How we verify what’s on this site

Primary sources only

The contravention-code meanings and penalty bands come from the published London Councils / Transport for London common code framework. The statutory grounds for appeal come directly from the relevant regulations on legislation.gov.uk. The procedural deadlines come from gov.uk and the appeal bodies’ own guidance. Each load-bearing figure carries a citation chip linking to its source and showing the date we last checked it. The full list is on the sources page.

No fabrication

If an authority does not publish a particular figure — a band, a deadline variation, a portal URL — we leave it blank and tell you, rather than guessing. A plausible-looking number that we could not verify is worse than an honest gap, because a missed deadline or a wrong charge band has real consequences.

The common framework, and where authorities differ

Most London boroughs and TfL use a shared set of numeric contravention codes (the London Councils common framework). Authorities outside London operate under the same Traffic Management Act 2004 regime but publish their own code lists, which broadly mirror the framework. Where an authority varies from the framework, the figures and code list on your own notice and the issuing authority’s page govern. We always link you to that page.

Council PCNs vs private parking charges

We keep the two regimes clearly separated, because they have entirely different rules, deadlines, and appeal bodies. A council or TfL Penalty Charge Notice is a statutory charge under the Traffic Management Act 2004, appealable to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (outside London) or London Tribunals (in London). A private “parking charge notice” is a contractual invoice issued on private land, appealable to POPLA or the IAS depending on the operator’s trade association. See the council PCN guide and the private parking guide.

Refresh cadence

Penalty charges and code lists are reviewed periodically; authorities most often adjust charges in spring and autumn. We re-verify on a quarterly cycle and stamp every page with a last-verified date. What changed and when is logged on the changelog.

Professional review

Professional review in progress. Our reviewer pool for this site is UK civil-enforcement professionals — a solicitor with parking-tribunal experience, or a former Traffic Penalty Tribunal adjudicator. Until a reviewer’s credential is verified, we say so honestly rather than claim a review that has not happened.

Privacy by design

The decoder and the letter builder run entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter — the code, the council, the grounds, your draft text — is sent to us or stored. See the privacy notice.