The Penalty Charge Notice (PCN)
The receipt of a PCN requires a payment of £50 or £70, depending on the contravention occurred. However, if you pay within 14 days you will receive a 50% discount and will only have to pay £25 or £35.
If payment is not received within 14 days, the owner of the vehicle may be sent a statutory notice known as a Notice to Owner (NTO), which will allow them to pay the full amount.
If payments or representations are still not made within 28 days of the NTO, the Council may send a Charge Certificate and the cost of the original penalty charge will be increased by 50% of the original charge and allows 21 days for payment, beginning with the date of posting.
If payment has not been received after 21 days, we may register the charge with the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) at Northampton County Court to recover the unpaid charge. The TEC is part of the County Court based at Northampton that deals with the registration of debts from England and Wales for all unpaid Penalty Charge Notices. See Her Majesty's Courts Service website for more details.
After the TEC has sent confirmation to the council that they may proceed to recover the charge, we have 15 days to prepare and serve the following forms on you:
- Order for the Recovery of Unpaid Penalty Charge
- Witness Statement If the Charge Certificate is not paid within registered as a civil debt at the County Court. The cost of the PCN will also go up by 50% of the original charge.
The Penalty Charges associated with PCN’s are civil debts, with payment due to the Local Authority, and are enforceable through a streamlined version of the normal civil dept recovery process. The Council has the option to recover unpaid debts by the use of bailiffs.
