How to appeal against a Penalty Charge Notice

If you believe that the Penalty Charge Notice was wrongly served and should not be paid, you should challenge it.

If we receive a written or e-mailed challenge no later than the last day of the period of 28 days beginning with the date on which the Penalty Charge Notice is served we will put your case on hold. The Parking Services team will consider all matters raised by a challenge which is received before a Notice to Owner (see below) is issued.

If you challenge the PCN within 14 days and the challenge is rejected, the Parking Services Team will generally extend the period within which the reduced payment may be paid.

At this stage these are known as informal challenges. There are several ways to informally challenge a Penalty Charge Notice.

You can write to us at:

Parking Services
Transport and Highways
Gateshead Council
Civic Centre
Regent Street
Gateshead
NE8 1HH.

Or you can send a FAX to 0191 4333976

Or you can submit your challenge online by e-mailing ParkingandRegulation@gateshead.gov.uk|

Please quote the Penalty Charge Number on all correspondence (this can be found on the front of the Penalty Charge Notice and commences GH*******)

Please note that the Parking Services staff are happy to clarify the policy and procedures relating to the operation of Civil Parking Enforcement. We cannot however consider informal challenges received on the telephone.

All informal challenge's received in writing will be responded to in writing within a timely fashion. If the challenge is rejected, the discount period is re-set for a further 14 days from the date of the rejection correspondence (provided your challenge is received within 14 days beginning with the date on which the Penalty Charge Notice is served). There will be no such opportunity where a challenge is received after 14 days from the Penalty Charge Notice is served.

The Parking Services team investigate, consider and answer any challenges made about a Penalty Charge Notice, once it has been served. They are highly trained and operate within well-defined guidelines; they consider each challenge on it's own merits and are able to exercise discretionary powers in certain circumstances. They may cancel a Penalty Charge Notice where they consider it was wrongly served or where they are satisfied that an exempt activity was taking place that wasn't observed by the Civil Enforcement Officer, such as loading/unloading-where permitted.

They also exercise discretion and may cancel a Penalty Charge Notice where there are acceptable mitigating circumstances such as a genuine medical emergency or an unforeseen and unavoidable vehicle breakdown.

They will however only consider one informal challenge per Penalty Charge Notice and only reset the discount period once. If you disagree with the response to the challenge you have the opportunity to make a further formal challenge following receipt of the Notice to Owner.

A Notice to Owner will be sent to the registered keeper of the vehicle 28 days after the date the Penalty Charge Notice was served. The Council obtains the details of the registered keeper from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).

Do not ignore this Notice. Either make a Representation (formal challenge) or pay the outstanding charge.

Representations should be made not later than the last day of the period of 28 days beginning with the date on which the Notice to Owner is served and any representations, which are made outside that period may be disregarded. If you submit your representations late, you should explain why. We will not generally accept representations made beyond this time period; rare exceptions could include those instances where we are satisfied that circumstances beyond the recipients control may have prevented them from knowing earlier about the existence of the Notice to Owner/and or being able to respond within the permitted time period.

In any event we may disregard any representation received 84 days or more from the date of service of the Penalty Charge Notice, regardless of the stated circumstances.

Your representation will be considered by another member of the Parking Services team, who would not have been involved in consideration of any previous informal challenge relating to your Penalty Charge Notice.

The statutory or specified grounds on which representations may be made are set out below together with an indication of the information, which you should supply in support of your representations. It is important to provide all relevant information. You should tick the relevant boxes and write your reasons in the boxes provided. The Penalty Charge Notice will be cancelled if one or more of the specified grounds is accepted. The Penalty Charge Notice may be cancelled for other compelling reasons even if none of the specified grounds apply.

If your representations are received in time or are received late but are taken into account, the Parking Services team will let you know its decision in writing not later than the last day of the period of 56 days beginning with the date on which your representation was served on it. If it fails to do so, the Penalty Charge Notice will be cancelled and any sums already paid will be refunded. If your representations are rejected, you have the right to appeal against that decision to an independent Adjudicator – Traffic Penalty Tribunal. An appeal form will be sent with the letter rejecting your representations. The form will explain how and when to appeal to the adjudicator.

