Westminster PCN: what it costs, the stages and how a challenge works

A Westminster PCN is a penalty charge notice from Westminster City Council, not from Transport for London and not from a private parking company. Its reference begins WE, WM or WS. It is either fixed to the windscreen or handed to the driver by a civil enforcement officer, or it arrives by post after a camera recorded the vehicle. This guide covers Westminster only; our TfL guide covers red routes, the Congestion Charge and ULEZ.

What is a Westminster PCN?

The council enforces parking on its own streets, and bus lanes and moving traffic rules on its roads, under the civil enforcement regime that applies across London. The council's own guide to common parking contraventions names five: a single yellow line in controlled hours, a loading ban, a pay-to-park bay left unpaid, a residents' or shared-use bay without a valid permit or ticket, and a suspended bay. The officer photographs the vehicle, and the council puts the photographs online within 24 hours of the ticket.

A camera notice comes by post. The council's own guide to moving traffic contraventions names four: entering and stopping in a yellow box junction, a banned turn, failing to follow the direction on a blue arrow sign, and driving a vehicle the signs prohibit. A parking contravention can also reach you by post where the vehicle drove away before the officer could finish the ticket, or where a camera recorded it. Bus lane notices come the same way, and the footage can be viewed online. Our council PCN guide covers the difference between a council notice and a private parking charge.

How much is a Westminster PCN, and when does it go up?

The council's notice of 7 April 2025 set the current levels, up £30 each and the first rise in 14 years. A higher-level parking contravention is £160, reduced to £80 if the council receives payment within 14 days of service. A lower-level one is £110, reduced to £55. The notice says which band applies. A bus lane or moving traffic notice is £160, with the same half rate. A postal parking notice based on camera footage gives 21 days for the half rate instead of 14.

If the penalty is still unpaid when the stages run out, a charge certificate adds half again: £240 on a £160 notice, £165 on a £110 one. Registering the debt at the Traffic Enforcement Centre adds the court's fee on top, £11 on the council's fee sheet from 13 July 2026.

How long do I have?

A notice fixed to the vehicle or handed to the driver gives 28 days to pay or to challenge it. The half rate runs for the first 14 days and does not wait for a challenge; the law lets a council keep the discount open while it considers an early challenge, but does not make it. Westminster says it does: if the discount period was open when you sent your challenge, the half rate is still offered if the challenge fails. Its questions page adds the limits. For a windscreen ticket the offer holds until a Notice to Owner is issued, for a postal notice until a charge certificate is issued, and after that it is the council's discretion.

A postal notice gives 28 days from the date of service to pay or to make formal representations. A Notice to Owner gives 28 days to pay or to make representations. A Notice of Rejection gives 28 days to pay or to appeal. A late appeal can still be taken with a reason the adjudicator accepts.

Who decides a challenge?

First the council. A windscreen ticket can be challenged straight away, online, by email or by post, with the reference, the registration and any evidence; the council aims to reply within 10 working days. That early challenge is informal. If the ticket stays unpaid after 28 days, the council sends a Notice to Owner to the registered keeper, who is liable whoever was driving, and the keeper then has 28 days to make formal representations. A postal notice skips that step: it is served on the keeper and the 28 days for formal representations run from it. The council must answer formal representations within 56 days with a notice of acceptance or a notice of rejection. If it does not, they are treated as accepted.

Then London Tribunals, where the Environment and Traffic Adjudicators hear parking, bus lane and moving traffic appeals from every London authority. An appeal costs nothing, can be decided on the papers or at a hearing, and the decision binds both sides. The adjudicator can only allow an appeal on the statutory grounds, not on mitigation, though a refused appeal can carry a recommendation that the council reconsider.

What are the grounds?

The grounds are fixed by law and are the same at the council and at the tribunal. For a parking notice: the contravention did not occur, which covers signs and lines that did not say what the notice claims; you were not the owner at the time; the vehicle was taken without your consent; the vehicle is a hire firm's and the hirer accepted liability; the penalty is more than the amount applicable; the council did not follow the procedure; the traffic order is invalid; the officer was not prevented from serving the notice at the scene, for a postal notice; or the penalty was already paid. A bus lane or moving traffic notice has the first five. Mitigation is not a ground at the tribunal. Westminster publishes the principles it applies. It considers any written challenge up to a charge certificate, and can cancel for a genuine mistake, strong mitigation or circumstances beyond the driver's control. Which ground fits, and what shows it, is the work of the challenge itself.

What happens if I do nothing?

The notice does not go away. After 28 days with no payment and no representations, or 28 days after a rejection with no appeal, the council can issue a charge certificate for one and a half times the penalty. Fourteen days after that it can register the debt at the Traffic Enforcement Centre, which sends an order for recovery with a witness statement form.

That form is not an appeal. It can only say that you never received the notice or the Notice to Owner, that you made representations and got no rejection, that you appealed and got no answer, or that you had paid in full, and it must go back within 21 days. If it is accepted the registration is cancelled but the notice is not, and the council can start again. If nothing goes back, the council can ask the court for a warrant, and enforcement agents can then recover the penalty and their own fees. Westminster's payment page stops taking online payment once an order for recovery is more than 21 days old, or once an enforcement agent has written. Our guide on a bailiff at the door covers that stage.

Where do the free check and Docketory fit?

The free check reads your notice and its dates, says which stage you are at and whether a challenge is worth making, and what that would cost. If a challenge or representation window is open, Docketory drafts and submits it to the council, and if the council rejects it, prepares the appeal to London Tribunals for you. It never speaks for you at a hearing and never files at court.

What to do next

Note the date on the notice and count 14 and 28 days from it, or 21 and 28 for a camera parking notice by post. Keep the notice, look up the photographs or footage on the council's site, and keep every letter after it. A Notice to Owner, a charge certificate and an order for recovery each start their own clock.

Then check your ticket free. Docketory's Penalty Charge Notice service is from £19.99, plus £15 only if it goes to the tribunal. An order for recovery is a later stage, covered by Order for Recovery, from £29.99. Free help is available from Citizens Advice.

Sources

• Westminster City Council: penalty charge notice FAQs
• Westminster City Council: pay a parking ticket
• Westminster City Council: challenge your parking ticket
• Westminster City Council: consideration of parking ticket challenges
• Westminster City Council: parking fees and charges
• Westminster City Council: parking-related fees and charges from 13 July 2026 (PDF)
• Westminster City Council: guide to common parking contraventions (PDF)
• Westminster City Council: guide to common moving traffic contraventions (PDF)
• City of Westminster: notice of changes to penalty charges and additional fees from 7 April 2025 (Public Notice Portal)
• London Tribunals: parking PCN enforcement process
• London Tribunals: bus lane PCN enforcement process
• London Tribunals: moving traffic PCN enforcement process
• London Tribunals: grounds of appeal for parking
• London Tribunals: the appeals process explained
• London Tribunals: your questions answered

Last checked: 2 November 2026.

This is not legal advice. For advice on your specific situation, contact a solicitor or a free advice body such as Citizens Advice.