You have a charge certificate: what it means and what to do

A charge certificate is the authority saying the penalty was not paid in time and is now 50% higher. It comes after the 28-day window closes, or 28 days after a notice of rejection or a lost appeal. You have 14 days to pay before the debt can be registered at court.

Amounts at this stage

Can you still challenge?

Not by normal representations: TfL and the councils say that once a charge certificate is issued you can no longer make them. What remains:

• If the certificate came too early, for example before the 28 days had run, that is a procedural impropriety outside London (SI 2013/1783 reg 8(4)(b)).
• If you never got the PCN, or made representations and got no reply, or appealed and heard nothing, wait for the order for recovery and file the statement then (or tell the authority now and ask it to cancel).
• If you paid, send proof and ask the authority to cancel the certificate.
• In Scotland, if the council accepts late representations it must cancel the charge certificate (SSI 2021/177 reg 7(3)).

If none of those apply

Paying within the 14 days stops the court fee being added. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal notes you may still be able to appeal if you have a notice of rejection, so check whether one arrived.

Not a road user charge? Council parking, bus lane and moving traffic PCNs are covered at councilfinecheck.co.uk, and private car park charges at carparkcheck.co.uk.