Appealing a council PCN to the tribunal (London Tribunals or Traffic Penalty Tribunal)

Which tribunal?

• London (London boroughs and TfL): London Tribunals (londontribunals.gov.uk).
• England outside London, and Wales: the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (trafficpenaltytribunal.gov.uk).
• Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own tribunals. Your council's letter will name the right one.

Step by step

• 1. Find the Notice of Rejection and note its date. You usually have 28 days to appeal.
• 2. Start an appeal on the tribunal's website using your PCN number. It's free.
• 3. Choose your grounds and write a clear statement. Respond directly to the reasons the council gave for rejecting you.
• 4. Upload your evidence: photos of signs and lines, permits, receipts, the Notice of Rejection.
• 5. Choose how your appeal is decided: on the papers, or at a phone or online hearing.
• 6. The adjudicator decides. If you win, the PCN is cancelled. If you lose, you'll usually have a short time to pay the amount stated.

Will it cost me more to appeal?

Appealing to the tribunal is free. But once you go through formal representations and a tribunal appeal, the discounted amount is usually no longer available, so you'd normally pay the full penalty if you lose. Weigh up the strength of your grounds before you appeal.