made his or her decision, confirmation will be sent to the appellant and the Council.
If you win your appeal and your liability for the penalty charge is cancelled, this should be the end of the matter.
If you lose your appeal, you must pay the charge due to the Council within 28 days of the Adjudicator’s written decision. If you fail to do so, the Council will continue with enforcement proceedings (**) against you, to recover the outstanding sum due.
The Adjudicator has the power to consider an application for costs from either party. However, such instances are extremely rare and if costs are ever awarded, the sums involved are modest.
The grounds on which an Adjudicator’s decision may be challenged are limited. Simply feeling unhappy with the decision is not a ground for a challenge.
A review of the decision may be granted if, for example, it is believed that an Adjudicator may have wrongly interpreted or applied the law or if new evidence has come to light, the existence of which could not have been anticipated at the time of the original decision. Such instances are extremely rare and either party must apply for a review within 14 days of the Adjudicator’s decision.
The only other challenge to an Adjudicator’s decision would be by application for Judicial review in the High Court.
(**) The full enforcement process is covered on the internet web site for the Parking Adjudicator at: www.trafficpenaltytribunal.gov.uk (opens in a new window).
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