Informal challenge: the first step

If a civil enforcement officer put a PCN on your windscreen (or handed it to you), you can challenge it straight away, before the council has even looked up the keeper. This is called an informal challenge.

When you can make one

• PCN on the windscreen or handed to you: yes. You can write in at any time before a Notice to Owner is served, but write within 14 days if you want the best chance of keeping the 50% discount.
• PCN sent by post (camera / CCTV, or the 'drive away' cases): no informal stage. The postal PCN is the formal notice, and what you send back counts as formal representations. You have 28 days.
• London bus lane and moving traffic PCNs come by post, so the same applies: reply within 28 days with formal representations.

The discount

A windscreen PCN can be paid at half price within 14 days. If your challenge arrives inside that 14 days and is rejected, the Secretary of State's statutory guidance recommends that councils consider re-offering the discount for a further 14 days. Most do, but they don't have to, so ask for it in your letter.

What to include

1. The PCN number, vehicle registration, date, time and location.
2. A short, factual explanation of why the PCN should be cancelled. If one of the statutory grounds fits (for example "the contravention did not occur"), say so.
3. Evidence: photos of the signs and lines, receipts, app records, permits, delivery notes.
4. A request to re-offer the discount if they reject the challenge.

Use the council's online form if it has one, and keep a copy or screenshot of everything you send.

What happens next

• Accepted: the PCN is cancelled and you don't need to do anything else.
• Rejected: you can pay (at the discount if it's re-offered), or wait for the Notice to Owner and make formal representations. A rejected informal challenge does not stop you challenging formally, and councils should tell you that.
• No reply: unlike formal representations, there is no fixed deadline for the council to reply to an informal challenge. If you hear nothing, wait for the Notice to Owner.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• DfT statutory guidance: civil enforcement of parking contraventions (updated 20 Oct 2022)
• The Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Representations and Appeals) (England) Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/576)
• The Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Approved Devices, Charging Guidelines and General Provisions) (England) Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/71)

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