We will issue a Charge Certificate to the keeper of the vehicle if a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) has not been paid after 28 days from any of the following events:
- Receiving a Notice of Rejection from us and deciding not to appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal
- Receiving a Notice of Refusal from the Traffic Penalty Tribunal
- Receiving a Notice to Owner from us and deciding not to make a representation to the council
Once a Charge Certificate has been issued, there is no further statutory right of appeal. The Council does not have to accept representations at this stage, however may do so in exceptional circumstances.
The Charge Certificate increases the penalty charge by 50% and allows 14 days for payment, beginning with the date the certificate is served.
What happens if I do not want to pay?
If payment has not been received after 14 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 the PCN has been registered with them as a debt, the Council may proceed to recover the charge by serving the following forms on you: