Wrong penalty band used — charge is too high

Council parking penalties fall into two bands: Band A (higher charge) and Band B (lower charge). Every parking offence code is officially fixed to one of those bands — councils cannot move an offence into the higher band to suit themselves. If your PCN uses Band A for an offence that should be Band B, you have been overcharged.

Legal basis

Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) (Penalty Charges, Hire Vehicles, Exemptions and Definitions) Regulations 2022; DfT Contraventions and penalty band schedule

How to identify this in your case

Check the contravention code on the PCN (e.g. 01, 02, 12, 16, 30, 40). Cross-reference the contravention code against the DfT's official penalty band schedule for outside London (or TfL/London Councils schedule for London). If the wrong band has been applied, the penalty is too high.

Sample appeal wording

Dear Representations Team, Re: PCN [NUMBER] — Vehicle [REG] I formally represent against this PCN on the ground that an incorrect penalty band has been applied. The contravention code recorded is [CODE]. Under the Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) (Penalty Charges, Hire Vehicles, Exemptions and Definitions) Regulations 2022 and the Department for Transport's contraventions schedule, this contravention is classified as Band [CORRECT BAND] attracting a penalty of £[CORRECT AMOUNT]. The council has charged £[CHARGED AMOUNT], which is the Band [WRONG BAND] rate. This charge exceeds the lawfully prescribed maximum for this contravention. The PCN must be cancelled or reissued at the correct amount. Yours faithfully, [NAME]

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

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Sources

Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) (Penalty Charges, Hire Vehicles, Exemptions and Definitions) Regulations 2022 SI 2022/576