Council told you your vehicle was compliant before the fine

If the council or TfL contacted you before any penalty was issued — by letter, email, or phone — and told you that your vehicle was exempt or met the clean air zone rules, you were entitled to rely on that. A penalty notice issued afterwards may be invalid because you acted on official assurance that you were in the clear.

Legal basis

R v North & East Devon HA ex p Coughlan [2001] QB 213; misrepresentation principles

How to identify this in your case

Recipient has dated correspondence from the council/TfL stating their vehicle is exempt/compliant.

Sample appeal wording

Before you send this

Deadline. A late submission can be turned down without your argument being read. Check your notice for the deadline and how it is counted.
Paying may end it. Paying can count as accepting the notice and can close a challenge already under way. Part-paying or acknowledging an old debt can also revive a time limit that had expired.
The amount can change. Check what happens to the sum if you challenge — it may be held, re-offered lower, or keep rising, and fees or enforcement can continue meanwhile.
Use the official route. Use the method, recipient and form your notice specifies, with any reference, evidence and signature it asks for. Sent elsewhere, it may not count.
Only say what is true. Do not copy any statement of fact unless it is true for you, and check the legal point still applies. Delete what does not fit. It may be treated as your statement.
Careful what you volunteer. Avoid unnecessary admissions — naming the driver or accepting responsibility can remove arguments. But answer anything you are legally required to answer, and do include the evidence your ground needs.
Keep the record. Keep what you sent, the attachments, any receipt, and the reply. Note the next deadline.

Sample wording to adapt and send yourself — it may not fit your notice or the stage you are at. Replace the bracketed prompts with your own details; leave any case citation as it is.

To: [Authority] [CAZ/LEZ/ULEZ] Team Re: PCN [PCN_NUMBER] On [DATE_LETTER] I received correspondence from your authority [letter/email/call] confirming my vehicle was exempt/compliant. Copy enclosed. I relied on this representation. Under R v North & East Devon HA ex p Coughlan [2001] QB 213, you cannot now penalise me contrary to your prior assurance. Please cancel. Yours faithfully, [Keeper Name]

Beat It writes this argument automatically

Scan your PCN — our AI checks if this ground applies to your specific ticket and drafts an appeal letter. You check it and tap send: we send it in your name where the council takes email, or through the council’s own website where we can; otherwise we guide you through their own online form so you press submit, or give you a letter to post. The win fee is only charged if you win.

Council told you your vehicle was compliant before the fine

Legal basis

How to identify this in your case

Sample appeal wording

Beat It writes this argument automatically

Sources

Related appeal grounds

Next steps