Charge Certificate and Order for Recovery
If a penalty isn't paid and no challenge is pending, the council can increase it by 50% with a charge certificate, then register it as a court debt.
Charge certificate
- It can be served if the penalty isn't paid within 28 days of the NtO (or postal PCN), the Notice of Rejection, or the adjudicator's decision. If you withdraw an appeal, it's 14 days from the withdrawal (SI 2022/71 reg 21).
- It increases the penalty by 50%, for example £160 → £240 in London Band A, or £70 → £105 in most of England outside London.
- You can't appeal the charge certificate itself. If it was issued while an appeal was still pending, that can be a procedural impropriety.
Order for Recovery (court registration)
If the charge certificate isn't paid within 14 days, the council can ask the county court's Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) to register the debt (SI 2022/71 reg 22). Councils can add the court registration fee. Westminster's published charges, for example, add £10. You'll then receive an "order for recovery".
After that, you have 21 days to pay or to file a witness statement on one of the permitted grounds. If you do neither, the council can get a warrant and instruct enforcement agents (bailiffs), who add their own fees.
Didn't receive the earlier notices? You may be able to have the order revoked.
Witness statement guideFrequently asked questions
Can I challenge a PCN charge certificate?
Not directly. But if an order for recovery follows, you can file a witness statement within 21 days on limited grounds, for example that you never received the Notice to Owner.
Official sources
- The Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Approved Devices, Charging Guidelines and General Provisions) (England) Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/71)
- Westminster City Council: Parking-related fees and charges from 2 March 2026
- GOV.UK: Parking fines and penalty charge notices
- GOV.UK: If you get a court order (order of recovery)