Charge Certificate Issued While Representations Pending

A Charge Certificate (which increases the penalty by 50%) may only be issued after the period for appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal has expired without an appeal being lodged, or after an appeal has been determined against the motorist. If a Charge Certificate is issued while formal representations or a TPT appeal is still pending, it is unlawfully issued and must be withdrawn.

Legal basis

Traffic Management Act 2004 sch.7 para.5; Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) General Provisions Regulations 2007 reg.6

How to identify this in your case

You submitted formal representations or filed a TPT appeal and subsequently received a Charge Certificate before receiving a decision. Cross-reference dates of your representations submission, any acknowledgement, and the Charge Certificate.

Sample appeal wording

Dear Parking Manager — URGENT Re: PCN [NUMBER] — Unlawfully Issued Charge Certificate I have received a Charge Certificate in respect of the above PCN. This Charge Certificate has been issued unlawfully. I made formal representations on [DATE] [/ I lodged an appeal with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal on DATE, reference X]. No decision on those representations has been communicated to me [/ the appeal remains pending]. The Traffic Management Act 2004, Schedule 7, paragraph 5 expressly prohibits the issue of a Charge Certificate while representations or a TPT appeal are outstanding. The issue of this Charge Certificate is therefore unlawful and must be withdrawn immediately. If the council does not withdraw the Charge Certificate within 7 days I will apply to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal for a direction and report the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman. Yours faithfully, [NAME]

Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.

Beat It writes this argument automatically

Scan your PCN — our AI checks if this ground applies to your specific ticket, drafts a properly-cited appeal letter, and submits it to the council on your behalf. Only pay if you win.

Scan my ticket

Sources

Traffic Management Act 2004 sch.7 para.5