Your ticket
Penalty Charge Notice or Parking Charge Notice: which one is yours?
Answer the four questions about the paper you hold: the checker names the type of notice, what happens if it is not paid and where to go next.
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.
Both are often shortened to PCN, which is why so many drivers mix them up, but they belong to two different legal worlds. A Penalty Charge Notice is issued by a council or by Transport for London under the Traffic Management Act 2004 or the equivalent rules in Scotland and Northern Ireland: the amount is fixed by law, it rises by half after a charge certificate, and an unpaid penalty is registered at the county court and passed to enforcement agents without any court hearing about the merits. A Parking Charge Notice is issued by a private company for breaking the terms displayed in a car park: it is a claim under contract, the company has to sue in the county court to make you pay, and in England and Wales it can pursue the registered keeper only through the conditions of Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. The government Code laid on 20 October 2026 caps private charges at £100 and forbids notices designed to look like a council penalty.
Is this private charge above the Code limits?
Most the Code allows
£100
| Charge cap | £100 |
| Reduced within 14 days (at least 40% off) | £60 |
| Debt recovery add-on once overdue | £0 |
The Code is laid but not yet in force: these limits apply from the date it takes effect.
Rules, amounts and dates read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Side by side
| Penalty Charge Notice | Parking Charge Notice | |
|---|---|---|
| Issued by | a council or Transport for London | a private parking company for a landowner |
| Legal basis | Traffic Management Act 2004, Part 6 (England and Wales) | contract formed by the signs; Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 for keeper liability |
| Amount | set by law: £40 to £160 in England | set by the company, capped at £100 by the government Code once in force |
| Reduced rate | 50% within 14 days (21 for a postal camera notice) | at least 40% within 14 days under the Code |
| If unpaid | charge certificate (+50%), court registration, enforcement agents | debt letters (up to £70 added under the Code), possible county court claim |
| Independent appeal | Traffic Penalty Tribunal or London Tribunals | POPLA or the IAS |
| Criminal record | never | never |
Why the difference matters for your next step
With a council penalty, the law has already decided that a penalty is due if the contravention happened: your task is to show that it did not, or that one of the grounds in the regulations applies, such as unclear signs or a procedural error. The council does not need a court to collect it. With a private charge, the company is the one that needs to prove its case, first to an appeals service and in the end to a judge: that its signs formed a contract, that the terms were broken, that the sum is a fair charge, and, if it pursues the keeper, that every condition of Schedule 4 was met on time.
That is why the same tactic does not work for both. Refusing to name the driver, for example, can matter a great deal against a private company that relies on keeper liability and missed a date, but it changes nothing for a council penalty, where the keeper is liable as owner.
The look-alike problem
Some private notices have borrowed the look of a council penalty: yellow envelopes, the letters PCN in large type, words that suggest a fine. The government Code laid before Parliament on 20 October 2026 addresses this head on. Clause 8.1.1 forbids a notice that implies statutory authority where none exists or deliberately resembles a council penalty charge notice, and Annex D lists terms that must not be used (Private Parking Code of Practice). Until the Code is in force, the same idea appears in the trade associations' own code, which the government Code will replace (explanatory memorandum, paragraphs 5.7 to 5.10).
If your notice comes from a company but uses the words Penalty Charge Notice, treat it as private: check the company name, the reference to terms and conditions, and whether it mentions the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. Then use the private charge countdown.
And the police Fixed Penalty Notice?
A third family exists. Where parking is still enforced by the police, or for offences such as dangerous parking, officers issue a Fixed Penalty Notice. It is a criminal matter offered as an alternative to prosecution, with its own rules; GOV.UK warns that leaving it unpaid can mean paying half as much again or going to court (GOV.UK: parking tickets). Our fixed penalty page covers it.
Using the checker above
The four questions mirror what is printed on any notice: who sent it, the heading, how it reached you and the nation where you parked. The answer names the legal family, the amount range that applies, what follows if nothing is paid and a link to the page with your deadlines. Your answers stay in your browser. If the checker says the notice is unclear, it usually means the issuer and the heading point in different directions, which is itself worth noting in any appeal.