Find Key Cases
Browse key cases using the filter for either ‘Contravention type’ OR ‘Issue’. Alternatively, use the ‘Search…’ box to find cases through a custom query.
Cases on the site currently cover parking, bus lane, moving traffic and road user charging, including the London Congestion Charge and Clean Air Zones (outside London). More cases and contravention types will be added in due course.
Please note: All adjudicator decisions included on this website are in the public domain. While they have been curated together here for the convenience and interest of users, any information contained within the decisions remains the responsibility of the original adjudicating body. Any questions relating to the content of cases should also be directed to the adjudicating body.
The signs or lines were not clear (or visible) at the time I was issued the PCN, am I still liable to pay?
Decision Date: 2023-10-12
When challenging or appealing a PCN, you should provide any evidence, such as photographs, relating to the signs or lines you think were not clear and/or provide an explanation as to why.
Signs and lines serve to advise the motorist of a restriction and must not mislead. Trifling omissions, however, do not render a sign or line unenforceable. So long as the sign or marking does not mislead and remains substantially compliant with the requirements of the regulations, the restriction is enforceable.
See Key Case: R (on the application of Herron and Parking Appeals Limited) v The Parking Adjudicator and others (2010) and Letts v London Borough of Lambeth PATAS 1980151656 (1980).
My vehicle was broken down at the time the PCN was issued, am I still liable to pay?
Decision Date: 2023-10-12
This can be a valid ground of appeal but full details of the circumstances of the breakdown should be provided, as well as evidence of the recovery and/or repair of the vehicle. It is for you to prove that the vehicle could not be moved due to a mechanical failure. A bare assertion is unlikely to be sufficient.
My vehicle was stolen at the time the PCN was issued, am I still liable to pay?
Decision Date: 2023-10-12
You should provide a crime reference number from the police when submitting a challenge or appeal against the PCN, which will be taken into account in assessing whether you are liable to pay.
I was hiring / leasing a car at the time the PCN was issued, am I still liable to pay?
Decision Date: 2023-10-12
As the hirer / lessee, you will have likely signed an agreement accepting liability of penalty charges issued during the hire / lease period, so will likely be liable for the PCN.
I sold the vehicle before the PCN was issued, am I still liable to pay?
Decision Date: 2023-10-12
While sale of a vehicle is a valid ground of appeal, it must be remembered that the burden of proof rests with you as the registered keeper at the time the PCN was issued (identified by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency [DVLA] database) to demonstrate that a sale has taken place. A bare assertion will rarely be sufficient evidence to transfer liability of the PCN.
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