How to challenge an out-of-time bus lane or moving traffic PCN

What does an "out of time" PCN mean?

An "out of time" PCN is a bus lane or moving traffic penalty where the normal deadline to pay or challenge has passed, so the council has registered the debt as an Order for Recovery at the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC). You can no longer use the standard appeal process, but you can still act.

Bus lane and moving traffic penalties follow a fixed timeline. You get a Penalty Charge Notice, then a chance to make representations, then a Notice of Rejection if the council disagrees. If none of those steps are answered in time, the council registers the charge as a debt at the TEC in Northampton and issues an Order for Recovery.

Once an Order for Recovery lands, the amount can rise and the council can pass the case to enforcement agents (bailiffs). The good news is that being out of time is not the end of the road. The TEC keeps a specific reset route open for exactly this situation, and using it correctly can pause enforcement and undo the order.

Why you might have missed the deadline

Most people who go out of time never ignored anything on purpose. The usual reasons are that the original notice never arrived, you moved house, the notice went to an old or incorrect address, you were away or in hospital, or you did challenge but never received the reply. Any of these can be a valid ground.

The paperwork for a bus lane or moving traffic PCN is posted to the registered keeper address held by the DVLA. If you sold the car, recently bought it, changed address without updating the logbook, or the letter was lost in the post, the first you may hear of it is a bailiff letter or an Order for Recovery demanding a much larger sum.

You do not need a dramatic excuse. The route exists precisely because notices go astray and life gets in the way. What matters is that your reason is true and fits one of the recognised grounds, because you will be stating it under a formal declaration.

How the PE2 and PE3 route works

To challenge an out-of-time bus lane or moving traffic PCN, you file two forms with the TEC: the PE2 and the PE3. The PE2 asks the TEC for permission to file late. The PE3 is your statutory declaration setting out the substantive grounds. Both are submitted together and both must be sworn in person before an authorised witness.

The PE2 is the "Application to file a Statutory Declaration out of time". It explains why you are acting after the deadline. The PE3 is the statutory declaration itself, where you state, on one of three grounds, why the penalty should not stand. These forms are used for bus lane and moving traffic contraventions at the TEC under Civil Procedure Rules Part 75.

Filing with the TEC is free. The step that carries a cost and a rejection risk is getting the PE3 witnessed correctly. Per gov.uk PE3 guidance, a statutory declaration is a sworn document, so it must be signed in front of a qualified independent witness, not simply posted off with your own signature.

What grounds can you use on the PE3?

The PE3 statutory declaration lets you declare one of three things: you did not receive the original Penalty Charge Notice, or you made representations to the council but received no rejection reply, or you appealed against the rejection but had no response before the charge was registered. You pick the ground that matches your facts.

In plain terms, the three grounds cover the ways the process can break down. Ground one is the most common: the notice never reached you. Ground two covers a challenge you sent that was never answered. Ground three covers an appeal that was never dealt with before the debt was registered.

You must only declare what is true. A PE3 is a formal statutory declaration, and a false declaration is an offence under the Perjury Act 1911 (section 5), which carries up to two years in prison. This is not a reason to be afraid of the form, it is a reason to state your genuine situation plainly and let the facts stand.

Why the PE3 must be witnessed in person

A PE3 must be sworn in person, on the original printed hard copy, in front of an authorised witness: a solicitor or Commissioner for Oaths, a magistrate (Justice of the Peace), or an officer of the County Court. The TEC expects an in-person sworn declaration. You do not sign the PE3 in advance, you sign it in front of the witness.

This is the single point where most people either get stuck or get rejected. The form is a declaration made under oath, so the witness has to see you sign it and confirm your identity. A random solicitor you find yourself may charge you, will not help you fill the form in, will reject it if it is completed wrong, and many firms will not witness a PE3 at all.

This is why the Statutory Declaration Witness service exists. For £49 you get a booked appointment with a qualified solicitor and Commissioner for Oaths who swears your PE3 and PE2 together in person, checks your form is filled correctly before you sign, and covers the statutory oath fee. Appointments are usually within the same week and take around ten minutes.

The 21-day window and what happens after filing

Once an Order for Recovery is registered, you have 21 days to file your PE2 and PE3 with the TEC. Filing a valid PE2 and PE3 suspends enforcement, typically for six to eight weeks, while the TEC considers it. If accepted, the order for recovery is revoked and the penalty resets to an earlier stage.

Do not wait. The 21-day clock is short, and if it passes you can still apply but you must give a good reason for the further delay on the PE2, which is harder. Acting inside the window keeps things simple and stops enforcement agents adding fees while your case is looked at.

After you file, the TEC pauses the case and sends your declaration to the council. The council can either accept it, in which case you effectively go back to an earlier point and can deal with the penalty properly, or contest it, which may lead to a hearing. Either way, filing a valid, correctly witnessed declaration is what stops the debt escalating in the meantime.

Parking tickets are different (TE7 and TE9)

This route is for bus lane and moving traffic contraventions only. If your penalty is for a parking contravention, you use different forms: the TE7 and TE9. Crucially, a TE9 is a witness statement signed with a statement of truth, so it does not need a third-party witness. You can do it yourself.

Because a parking TE9 needs no independent witness, you do not need a witnessing service for it. Check your PCN: if it refers to a parking contravention under the Traffic Management Act 2004, you are on the TE7 and TE9 path and can handle it without booking anyone.

For parking penalties, use Parking Ticket Pal at parkingticketpal.com, which walks you through the TE7 and TE9 for free. Only bus lane and moving traffic penalties need the PE2 and PE3 sworn in front of an authorised witness, and that is what this service is for.

Frequently asked questions