How to Appeal a Parking Ticket

So you’ve come back to your car and found a parking ticket tucked under your windscreen wiper. What do you do next?

First things first: No matter how tempting it is don’t make a scene by grabbing the ticket and ripping it up, shouting angrily in the direction where the offending traffic warden might be. If you do this then you’re basically destroying your own evidence. Whatever the reason you got your ticket, it doesn’t follow automatically that you will have to pay the fine. A lot of people think along the lines of ‘Well if they’ve given me a ticket I must be in the wrong – even if I didn’t realise it, right?’

Wrong. That’s What They Hope You’ll Think.
It’s a little known fact that over 65% of parking ticket appeals is successful. 40% of those appeals are never even contested by the council because there are some very strict guidelines that surround the issuing of parking tickets - and in many cases the officers distributing tickets just don’t stick to them. This often happens in places where parking enforcement has been outsourced out to private companies who focus on making money for shareholders – and that doesn’t always mean by following the rules to the letter. With 8 million parking tickets issued in 2005, there are a lot of wrongly issued tickets that are never contested, simply because people just don’t know what to look for.

So What do I Need to Look for?
If you catch the warden issuing the ticket: Ask them why you have been issued with it and write down their reply exactly as they say it to you. If what they say isn’t 100% correct then there is a good chance this could be your way out of paying the fine.

Look at their outfit: can you tell by looking at them that they are in Parking Enforcement? Do they have a patrol number/Company or council name in full view? If not, this can work in your favour too once you begin the appeals process - especially if you can get photographic evidence that backs up your claims.

What Do I Look for on the Road?

• Check road markings and road signs for parking information in the area
• Are the signs exactly as represented in the Highway Code?
• Look for signs that contradict other signs or markings
• Look for double yellow lines that do not end properly
• Are the double yellow lines obscured due to snow, leaves, litter etc?
• Are there road/parking signs that are too dirty to read?

If you find any of the above it can result in the cancellation of your ticket so take photographs to back up your findings.

Finally, you can contact the council in the area you were ticketed and ask them for a copy of the Traffic Regulations for that area. Check what they send you and what is actually there. Any discrepancies might be just the ticket to get you off the fine!

I Have my Evidence, Now What?
Once you have gathered together your evidence, write to the issuing body named on the back of the ticket as soon as you can and tell them why you don’t think you should have to pay the fine.

Give them clear reasons and include evidence: photos, paid for pay and display ticket/transcripts from the issuing officer etc. Do remember that the people in this department will be faced with outlandish claims every day (and may well publish the best ones somewhere on the internet!) so keep to the facts, and state your case clearly and concisely or you will find your appeal rejected straight away.

Within a few weeks you should receive notification from NPAS (National Parking Adjudication Service) that both your claim has been upheld and your fine cancelled; in which case you can breathe a sigh of relief, or that it has been received and rejected; and the fine still stands. At this point you will need to decide whether you are just going to pay up – the 50% reduced rate stands if you sent your appeal within 14 days of receiving the ticket – or if you wish, you can take the appeal further to a judicial review. However you need to be aware that this is where you start to involve solicitors and where your bill starts to mount up. Only carry on to judicial review if you are 100% sure you can win, as if you lose you may be slapped with the original fine topped up with solicitors fees and court costs.