Appealing to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal

The Traffic Penalty Tribunal decides appeals against road user charging penalties in England outside London: the Clean Air Zones, the Dart Charge and merseyflow. You can only appeal after the authority has rejected your representations.

Time limit

28 days beginning with the date of service of the notice of rejection, or longer if the adjudicator allows (SI 2013/1783 reg 11(1)–(2)). The adjudicator can allow more time even after the 28 days have passed.

What the adjudicator can do

• If a statutory ground applies, the appeal must be allowed and the PCN cancelled (reg 11(6)–(7)).
• If no ground applies but there are compelling reasons, the adjudicator can recommend cancellation. The authority must reply within 35 days; if it does not, it is treated as accepting (reg 11(9)–(14)).
• There is no appeal against an authority's refusal of a recommendation (reg 11(12)).

Costs and payment

The notice of rejection must tell you about the adjudicator's power to award costs (reg 10(1)(b)). The tribunal warns that if your appeal fails, the full PCN will need to be paid.

Preparing your appeal

1. Read the reasons in the notice of rejection.
2. Repeat your ground and answer the authority's reasons point by point.
3. Upload all evidence to the tribunal, including anything you sent before.
4. Check the tribunal's published key cases for similar facts.