Pay-by-Phone System Was Down When You Tried to Pay
Government guidance does not cover payment apps, so this is a request for the council's discretion. The guidance says that if an on-street parking meter or pay-and-display machine in England is out of order, and parking there has not been suspended (with clear signs saying so), drivers should not be given a parking ticket unless another way to pay was available and clearly signposted. Where the council's only way to pay was an app or phone line and that service itself failed — not your phone, signal, card or account — and no other way to pay was available and clearly signposted, you can ask the council to cancel the ticket on similar reasoning, as a compelling reason. Keep evidence that the service itself failed, and note the time. Because the guidance does not cover apps, a tribunal cannot allow an appeal on this alone: it can only recommend that the council cancel, the council can decline with reasons, and there is no further appeal to the tribunal against that.
Legal basis
Secretary of State's statutory guidance to local authorities in England on civil enforcement of parking contraventions (GOV.UK, updated 20 October 2022), 'Out of order parking devices': "if an on-street parking meter or pay-and-display machine is out of order (and parking has not been suspended and clearly indicated as such to motorists), motorists should not be issued with a PCN unless alternative means of payment were available to the driver and clearly indicated." Formal representations based on compelling reasons: Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Representations and Appeals) (England) Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/576), reg 5(2)(b)(ii). The guidance applies to England only and names on-street meters and pay-and-display machines. The guidance also states that authorities "will be expected to explain any decision not to implement the terms of the guidance, and adjudicators may consider it to be a procedural impropriety, sufficient to allow an appeal if no sufficient explanation is provided" (procedural impropriety: SI 2022/576 reg 5(4)(f)). Where representations rest on compelling reasons alone, an adjudicator who does not allow the appeal may only recommend cancellation (reg 7(8)); the authority must reconsider and respond within 35 days, giving reasons if it declines (reg 7(9)-(10)), and no appeal to the adjudicator lies against its refusal (reg 7(11)).
How to identify this in your case
Did the council's app or phone line itself fail? Only argue this with evidence that points to the service rather than your own phone, card, account, vehicle details or location code — for example an outage notice or status-page incident, an admission from the operator or the council, or other drivers reporting the same failure at the same time. Keep screenshots and note the time. Then check whether parking there had been suspended, and whether another way to pay (a working pay-and-display machine, for example) was available and clearly signposted at the location. If it was, this ground is unlikely to apply.
Sample appeal wording
Sample wording to adapt and send yourself — it may not fit your notice or the stage you are at.
When I tried to pay, the council's cashless / pay-by-phone service itself was not working, parking at the location had not been suspended, and no other way to pay was available and clearly indicated. Government guidance to councils in England says that where an on-street parking meter or pay-and-display machine is out of order in those circumstances, motorists should not be issued with a penalty charge notice. The guidance does not mention payment apps, but I ask the council to use its discretion to cancel this penalty charge notice on similar reasoning, as a compelling reason.
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