THE SPECIFIED GROUNDS ON THE NOTICE TO OWNER

The alleged contravention did not occur.
I was never the owner of the vehicle in question/ or
I had ceased to be its owner before the date on which the alleged contravention occurred/ or
I became its owner after the date on which the alleged contravention occurred.
The vehicle had been permitted to remain at rest in the place in question by a person who was in control of the vehicle without the consent of the owner.
We are a vehicle-hire firm and the vehicle was on hire under a hiring agreement and the hirer had signed a statement acknowledging liability for any PCN issued during the hiring period.
The penalty charge exceeded the amount applicable in the circumstances of the case.
There has been a procedural impropriety by the enforcement authority.
The Order which is alleged to have been contravened in relation to the vehicle concerned is invalid.
This Notice should not have been served because the penalty charge had already been paid:
1. in full; or
2. at the discounted rate and within the time specified in paragraph 1(h) of the Schedule to the Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) General Regulations 2007.

OTHER GROUNDS

If there are any other reasons why you consider the Enforcement Authority should cancel the penalty charge notice and refund any sum already paid please tick this box and set out those reasons in full.

NOTICE to OWNER COMPLETED AND RETURNED WHERE "OTHER GROUNDS" FOR REPRESENTATION BOX IS TICKED AND COMPLETED.

Whilst there are no formal stipulated or specifically prescribed laid down grounds for completing this box we will consider any additional relevant information provided in the following circumstances:-

Where it can be shown to our satisfaction that our enforcement action may have been discriminatory/not even-handed.
Where there are genuine, proven and compelling medical circumstances that can be demonstrated to have contributed to the parking contravention occurring in the first instance or perhaps going unnoticed.
Where some other wholly unforeseen event/situation of a necessary and/or emergency nature can be demonstrated to have contributed to the parking contravention occurring in the first instance or perhaps going unnoticed.

In any event we will require acceptable documentary evidence to support the "other grounds.

If your representations are rejected, a 'Notice of Rejection' will be sent to the registered keeper/owner. Enclosed with the Notice of Rejection will be an Appeals form for the independent adjudication service – Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT). A Notice of Rejection will state that the registered keeper has 28 days to make an Appeal to TPT or to pay the outstanding charge

Details of how to submit an appeal to the TPT will be sent with the Notice of Rejection, or can be found on their website (www.trafficpenaltytribunal.gov.uk||).

Please note that an Appeal can only be submitted to TPT following receipt of a Notice of Rejection of your Representation from the Council.

MAKING AN APPEAL TO THE TRAFFIC PENALTY TRIBUNAL (TPT)

An appeal to the TPT is the final stage in the process of challenging a penalty. It is not a continuation of previous correspondence with a council, but a new process.

The TPT is a judicial body and is totally independent of the Council.

An appeal involves two parties. The person who makes the appeal is called the appellant. The appellant may be an individual, firm, company or organisation. The council that issued the penalty is called the respondent.

An appeal is made against a council's decision to reject an appellant's formal representations against the penalty. The appellant is usually the person whom the council believes to be the owner|| of the vehicle.

The parties offer evidence for the Adjudicator to consider. The Tribunal does not investigate the matter on its own account. Before the appeal is considered, the appellant will be in contact with the Tribunal's administrative staff.

The appeal is decided by an Adjudicator, who is a qualified lawyer. He/she decides the appeal after considering the applicable law and the evidence|| presented by both parties.

Decisions are final and binding both the appellant and the Council.

Once a decision has been made the Adjudicator will send both the appellant and the Council details of the decision. If the Appeal is refused the appellant is advised that they have 28 days to make payment from the date the appeal refusal was issued.

Further information about Civil Parking Enforcement (including PCNs and NtOs) is also available online at www.patrol-uk.info |