Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about a penalty charge notice. This is because the penalty charge notice carried a right of appeal and it would be reasonable for Ms X to apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre at Northampton County Court to reinstate this right.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Ms X, complains about a penalty charge notice (PCN) issued by the Council for a parking contravention in January 2022. She says she challenged the PCN but did not hear back. The Council has now registered the unpaid PCN as a debt and instructed enforcement agents (bailiffs) to recover payment from her.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
5. London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

The PCN process

7. There is a set procedure councils must follow when pursuing PCNs for parking contraventions and handling appeals against them. When a council issues a PCN the motorist has 28 days to pay the penalty charge or appeal; appeals at this stage are known as ‘informal challenges’.
8. If the motorist submits an informal challenge to a PCN and the Council decides not to accept them, it will write to the motorist and explain why. If the motorist accepts the Council’s reasons they may pay the PCN; if not, they may wait for a ‘notice to owner’. This provides a further opportunity for the owner of the vehicle to pay the charge or make ‘formal representations’ against the PCN. If the council rejects the motorist’s formal representations the motorist may appeal to London Tribunals.
9. If the motorist does not pay or make formal representations the council will issue a charge certificate, increasing the amount payable by 50%. It may then apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) at Northampton County Court to register the debt, before instructing bailiffs to recover it.

Ms X’s case

10. Ms X informally challenged the PCN but says she did not receive a response. She also suggests she did not receive the notice to owner or charge certificate and did not therefore have a chance to appeal against the PCN.
11. Because Ms X did not receive the notice to owner she may apply to the TEC to challenge the Council’s escalation of the case. She can do this by making an application to file a witness statement ‘out of time’.
12. If the TEC accepts Ms X’s application it may order the Council to take the process back to an earlier stage, reinstating her right of appeal and removing any additional charges from the amount owed. If the TEC refuses Ms X’s application she may apply for a review.
13. The witness statement process has been specifically designed to deal with issues such as the one Ms X describes and it is relatively easy to follow. The TEC’s decisions are also binding on both parties. Ms X says she is prepared to go to court to solve the issue, so I consider it would be reasonable for her to apply to the TEC.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it would be reasonable for Ms X to apply to the TEC to challenge the Council’s escalation of the PCN and reinstate her right of appeal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman