LEZ repeat penalty wrongly calculated — 90-day reset ignored

In a Low Emission Zone (LEZ), the fine goes up each time the same vehicle is caught in the same zone. But if 90 days or more pass between one offence and the next (measured from the date each offence was detected, not the date the penalty notice was issued), the count resets and you are treated as a first-time offender again. The authority may have got this wrong — for example by counting from the wrong date, or by adding up offences from different zones or different vehicles together, which is not allowed.

Legal basis

SSI 2021/177 reg 4(1)–(10); Schedule 4; reg 8(4)(e)

How to identify this in your case

Compare detection dates of all PCNs for SAME vehicle/SAME LEZ. If gap ≥90 days, surcharge should reset. Or surcharges aggregated across LEZs/vehicles — wrong.

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.

Dear [COUNCIL] LEZ Team, Re: PCN [PCN_NUMBER] Representation under reg 8(1); ground reg 8(4)(e) — penalty exceeds the amount applicable. The PCN charges £[AMOUNT] as an [Nth] contravention. However: [Choose:] — Under reg 4(6)–(7), a contravention ≥90 days after the most recent previous contravention in the same vehicle/LEZ is treated as a first contravention. My most recent prior contravention in vehicle [VRN] in [LEZ] was on [PRIOR_DATE], being [N] days before [CURRENT_DATE]. Should be a first contravention with £60 (£30 reduced). — Reg 4 surcharges accumulate only in the SAME vehicle in the SAME LEZ (reg 4(10)). The prior contraventions you have aggregated are in [different LEZ / different vehicle]. Correct charge: £[CORRECT_AMOUNT]. Please cancel and re-issue. Yours faithfully, [NAME]

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 sends it for you where the council takes email — guiding you through their own online form where they use one, so you press submit. The win fee is only charged if you win.

LEZ repeat penalty wrongly calculated — 90-day reset ignored

Legal basis

How to identify this in your case

Sample appeal wording

Beat It writes this argument automatically

Sources

Related appeal grounds

Next steps