Information on parking fines

A parking ticket, or Penalty Charge Notice (PCN), can be issued to a vehicle that is parked in breach of parking regulations. PCNs can be issued on the street or in car parks. We can also send a PCN by post if a vehicle is driven away while it is being issued.

Pay a parking fine

Appeal a parking fine

If you think your parking ticket has been wrongly issued, you can view images of the contravention online.

Find out more about how to appeal a parking fine.

How much are parking and traffic fines?

If you pay the fine within 14 days of issue you'll get a 50 per cent discount.

There's a London-wide two-tier parking penalty scheme with fines awarded based on the location and the seriousness of the contravention.

The whole of the Royal Borough of Greenwich is zoned as Band A.

View parking and traffic charges (London Councils website)

Understand why the parking ticket was given

Any Penalty Charge Notice issued will show a contravention code and may show a suffix (letter or number behind the code). Each suffix describes the reason the ticket has been issued.

View a full list of contravention codes and suffixes (London Council's website)

Observation times

Some parking restrictions may have exemptions. To work out whether an exemption does apply, a Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) will observe your car for a certain time.

For example, if your car is seen in a permit bay without a permit, the CEO will wait for a time as it may be that you have parked and then gone to collect a permit or visitor voucher from a nearby address.

The observation time is not for motorists to go shopping or pop to a cash point.

What happens if you do not pay a parking fine

If you do not pay within 28 days of issue we'll send you a Notice to Owner document, advising you of your options.

If the notice remains unpaid, we'll then send you a Charge Certificate, which increases the charge by 50 per cent.

If the charge remains unpaid after these steps, we'll register the debt at a County Court and this could then lead to a visit from a bailiff - also known as a civil enforcement agent.

The civil enforcement agent is empowered to seize the vehicle and/or property to the value of the original PCN plus the costs of collecting it. This could amount to several times the value of the original fine.

Enforcement agency fees

Bailiff fees are set by the Ministry of Justice. In most cases, the fees are:

  • £75 when your case is sent to the bailiff
  • £235 if you ignore a letter from bailiffs and they have to visit you
  • £110 if they have to take your goods and sell them at auction.

You'll have to pay the bailiff for any action they take against you, such as storing your goods or using a locksmith.

Contact the enforcement agencies

The Royal Borough of Greenwich has appointed two civil enforcement agencies to collect outstanding debts in connection with penalty charge notices.

If your debt is assigned to a civil enforcement agency you must discuss payment options with the agency and not the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

You can contact the relevant agency using the following links: