Charger faulty / out-of-service — unable to charge
If the EV charger was broken, offline, displaying an error, or rejecting payment/RFID, the driver cannot reasonably be expected to comply with a 'must be charging' restriction. Adjudicators have repeatedly accepted broken-charger evidence as a complete defence, particularly where the driver attempted multiple connections and reported the fault.
Legal basis
Traffic Management Act 2004 s.78; principle of reasonableness in civil enforcement (Moses v LB Barnet [2006] EWCA Civ 1308 line of authority); Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1168) — from Nov 2023 require 99% reliability for rapid chargers and a 24/7 helpline
How to identify this in your case
Photograph the charger screen showing error/offline state. Note the time. Call the CPO helpline (mandatory under the 2023 Regulations) and get a fault reference. Request the charger uptime/fault log.
Sample appeal wording
Dear Sir/Madam, Re: PCN [NUMBER] — EV Charging Bay — [DATE] I challenge this PCN on the ground of equipment failure outside my control. On arriving at bay [LOCATION] at [TIME], I attempted to initiate a charging session at charger [SERIAL/ID]. The charger displayed [ERROR / 'OUT OF SERVICE' / failed to authenticate]. Timestamped photograph attached. I contacted [CPO] helpline and was given fault reference [REF]. The Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1168) require operators to maintain a 99% reliability standard for rapid chargers and to provide a 24/7 helpline. The charger was not functional. It would have been unreasonable to require me to leave the bay immediately when the very purpose of the bay (charging) was rendered impossible by a fault outside my control. The principle of reasonableness in civil enforcement is well established (Moses v Barnet LBC). Please cancel the PCN. Yours faithfully, [NAME]
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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