9.1 At the date of this Guidance, the Penalty Charge Notice rate in the County is set at £70 for higher level contraventions and £50 for lower level contraventions both on and off-street. In accordance with National Guidance, a discount amount of 50 percent of the penalty charge is available within 14 days of Penalty Charge Notice issue.
9.2 Payment is accepted by the NPP (Notts Parking Partnership) in a variety of ways. The Penalty Charge Notice contains information on how to pay via the internet, by telephone or by post to the processing centre. Once full payment is accepted by the NPP, the case is closed on that date and all further enforcement action ceases.
9.3 As a general rule the NPP will not offer either extended time in which to pay Penalty Charge Notices nor will they enter into instalment payment arrangements. Exceptions to this are only made in cases of demonstrated, genuine financial hardship agreed with the NPP manager although such arrangements will not be considered if a Bailiff warrant(s) has been issued for recovery of the amount due. Application must be in writing and will be responded to within eight working days and the application must contain the proposal for payment and be accompanied by any evidence supporting the claim of financial hardship, like, for example a C.A.B. financial assessment.
For all cases, the following procedures will normally be followed and detailed in the centre’s response;
(i) Where the debt involves multiple Penalty Charge Notices the Council expects the settlement of at least one per month.
(ii) Payments will be applied to the oldest Penalty Charge Notice first thereby preventing the payment of discounted Penalty Charge Notices first.
(iii) a minimum payment of £10 per week.
(iv) Wherever possible payment to be made by post-dated cheques to be held by the Council for presentation on the due dates.
(v) Non-payment of any cheque will result in enforcement action being recommenced and all un-banked cheques being returned to the drawer with a letter stating that the arrangement is cancelled and the full amount is now payable.
(vi) Where payment by cheque is not available, payments by postal order or credit card will only be accepted at the Council’s processing centre.
(vii) The Council will maintain a separate active file for each arrangement reached which, will be reviewed by a senior manager each month.
9.4 The penalty charge is usually payable by the owner of the vehicle except if the vehicle was hired at the time of the contravention. The charge is not payable if criminal proceedings have been taken or a Fixed Penalty Notice issued with respect to the contravention.
9.5 If no payment or challenge (see below) is received, A Notice to Owner will be issued 28 calendar days after the Penalty Charge Notice was issued. Details of vehicle ownership will be supplied by the DVLA. Included with the Notice to Owner will be copies of all evidence relating to the Penalty Charge Notice issue including photographs to reduce the likelihood of unfounded representations.
9.6 Should a Penalty Charge Notice be issued on a vehicle with a diplomatic registration plate, then the Notice to Owner will not be sent but a record of the fine will be kept and passed to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office annually for pursuit.
9.7 If the Penalty Charge Notice has not been paid within 28 days of the Notice to Owner being issued and no representation or appeal is being considered then a charge certificate will be issued. This will increase the lower level charge from £50 to £75 and the higher level charge from £70 to £105. If a charge notice is issued before an appeal is decided, the appellant may use a witness statement to render the charge certificate null and void. In such cases, the adjudicator is expected then to cancel the Penalty Charge Notice.
9.8 14 days after the issue of a charge certificate, an informal pre-debt registration letter will be sent informing the vehicle owner that the matter will be passed to the Traffic Enforcement Centre for registration as a debt. This is not a legal requirement but is a procedure based on national good practice that often results in payment being received at this stage.
9.9 If the penalty charge is not paid 14 days after the pre-debt registration letter has been issued, the authority will apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre at Northamptonshire County Court to register the debt. The current registration fee of £5 is added to the debt.
9.10 If payment continues to be withheld, the debtor is sent an Order for Recovery and Witness Statement advising of a further 21 day period to either pay the debt or swear a Witness Statement.
9.11 A Witness Statement must be witnessed by a Justice of the Peace or Commissioner for Oaths. It is a criminal offence to file a false Statement knowingly or willingly. There are only 4 grounds for making a Witness Statement;
(i) The Notice to Owner was not received. If this is accepted by the Court, the issuing authority must re-issue the Notice and re-set the penalty charge to either £50 or £70
(ii) A formal representation was made to the issuing authority but the rejection notice was not received. If accepted, the issuing authority must then treat the case as a formal appeal and forward all relevant paperwork to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
(iii) An appeal was made to Traffic Penalty Tribunal but no response has been received. If accepted, all paperwork is to be forwarded to Traffic Penalty Tribunal to determine.
(iv) The penalty charge to which the Charge Certificate relates has been paid in full.
9.12 Failure to either pay or complete a Witness Statement will result in the authority applying for a Warrant of Execution from the Traffic Enforcement Centre.
9.13 Once a warrant of Execution is issued, the authority will instruct approved bailiffs to collect the debt on their behalf. The authority must produce a warrant within seven days of the authorization to do so from the Traffic Enforcement Centre. Read more information about the use of bailiffs [PDF 43KB]
9.14 The vehicle owner may dispute the issuing of the Penalty Charge Notice at three stages;
(i) After the Penalty Charge Notice has been issued but before the Notice to Owner is issued. This is known as the informal representation (or Pre-NtO letters)
(ii) After the Notice to Owner has been issued. This is known as the formal representation
(iii) If the formal representation is rejected, the vehicle owner may then appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) formerly the National Parking Adjudication Service.
Details on how these will be addressed are contained in the following section.
