How to Challenge a Code 93 PCN: Parking When a Car Park Is Closed

What a Code 93 PCN Alleges

Code 93 alleges parking in a car park when it was closed. A period with no parking charge is not necessarily an open-parking period, and an open gate does not always override a stated closure. The applicable closing condition and the vehicle's presence at that time are central.

Council Car-Park PCNs: Informal Challenge or Formal Representations?

These steps concern statutory council parking enforcement. Check the issuing authority and legislation on the notice: a privately enforced Parking Charge Notice follows a different process, even where the car park or estate is associated with a council.

• PCN fixed to the vehicle or handed to the driver: send an informal challenge to the issuing authority. Explain the particular car-park condition, ground and evidence while the PCN is current.
• Notice to Owner: if the PCN remains unresolved and this notice is served, the owner makes formal representations. An earlier informal challenge does not replace the response to the Notice to Owner.
• Postal parking PCN: make formal representations against that notice rather than waiting for a Notice to Owner. In England, regulation 10 permits approved-device postal enforcement for off-street parking, as well as defined prevented-service or drive-away cases. Check the actual basis of postal service.
• Notice of Rejection: an independent appeal goes to the tribunal named in the rejection. For London civil parking it is London Tribunals; relevant cases elsewhere in England and Wales go to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

The off-street parking order establishes the local parking conditions; the enforcement regulations govern the notice and challenge procedure. Read the scheme and jurisdiction together. The English 2022 regulations should not be applied as though they govern every Welsh or other UK notice.

Car-Park PCN Deadlines and the Authority's Response

A PCN served on the vehicle or driver normally offers a 14-day discount. Send an informal challenge promptly and check whether the authority promises to re-offer the discount after rejection. A machine complaint or request for photographs is not necessarily registered as a challenge.

• A Notice to Owner normally requires formal representations within 28 days beginning with service. Reply to it even if the earlier PCN was disputed.
• For an English postal PCN under the 2022 scheme, formal representations are normally due within 28 days beginning with service. The initial discount is 21 days for an approved-device postal PCN, but normally 14 days for a prevented-service or qualifying drive-away postal PCN.
• For qualifying formal parking representations in England, the authority must serve its decision within the statutory 56-day period. This is not an automatic cancellation rule for an unanswered informal challenge.
• After a formal Notice of Rejection, the normal tribunal appeal period is 28 days beginning with service. Retain the notice, the evidence submitted and the acknowledgement.

London borough parking penalties are set at higher and lower levels: Band A is £160 or £110, and Band B is £140 or £90, before any applicable discount. The code and location determine the level. These are penalties, not parking tariffs; check the actual authority's amount and effective date. Welsh and other schemes require their own deadline and charging check.

Closing-Time, Exit and Permission Evidence

• The opening-hours sign and separate charging-hour information.
• The PCN timestamp and evidence of the vehicle's presence or departure.
• Event instructions, overnight permission or permit conditions.
• Gate-fault, helpline or recovery records explaining why departure was prevented.

Free parking after a tariff ends is not the same as permission to remain after closure. Equally, the authority should identify an actual closing restriction rather than assuming that every non-charging period is prohibited.

Was the Car Park Closed Under Its Parking Conditions?

• The car park was open at the recorded time. Provide the complete opening-hours sign, relevant date and any published holiday or event arrangement.
• The authority confused the end of charging with closure. Compare the tariff and opening conditions and ask which provision prohibited parking at that time.
• The vehicle was not parked during the closed period alleged. Use exit, recovery or other reliable timing evidence to address the PCN record.
• Authorised late parking or an unavoidable inability to leave applied. Supply the permission, gate-fault report or breakdown timeline and explain what assistance was sought.

An overnight permit, event arrangement or specific permission may matter. A general season ticket may still be subject to closing hours. If the council unexpectedly locked the exit or changed access, preserve the instructions and report rather than assuming that every closure automatically cancels a PCN.

What to Include in a Code 93 Challenge

State the alleged closure time, the vehicle's presence or departure and the condition you rely on. Attach the full hours information and any permission. For an exit problem, provide the attempts to leave and contact records in date-and-time order.

Send the Car-Park Challenge to the Issuing Authority

Use the council's online challenge form or postal address on the current notice. Include the PCN reference, registration, car park, disputed condition and the evidence supporting that point. Keep a copy of the completed explanation, every attachment and the dated submission confirmation.

For a Notice to Owner or postal PCN, use the formal-representation stage and applicable statutory ground. If the vehicle was sold, hired or used without consent in circumstances covered by a ground, provide the relevant documents. Saying another person drove the vehicle does not automatically remove the owner's liability for a council PCN.

If the Council Rejects the Car-Park Challenge

An informal rejection can be followed by formal representations when a Notice to Owner is served. A formal Notice of Rejection enables a tribunal appeal. Compare the council's reasons with the parking order, payment or permit records and photographs, and explain the issue still in dispute.

An allowed appeal cancels the penalty. If refused, follow the adjudicator's payment instructions. Missing the payment or appeal deadline can lead to a Charge Certificate increasing the penalty by 50%, followed by debt registration and an Order for Recovery. Those later documents have specific procedural remedies; they are not simply another ordinary appeal against the parking allegation.