Penalty charge notices (parking tickets)
What are Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs)?
- Penalty Charge Notices - PCNs (commonly called "parking tickets" and wrongly called "parking fines") are issued by our Civil Enforcement Officers (formerly known as parking attendants) to vehicles that contravene parking restrictions enforceable by us, the council.
- PCNs are issued under specific legislation as part of “decriminalised enforcement" introduced across London in the mid-1990s.
- PCNs are not "parking fines". Generally fines arise following conviction at court after enforcement under criminal law, for example police action to deal with obstructive parking.
- The reason for the penalty being issued will be printed on the PCN.
Bus Lanes
- Penalty charge notices are also issued to vehicles contravening bus lane restrictions through CCTV.
- These PCNs are posted to owners of vehicles observed on camera in bus lanes during their hours of operation.
Important links
- Paying a penalty charge
- 'Notice to Owner'
- How to appeal a penalty charge
- What happens if a penalty is not paid?
- Judicial Review: LB Barnet Vs The Parking Adjudicator
Paying a penalty charge
- Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) charges changed across London on 1 July 2007, with drivers penalised according to the seriousness of the contravention. Within the London Borough of Barnet penalty charges are now:
- £100 for higher rate penalties
- £60 for lower rate penalties and,
- £120 for bus lane contraventions. There is a full list of lower and higher rate contraventions.
- There will still be a 50% discount for paying the charges before the expiry of 14 days from the date the penalty charge notice was issued.
Telephone payment
- Call our 24 hour automated payment line on 08456 588 599, on any day and follow the instructions.
- Our system will confirm to you the amount payable.
Online payment
Pay online : you will be prompted for the amount payable.
By post
- Cheques and postal orders can be sent by post.
- All cheques and postal orders must be payable to “London Borough of Barnet”.
- Ensure cheques are correctly signed and dated not post-dated.
- Ensure postal orders are stamped by the post office.
- Write the PCN number (the “BA number” on the notice) and the vehicle registration number on the back of the cheque or postal order.
- Ensure the amount in figures is the same as the amount in words
- Postal credit or debit card payments can be made using the slip on the notice completing all the details requested.
- We accept Visa, Mastercard, Switch, Maestro, Delta, and Solo card payments.
- We do not accept American Express or Visa Electron.
Address details
All postal payments should be sent to the address in the contact details opposite.
Final checks
- Make sure you leave enough time for us to receive your payment within the discount period if you are paying at the discount rate.
- Payment cannot be made by instalments. If insufficient payment is made the balance will be pursued as if the penalty was not paid.
- Do not send cash in the post.
'Notice to Owner'
- A penalty must be paid before the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the date of service of the Penalty Charge Notice (PCN).
- If it is not a ‘Notice to Owner’ is sent to the person who appears to the council to be the owner of the vehicle (regardless of who was driving).
- It should normally be served within six months of the PCN. The ‘Notice to Owner’ provides an opportunity to either pay the outstanding penalty or make formal ‘representations‘.
- The penalty needs to be paid or representations made before the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the date that the Notice to Owner was served.
- Representations made after this may be disregarded.
- The Traffic Management Act 2004 makes the owner, not the driver, liable for most parking penalties.
How to appeal a penalty charge
- Under the Traffic Management Act 2004, we will now consider all appeals received prior to a Charge Certificate being served
- However, we may consider any written appeal after this stage
- If you contact us during the 14 day discount period, and we consider your case to be unsuccessful, we will give you a further 14 days to pay at the discount rate
- When making a representation to us, tell us the PCN number (the “BA number" on the notice)
- Please also confirm your registration number and tell us if you are the owner of the vehicle or were driving someone else’s vehicle
- Please also provide relevant evidence to support your representation.
Contacting us
- Send your representations to the address in the contact area of this page.
- You may also contact us by:email: parking@barnet.gov.uk or by Fax: 0870 889 6796
- However, do consider how you can provide supporting evidence.
Appealing to an adjudicator
- If you disagree with the council's decision and wish to lodge a formal appeal with an independent adjudicator, you must make a formal representation to us after we have sent out a Notice to Owner.
- This means that even if you have contacted us before you receive the Notice to Owner, you must make a second representation to us once you have received the Notice to Owner.
- If we reject this second representation, you can then appeal to an adjudicator.
- The Notice to Owner form includes a specific section to fill in if you want to lodge a formal representation to us.
- Please ensure you follow the instructions on the notice, and provide any supporting evidence.
- We must receive your representation before the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the date that the Notice to Owner was served.
- Alternatively you can still make a full payment during this period by following the instructions on the Notice to Owner.
- In the case of bus lane contraventions, the document sent is called an Enforcement Notice instead of a Notice to Owner, but the actions to follow are the same.
- If the representation is successful a Notice of Acceptance is sent and the penalty is cancelled.
- If the representation is unsuccessful a Notice of Rejection is sent. With every Notice of Rejection, we will enclose an appeal form enabling you to apply to have the case considered by the Parking And Traffic Appeals Service (PATAS).
Parking And Traffic Appeals Service (PATAS)
- PATAS is an independent body which considers all London appeals against penalty charges. Adjudicators are experienced lawyers.
- The process can be a personal or postal hearing, depending on what you prefer.
- Personal hearings are held in Central London. Usually only the adjudicator and you will be in the room. The process is informal, and no legal representation is needed.
- The adjudicator's decision is binding on both parties.
- If the adjudicator rejects your appeal then a further 28 days is given to pay the penalty charge in full.
What happens if a penalty is not paid?
- If you do not pay a penalty we will take steps to recover the amount due.
- After the expiry of 28 days of the Notice to Owner being served the charge may increase by 50% (to £90 or £150 for parking contraventions, and £180 for bus lane contraventions). At this point there is no right of appeal.
- A Charge Certificate will be sent and if the charge is still not paid before the end of the period of 14 days beginning with the date that the Charge Certificate was served, we will take steps to register the outstanding sum as a debt.
- This does not involve a court hearing and does not impact on a person’s credit rating.
- A £5 fee will be added to the outstanding charge.
- At any stage in the process, you can still pay the total outstanding charge.
- If after 21 days, the debt is still not paid, a Warrant of Execution will be granted and we will pass the debt to a bailiff company. At this point the penalty can no longer be paid to us. It must be paid to the bailiff.
- The bailiff will take such steps as permitted in law to make contact and to recover the amount due.
- They are allowed to add to the debt fees for sending letters and making personal visits. However, the amount due to the council will not increase.
- If you have been contacted by a bailiff company and do not make arrangements to pay the debt your vehicle or goods may be seized and sold at auction.
