Parking fines and appeals

A Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) can be issued by a local authority to motorists for breaking on or off street parking restrictions.

There are two levels of penalty charge for drivers who park illegally:

  • £70 for the more serious offences, such as parking on yellow lines
  • £50 for less serious offences, such as overstaying in a limited waiting bay.

Both charges are reduced by 50% if paid within 14 days.

How to pay a fine

If you receive a penalty charge notice the back of the ticket will give information on how to make a payment. If your Penalty Charge Notice (or if issued before 6 April 2020, a Excess Charge Notice) begins with the prefix FS, JR, QF, UZ.

Please have your penalty charge notice (PCN) number and vehicle registration number to hand for all online and telephone payments. Without these details no payment can be made.

Online: Visit our Pay page to pay your parking fine online.

Automated payment phone line: 01284 757000 (24 hrs a day seven days a week)

Pay in person at a range of PayZone outlets and Post Offices across West Suffolk, Babergh and Mid Suffolk areas. You will need to take the PCN with you.

Please Note - Should you wish to make an Informal Challenge or Formal Representation do not make payment until a response has been provided back to yourself. If payment is made you will have accepted liability and the case will be closed.

Appeals

You can appeal against a parking fine either online or by post. No appeals will be considered over the telephone.

Please refer to the contravention codes that indicates circumstances where cancellation will be considered. It is important to note that this information is for guidance and that each case will be considered on its individual merits.

There are three stages to appeal a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN)

Stage one: Informal challenge

A appeal can be made within the first 28 days of the PCN has being issued.

If you make your challenge within 14 days of the date on which the PCN was issued and your challenge is rejected, the discount period will be reset for a further 14 day period from the date of the rejection letter.

Appeal a parking fine online informal challenge for West Suffolk

Stage two: Formal representation

If you have been unsuccessful with an informal challenge and wish to make a formal representation a notice to owner (NtO) will be sent to the registered keeper of the vehicle.

A formal representation cannot be made without a NtO being served. This is obtained via the DVLA database. At this stage a formal representation may be considered.

If no appeal or payment has been received at the NtO stage (28 days) the charge will be increased to either £50 or £70.

Appeal a parking fine online Formal representation for West Suffolk

Stage three: Traffic penalty tribunal (TPT)

A notice of rejection (NoR) must be received before a TPT case can be submitted. Details of how you can do this will be sent with the NoR. Motorists can then make a request for their case to be heard by an independent adjudicator. This is usually conducted via a telephone hearing between the appellant, the adjudicator and a representative of the local authority. At this stage the adjudicators decision is final.

For more information about the appeals process, please visit the Patrol website.

Charge certificate

If you have received a charge certificate (CC) it is too late to make an appeal. The charge will increase to either £75 (off street) or £105 (on-street). A charge certificate is issued if motorists have failed to:

  • pay the penalty charge notice or make an appeal or representation within the first 28 days of the PCN being issued.
  • either pay the penalty charge or submit an appeal to the independent adjudicator against a formal representation within 28 days of the receipt of the notice of rejection (NOR)
  • pay the charge within 28 days of an adjudicators decision to reject your appeal.
  • pay the charge within 14 days of withdrawing your appeal to the independent adjudicator.

Order of recovery (OOR)

If after 14 days from the charge certificate has been issued and no payment has been received, the penalty charge notice will be registered as a debt with the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC). The registered keeper will be notified by post. The penalty charge notice will be increased to £83 (off street) or £113 (on street).

Once the debt has been registered, an out of time (OOT) witness statement can be made to TEC. Under exceptional circumstances TEC will make a decision to revoke previous stages and revert the PCN back to NTO stage. If this is decided, motorists can then make an appeal to West Suffolk Council.