Council PCN
Bailiffs and parking fines: fees and stages
Independent site, not a council, operator or appeals service. You pay or appeal only through the channel printed on your notice.
Enter the debt passed to the enforcement agent and the stage reached: the tool adds the fixed fees set by regulation.
What enforcement agents can add
Total to pay
£431
| Compliance fee | £79 |
| Enforcement fee | £247 |
| Sale fee | £0 |
Fixed fees from 1 May 2026; 7.5% is added on the part of the debt above £1,900.
Bailiffs, now called enforcement agents, can only collect a parking debt after a court process. For a council Penalty Charge Notice in England, that process is short: an unpaid charge certificate is registered at the county court's Traffic Enforcement Centre, an order for recovery is served, and if nothing is paid or filed within 21 days the council can obtain a warrant and pass it to enforcement agents. For a private parking charge, the company must first sue in the county court and win a judgment, and only an unpaid judgment can lead to enforcement. Once agents are instructed, their fees are fixed by the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014, updated from 1 May 2026: £79 at the compliance stage, £247 at the enforcement stage when an agent visits, and £116 if goods are taken for sale, with 7.5% added on the part of a debt above £1,900. On a typical parking debt, the fees can double the bill.
Deadline for a witness statement
Send it by
22 November 2026
| Period | 21 days |
| Where | Traffic Enforcement Centre (county court) |
Counted from the day the notice is served, with that day as day one: the cautious reading.
Rules, amounts and dates read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Council penalty or private charge: two routes to enforcement
| Step | Council PCN (England) | Private parking charge |
|---|---|---|
| Debt becomes enforceable | charge certificate registered 14 days after service | only after a county court judgment |
| Last chance before agents | 21 days after the order for recovery | pay the judgment or apply to set it aside |
| Who can collect | certificated enforcement agents with a warrant | enforcement agents with a warrant on the judgment |
| Fees added | Taking Control of Goods fixed fees | the same fixed fees |
The fixed fees, worked through
Take a band 2 higher penalty outside London that reached the charge certificate: £105. Once a warrant is with an agent, the compliance fee brings it to £184. If no payment is made and the agent visits, the enforcement fee brings it to £431. The same London band A penalty at £240 would reach £566. A £35 payment in the first 14 days would have ended it all.
| Stage | Fixed fee | Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Compliance | £79 | |
| Enforcement (visit) | £247 | 7.5% of the debt above £1,900 |
| Sale | £116 | 7.5% of the debt above £1,900 |
The tool at the top applies these amounts to any debt. A single parking debt rarely exceeds £1,900, so the percentage usually does not apply.
Stopping enforcement of a council penalty
For a council penalty the key document is the order for recovery. Within 21 days you can file a witness statement on the grounds printed on the form, such as not having received the Notice to Owner, or having made representations or an appeal that was never answered. The second mini-tool gives the last day. After that, the form allows an application to file out of time, which explains why you did not act sooner. If accepted, the order is revoked and enforcement must stop while the council looks again. Details are on our charge certificate page.
Private parking: why bailiffs are a late stage
A private operator cannot send agents because you ignored its letters. It must first issue a claim, which you can defend; see our county court claim page. The government Code laid on 20 October 2026 also requires debt-stage letters to point to free debt advice and limits the debt recovery add-on to £70 (Code, clauses 8.3.9 and 9). Letters from a collector that mention enforcement agents before any judgment describe something that cannot yet happen.
If an agent contacts you
Enforcement agents must give notice before a visit, and the compliance stage exists precisely to give you that time. Use it: a single phone call to agree terms at that point avoids the largest fee in the table above. Ask for the warrant details and a breakdown of the fees, and compare them with the scale above. Agree a payment plan if you cannot pay at once; it is usually cheaper than the visit stage. Never ignore a notice of enforcement: the time it gives is short.