Penalty Charge Notice or Parking Charge Notice? Key Differences

Have you received a parking charge notice or a penalty charge notice? Don’t panic. Every month, over 32,000 people find help on this site with tickets and fines. These papers can be tricky to understand, but we’re here to clear things up.

In this article, we’ll explain:

• The main differences between a parking charge notice and a penalty charge notice.
• The reasons why you might receive these notices.
• How to fight against a ticket, if you think you shouldn’t have got it.
• What could happen if you ignore these notices.
• Where to find more help, if you need it.

We know that getting one of these notices can be worrying. You might be anxious about what it means or what could happen next. But we’re experts in this area and have guided many people in your shoes.

So, relax, and let’s learn about these notices together.

What Is a Parking Charge Notice?

Parking on private land is no longer regulated. The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 was withdrawn some time ago. This means that you are at the mercy of the company that is managing the parking for the land you are parked on. For example, when you park in a Tesco car park, you are parked on private land. There will be rules and guidelines for using this private parking, and if you don’t adhere to them, you might get a parking charge notice. Keep in mind though, that this is simply an invoice for a parking fee it is alleged you owe.

What Is a Penalty Charge Notice?

When you park on the road, or in a car park that is provided by the local authority, you must comply with a) road laws, and b) the parking rules for the space you are parked in. If you do not follow these rules, you might be issued a penalty charge notice. Either directly from the council, or from one of their agents. 

A Parking Charge Notice and a Penalty Charge Notice Are Not the Same

OK, now we need to explain why these two similar-sounding parking tickets are not the same. Probably the best way to do this is to go over each in a little more detail, below.

• Parking charge notice – this is a private parking invoice, that is not legally enforceable. Even though many private parking operators try to dress them up to look like official documents.
• Penalty charge notice – this is an official notice of a parking fine from the local authority or one of their agents. These are legally enforceable.

Can You Ignore a Parking Charge Notice?

A parking charge notice is not legally enforceable. This means that in many cases, you can ignore the parking charge notice. Despite the fact that private parking operators like to dress up these parking tickets to look like scary, official documents, they are basically pointless. I have actually thrown them away in the past, but with hindsight, I probably should have kept them just in case the parking operator decided to try bullying me with threats of legal action.

You see, even though these parking tickets can’t be legally enforced, the parking operator has the option of passing the invoice over to a debt collection agency to try and get you to pay. Now, is a parking firm going to do this for a parking fine of a couple of pounds? Likely not. But some do. If you find you are getting threatening letters trying to scare you into paying a parking charge notice, you might have to take some action to have this stopped, so keeping the original notice is a good idea.

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Can You Ignore a Penalty Charge Notice?

The simple answer is no. You can’t just ignore a penalty charge notice, as this is an official fine from a government body. If you do ignore the penalty charge notice, the amount you are being fined will be increased by 50% after 14 days.

If you ignore the penalty charge notice for 28 days, things get even more serious. You will find yourself being issued with a charge certificate from the court, and this could be the start of full-blown legal proceedings to collect the fine. The best advice I can give here, is to pay the penalty charge notice as soon as possible if you think you deserved it. But if there is any chance the fine was given in error, then appeal against it.

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How Can You Appeal Against Either of These Types of Parking Fines?

The process of making an appeal against a parking fine is, unsurprisingly, different for a parking charge notice and a penalty charge notice. Let’s look at private parking fines first. The first thing you should do is to check whether the parking operator is a member of an Accredited Trade Association (ATA). 

Only parking operators who are members of an ATA can apply to the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Association (DVLA) to find out the details of the owner of a specific car. Put simply, if the parking operator is not an ATA member, they can’t even find out who owns the car they stuck the parking ticket on, you can probably safely ignore it. 

If the parking operator is an ATA member, you can make an appeal directly with the operator, and the details of how to do this should be somewhere on the parking charge notice. A very high percentage of parking ticket appeals are successful.

Appealing against a penalty charge notice is a little different. You need to make an appeal to the local authority within 28 days of the date of issue of the notice. This is generally done online these days. The council will let you know by post if your appeal has been a success or not. If it was not, you still have the option of taking matters further. You can move on to the formal representation stage. 

This would mean a court appearance, and a need to engage a lawyer to help you. If you lose the court case, you would also be liable for court costs and the lawyer’s fee, so only follow this route if you think you have a good chance of winning.