You paid the penalty but are still being chased

Payments sometimes fail to match a PCN: a wrong reference, a payment taken against a different notice, or a payment made after the authority had already issued a charge certificate. If you have proof that you paid, you can stop the escalation.

Before the debt is registered

Write to the authority with the payment proof and ask it to cancel the charge certificate. Under the England regulations an authority may cancel a charge certificate it has served (reg 17(2)).

After an order for recovery

Outside London, one of the statements you can file within 21 days is that you have paid the penalty charge to which the charge certificate relates (SI 2013/1783 reg 19(2)(d)). GOV.UK also lists proof of payment as a reason to challenge an order of recovery. The London regulations do not list "paid" as a statutory declaration ground, so for TfL penalties write to TfL with proof first.

Proof that works

• A bank or card statement line with date and amount.
• The payment confirmation email or reference.
• For cheques, the cleared cheque.