Which parking ticket have I got?

Council PCN, police fixed penalty or private parking charge: four answers from your notice, the legal nature, the amount and the next step.

You have

Private parking charge on the windscreen (Notice to Driver)

What it is: A demand from a parking company for breaking the terms on the signs: a claim under contract, not a fine. Under Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 the registered keeper can be made liable if the driver is not named and the notices meet strict conditions and dates.
Amount: Capped at £100 by the government Code once in force, with at least 40% off within 14 days.
If it is not paid: Reminders, then debt collection letters (the Code allows up to £70 on top once overdue), then possibly a county court claim. Nothing goes on a credit file unless a court judgment is not paid.
Next step: Appeal to the operator within 28 days, then to POPLA or the IAS. Pay within 14 days for the reduced rate if you do not dispute it.

Deadlines and how to challenge it →

Three very different documents get called a parking fine in the UK. A Penalty Charge Notice, or PCN, is issued by a council or by Transport for London: a civil penalty whose amount is set by regulations, halved if paid within 14 days and increased by 50% if a charge certificate follows. A Fixed Penalty Notice is issued by the police for a parking offence: a criminal matter offered instead of prosecution. A Parking Charge Notice is sent by a private company for breaking the terms on the signs of a car park: a claim under contract, which only a county court can force you to pay, and in England and Wales one that can be pursued against the registered keeper under Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 if its notices arrive within set dates. The checker above tells you which one you hold from what is printed on it. The rest of the site gives the date of every deadline, the amount due on each date, the appeal route and a letter to send, with every rule linked to the text it was read on.

Rules and amounts checked on 26 October 2026 · Radif Partners · How dates and amounts are worked out · About this site

Three tickets, three legal regimes

The heading of the notice and the name of the sender are what count, not the colour of the envelope or the tone of the letter. Councils and TfL issue penalty charges under laws made by Parliament and the devolved governments. The police issue fixed penalties for offences. Parking companies issue parking charges on private land, and the government Private Parking Code bans them from copying the look or the vocabulary of a council notice.

England unless stated. Sources: SI 2022/71, GOV.UK parking tickets, Private Parking Code.
	Council or TfL PCN	Police fixed penalty	Private parking charge
Legal basis	civil penalty set by law	criminal fixed penalty	contract on the signs
Reduced rate	half, within 14 days (England)	none	at least 40% off within 14 days (Code)
If unpaid	Notice to Owner, charge certificate (+50%), court registration	higher penalty or prosecution	reminders, debt letters, county court claim
First challenge	informal challenge or representations to the council	ask for a court hearing	appeal to the operator within 28 days
Independent appeal	parking tribunal	magistrates’ court	POPLA or IAS

Each kind has its own page: the $<a href="/en/penalty-charge-notice/">Penalty Charge Notice</a>, the $<a href="/en/fixed-penalty-notice/">police fixed penalty</a> and the $<a href="/en/parking-charge-notice/">Parking Charge Notice</a>, with the $<a href="/en/pcn-vs-parking-charge-notice/">differences side by side</a>.

Every deadline on your notice

Most money lost on parking tickets is lost to dates, not to the ticket itself: the half-price window closes, a challenge arrives a day late, a charge certificate adds half again. The countdown below takes the date printed on a council notice and how it reached you, and lists every step with its date and the amount due at that point. In England a notice sent by post is served on the second working day after posting, which the calculator applies with the bank holidays published on GOV.UK. Download the dates to your calendar or print them.

Next: Last day for the reduced rate

8 November 2026

13 days left · £35

Last day for the reduced rate14 days beginning with the day the notice was served. Pay £35 instead of £70.	8 November 2026£35
Informal challenge, to keep the reduced rateWrite to the council before this date: if it rejects the challenge it may offer the reduced rate again.	8 November 2026
Notice to Owner can be posted (earliest)Sent to the registered keeper if nothing is paid in 28 days. From then on the full £70 is due.	23 November 2026£70
Formal representations (earliest)28 days beginning with the day the Notice to Owner is served. The date counts from your Notice to Owner: this is the earliest it can fall.	22 December 2026
Charge certificate (earliest)If nothing is paid or challenged, the charge rises by 50% to £105.	23 December 2026£105
Order for recovery (earliest)14 days after the charge certificate the council can register the debt at the county court; you then have 21 days for a witness statement.	6 January 2027£105

The Notice to Owner must be served within 6 months of the notice (SI 2022/71 reg 20).

