Parking operators have 35 working days to respond to an appeal and during this period, the operator should place a hold on the PCN until they have completed their investigations. A PCN should not increase or be passed to debt recovery until you have received the response, and if your appeal has been rejected.
If you have made an appeal but received no response within 35 working days, then the parking operator may be in breach of the Code of Practice as set by its trade association.
If this happens you have two options to pursue the matter further.
Make a formal complaint to the parking operator
Most parking operators will have a complaints policy which should be available on its website. There should be a number of ways to make a complaint including a postal address and either an email address or online form to complete.
In your complaint, we recommend that you refer to the Code of Practice and highlight the specific parts of the Code that have been breached.
If you have received further letters from the parking operator or the PCN has been passed to a debt recovery agency, despite you not having received a response to your appeal, then you can highlight how the parking operator has not only failed to respond within 35 days but has also failed to place a hold on the PCN as per the Code of Practice.
The response timeframe will vary depending on the operator and may take up to 28 days.
Escalation
If you do not receive a response from the parking operator or you remain unhappy with the response, then you can report the parking operator to its trade association.
To find out which trade association your parking operator is a member of, just use the links below.
When you contact them, tell them when you made your appeal, provide any acknowledgements you received from the parking operator along with copies of the formal complaint and the response provided. Highlight to them how the operator has breached its Code of Practice.
The trade association will investigate the matter further with the parking operator.