Parking ticket appeal template 2022

• We reveal how to appeal a council parking ticket
• Discover where you're most likely to get a ticket
• Download our free appeal letter template

Chelmsford has been revealed as the place that you're least likely to overturn an unfair parking fine with just five drivers successfully challenging a fine between January and September 2019.

We submitted Freedom of Information requests to every city and borough council in the country to uncover just how inconsistent councils are when it comes to adjudicating on parking appeals.

While Chelmsford council accepted just five appeals out of a whopping 5,546 (0.1%), 45 miles away in Lambeth, 91% of parking appeals were successful - despite raking in £17 million in parking fines between 2018 and 2019.

Other areas where you're unlikely to be successful if you appeal include Haringey in London where just nine per cent submitted were successful, and Leeds where 13% of drivers won appeals.

Data revealed that more than 350,000 parking appeals were submitted nationwide between January 2019 and September 2019 - with one in three (34%) succeeding.

The harshest councils were revealed as:

• Chelmsford (0.1% of appeals won)
• London Haringey (9%)
• London Greenwich, London Merton and London Sutton (12%)
• Leeds (13%)
• And London Waltham Forest (19%)

London motorists face very different outcomes depending on where they are caught parking illegally - with five councils featuring in the harsh list, but in contrast those issued with parking fines in London Lambeth can almost be guaranteed a successful appeal.

The places most likely to accept a parking appeal across the UK were:

• London Lambeth (91%)
• Milton Keynes (90%)
• Portsmouth (69%)
• Wigan (67%)
• Kirklees, Yorkshire and Coventry (both 60%)

In our survey of 2000 car owners revealed one in four admit to rowing with their neighbours over where they park their cars. The figure rose to nearly half (41%) of 16 to 24 year olds being caught up in parking fury and one in 10 drivers said they had been compelled to leave a sign out reserving their spot.

Determined to help people who think they're the victim of an unfair parking fine, we've put together this template letter, which gives you everything you need to challenge an appeal.

Free parking penalty template letter

[Insert your name and address]

[Insert date]

[Insert council name and address]

Parking Ticket Number: [Insert ticket reference number]

Vehicle Registration Number: [Insert vehicle registration number]

Date of Fine: [Insert fine date that appears on the ticket]

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to challenge the above Penalty Charge Notice.

On [date] I received a parking ticket for the reason of [include offence code and official reason for issue as stated on the Penalty Charge Notice]. But I believe that [choose relevant option: the fine was issued wrongly / there are mitigating circumstances to why I was parked where I was/the length of time I was]. Therefore I would like to submit an appeal for the following reason(s):

[Choose from the following list and expand where necessary]

• I wasn’t driving the vehicle at the time and therefore am not liable for the fine
• My car had been stolen on [insert date] and therefore I wasn’t driving the vehicle at the alleged time and date of the alleged contravention. Please find enclosed correspondence from the police as proof.
• The alleged contravention didn’t happen as I wasn’t parked inappropriately/didn’t park there over the allotted time limit. Please find enclosed evidence to prove this was the case.
• The signage was not clear so I wasn’t able to determine what the parking restrictions were/that there were in fact any parking restrictions. Please find enclosed evidence to show this.
• [Explain any mitigating circumstances for why you were parked where you were/for the length of time you were - referencing any relevant evidence]. Please find enclosed evidence to support this.
• I made an honest mistake and I simply can’t afford the fine at this time. Please find enclosed proof of my current financial situation as proof that I don’t have the funds to be able to pay the Penalty Charge Notice.
• [Include any other reasons to support the appeal including as much evidence as possible.]

Yours faithfully,

[Insert your signature]

[Insert your printed name]

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