Add to my calendar (.ics)

For a private charge, the dates turn on Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. After a windscreen ticket, a Notice to Keeper must reach the keeper between day $29 and day $56; with no windscreen ticket, within $14 days beginning the day after the parking ended. Outside those windows, the keeper cannot be made liable under the Schedule. The $<a href="/en/notice-to-keeper/">Notice to Keeper checker</a> tests your dates, and the $<a href="/en/parking-fine-deadlines/">deadlines page</a> covers council notices in each nation.

What it costs, nation by nation

Council penalty levels are fixed by regulations or approved by the relevant government, so they are the same for everyone in an area. England outside London has two bands set in Schedule 3 to SI 2022/71, each with a higher rate for serious contraventions such as parking on yellow lines and a lower rate for others such as overstaying. London boroughs charge more since $7 April 2025. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own levels.

How much is my council PCN now?

You pay

£35

Penalty on the notice	£70
Reduced rate (50% off)	£35
After a charge certificate (+50%)	£105

Band and rate are printed on the notice with the contravention code. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have no bands.

All the dates on my notice →

The full list with the London bands, TfL red routes and removal charges is on the $<a href="/en/pcn-fine-amounts/">PCN amounts page</a>; the nations have their own pages for $<a href="/en/scotland-parking-fines/">Scotland</a>, $<a href="/en/wales-parking-fines/">Wales</a> and $<a href="/en/northern-ireland-parking-fines/">Northern Ireland</a>.

Appealing: a letter in two minutes

For a council notice in England, the grounds of appeal are listed in regulation 5 of SI 2022/576: the contravention did not occur, you were not the owner, the vehicle was taken without consent, the penalty exceeded the amount applicable, the council failed to follow the procedure, and a few more. For a private charge, the Appeals Charter of the government Code lists cases where the operator must cancel or cut the charge to $£20. Tick what applies and copy the letter. It is a drafting aid, not legal advice, and nothing you type leaves your browser.

Your letter, ready to copy

To the parking operator

Reference: [notice number]
Vehicle: [registration]
Date of the notice: 26 October 2026
Location: [car park or street]

I appeal against the parking charge for the following reasons.

1. I am the registered keeper. I do not admit to being the driver and I am under no obligation to name them. Unless every condition of Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 has been met, liability cannot pass to the keeper.
2. The terms were not clearly displayed: there was no sign at the entrance that could be read from a vehicle and the terms signs were too small, too high or badly lit, so no contract was formed on the terms you rely on.

I ask you to cancel the charge. If you reject this appeal, please send the code I need to appeal to the independent appeals service.

I have kept a copy of this letter and of the evidence.

[your name]

Send it through the channel printed on the notice (online form, email or post) and keep proof of the date you sent it.

The Private Parking Code of Practice

The government laid its Private Parking Code of Practice before Parliament on $20 October 2026, under the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019. It caps charges at $£100, requires a reduced rate of at least $40% for payment within $14 days, sets minimum consideration and grace periods, limits the debt recovery fee to $£70 and lists cases where a charge must be cancelled. It covers England, Wales and Scotland. Its date of entry into force is not fixed: the Act requires a 40-day scrutiny period and then 21 days after issue, so the earliest possible date is $20 December 2026. Until then the trade associations’ own code applies.

When can the Code be in force?

In force at the earliest

20 December 2026

Laid before Parliament	20 October 2026
40-day period ends	28 November 2026
Earliest issue	29 November 2026

Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, section 2. The government has not announced a date: this is the earliest the Act allows.

Private Parking Code of Practice →

Every page of the site

Your ticket

Parking Charge NoticeA private company’s parking charge: what it is in law, the 14-day reduced rate, every appeal date and when the keeper can be pursued.
Penalty Charge Notice (PCN)A council or TfL penalty: the reduced rate, the Notice to Owner, the charge certificate and how to challenge it, with every date worked out.
PCN or parking charge?Penalty Charge Notice or Parking Charge Notice: the same initials, two different legal worlds. How to tell them apart in ten seconds.
Do I have to pay a private ticket?Private parking tickets are contract claims, not fines. When you are bound to pay, when you are not, and what the company can really do.
Police Fixed Penalty NoticeA parking ticket from the police is a criminal fixed penalty, not a council PCN: what it means, what it costs late and why it cannot be appealed the same way.
How much is a PCN?Every council PCN level in the UK on one page: bands outside London, London bands A and B, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, with the reduced and increased amounts.
How long to pay a PCNHow long you have to pay or challenge a council parking fine: 14 or 21 days, then 28-day stages, with posted notices and bank holidays counted.
What if I ignore it?What really happens when a private parking charge is ignored: reminders, debt letters, a letter before claim, a county court claim, and the deadlines that matter.

Private parking

Notice to KeeperThe letter that makes the registered keeper liable for a private parking charge, and the exact delivery window it must meet.
Private Parking Code of PracticeThe government Code laid before Parliament in October 2026: the charge cap, grace periods, the reduced charge and the earliest date it can take effect.
Grace periodHow many minutes you get on arrival and after your time runs out, by type of car park, in private car parks and council bays.
ANPR camera chargeA parking charge sent by post after a number plate camera recorded your entry and exit: the 14-day delivery rule and how to check the times.
Wrong registration enteredYou paid but typed the number plate wrongly, entered another car or forgot to enter it: what the Appeals Charter of the Code says for each case.
Keeper, not the driverThe charge is addressed to you as registered keeper but someone else was driving: what Schedule 4 lets the operator do, and your three choices.
Supermarket car parksCharges from supermarket car parks: free time limits, customer-only rules, leaving to shop elsewhere, and the dates to pay or appeal.
Retail parksShared car parks of retail and leisure parks: maximum stays, leaving the site on foot, mixed signs, and how the Code minutes apply.
Hospital parkingHospital car parks in England: who should park free under the NHS principles, and how overrunning appointments are treated on appeal.
Hire and lease carsA parking charge or PCN on a rental, lease or company car: how the hire firm passes it on to the hirer, and the dates each side must meet.
Blue BadgeA charge or PCN when you hold a Blue Badge: badge not displayed, disabled bays, hospital parking and what each set of rules allows.
Flats and residential permitsParking charges in the car park of a block of flats or an estate: permits, visitors, your lease and the land that Schedule 4 does not cover.

Council PCN

Notice to OwnerThe council letter that follows an unpaid PCN: when it can be sent, the latest date it can arrive, and the 28 days it gives for formal representations.
Charge certificateThe 50% increase on an unpaid council PCN, the order for recovery that follows 14 days later, and the 21-day witness statement that can reopen the case.
Bus lane fineBus lane PCNs from cameras: the amount in and outside London, the 21-day reduced rate by post, and the first-offence warning notice at new camera sites.
Yellow box and moving trafficYellow box junction, banned turn and no entry PCNs from council cameras: who can issue them since 2022, the amounts, and the dates to pay or challenge.
Car towed or clampedWhat a council can charge to release a clamped or towed car outside London, and why clamping on private land is an offence in England and Wales.
Bailiffs and parking finesWhen enforcement agents can collect a parking debt, the fixed fees they add from 1 May 2026, and the difference between council penalties and private charges.
Formal representationsThe statutory challenge after a Notice to Owner: the grounds the council must consider, the 28 days to send it, the 56 days for a reply, and a letter built for you.

Appeals and court

How to appeal a parking ticketThe two appeal routes side by side, council and private, with a letter builder for each stage and the deadline that applies.
Appeal a private parking chargeBuild the first appeal to a parking company: reasons the Code and Schedule 4 recognise, late appeals, and what happens after a rejection.
Appeal a council PCNHow to appeal a council Penalty Charge Notice in three stages, with an informal challenge letter built from your reasons and the dates that keep the reduced rate.
POPLA appealThe independent appeal for charges from British Parking Association members: the verification code, the evidence exchange and the decision.
IAS appealThe Independent Appeals Service for charges from International Parking Community members: when to use it and how to work out your deadline.
Tribunal appealThe independent adjudicators for council PCNs: Traffic Penalty Tribunal, London Tribunals, the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland and Northern Ireland, with your deadline.
Debt collection lettersLetters from a debt recovery agent about a private parking charge: what can be added, what collectors cannot do, and when a letter of claim changes things.
County court claimA claim form for a private parking charge: deemed service, the 14-day acknowledgment, the defence deadline and what not to miss.

Places and nations

London parking finesLondon PCN bands since 7 April 2025: band A and band B, bus lane and moving traffic penalties, reduced and increased amounts, and the London Tribunals route.
TfL red route PCNA penalty from Transport for London on a red route: the amount, the 14 or 21 days at half price, the charge certificate and appeals to London Tribunals.
ScotlandCouncil PCNs in Scotland up to £100, pavement and dropped kerb penalties, police fixed penalties, private charges without keeper liability, and the tribunal route.
WalesCouncil PCNs in Wales at £70 or £50, halved within 14 days, the Traffic Penalty Tribunal route, and private charges under the same keeper rules as England.
Northern IrelandPCNs in Northern Ireland: £90, or £45 within 14 days, £135 after a charge certificate, bus lane penalties, the adjudicator and the 21-day statutory declaration.

How this site works

Every amount and time limit comes from one parameter file, read on legislation.gov.uk, GOV.UK, nidirect, Transport Scotland, TfL and the appeals services on 26 October 2026, each value with its source. The tools run in your browser: nothing you type, not your registration, not your notice number, is sent or stored. The site takes no payment, files no appeal and recommends no firm. The method page explains how each date is counted.

Sources

The rules, fees and times quoted here were read on these government pages on26 October 2026.

Common questions

What is the difference between a PCN and a Parking Charge Notice?

A Penalty Charge Notice comes from a council or Transport for London and is a civil penalty set by law. A Parking Charge Notice comes from a private company and is a claim under the contract formed by the car park signs. The first escalates by law to a charge certificate and enforcement agents; the second can only be enforced through a county court claim.

Do I have to pay a private parking ticket?

It is not a fine, but it is not something to ignore either. If the signs were clear and you broke the terms, a court can order payment, plus costs. If you have grounds, appeal to the operator within 28 days, then to POPLA or the IAS. Ignoring letters only removes your chance to appeal cheaply and on time.

How long do I have to pay a council parking ticket?

In England a council PCN can be paid at half price within 14 days of being served, or 21 days for a camera notice sent by post. After 28 days unpaid, a Notice to Owner can be sent to the keeper and the full amount is due. Ignore that too and a charge certificate adds 50%.

How much is a parking ticket in the UK in 2026?

It depends on who issued it and where. Councils in England outside London charge £40 to £70, London boroughs up to £160, Wales £50 or £70, Scottish councils up to £100 and Northern Ireland £90. Private charges will be capped at £100 once the government Code is in force.

Can a parking company send bailiffs?

Not for a parking charge alone. A company has no power to send enforcement agents unless it has first won a county court claim, obtained a judgment and then asked the court to enforce it. Debt collection agencies that write before that stage are only asking for payment and cannot take goods. Council penalties are different: registered debts can go to enforcement agents.

When does the new Private Parking Code come into force?

The government laid it before Parliament on 20 October 2026. It can be issued only after a 40-day scrutiny period and comes into force 21 days after issue, so 20 December 2026 at the earliest if Parliament does not pause the count. The government has not announced a date, and transitional arrangements will be published on GOV.UK when it applies.

Is this site connected to a council, the DVLA or an appeals service?

No. It is published independently by Radif Partners and has no access to your notice, your vehicle record or any appeal. It reads the regulations and official pages, turns them into dates and amounts, and drafts letters you send yourself. You pay or appeal only through the website, address or telephone number printed on your own notice.

Written by Radif Partners

Independent publisher of free tools that read a UK parking ticket: who issued it, what it costs on each date, and how to challenge it

Rules and amounts checked on 26 October 2026 · Editorial policy · Contact

UK parking rules 2026, read on legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK, last checked on 26 October 2026