A parking fine means you are needlessly wasting money - as well as involving time-consuming paperwork. The PCN – or Penalty Charge Notice (that's a 'parking ticket' to you and me) - is often an inevitable consequence of client visits or business van deliveries: sometimes your meeting continues longer than anticipated; other times delivery drivers have little option but to make the drop and risk the ticket.

However, you needn't always accept the inevitable, according to Anton Balkitis and Lucy Wood, who are specialist transport solicitors at law firm Rothera Dowson Solicitors.

They suggest that before you rip the yellow ticket off the screen and stuff it into the glovebox, you should first have a look around the area for parking signage to ensure that it is clearly visible and in a good state of repair.

"If not, there’s a possibility that in the eyes of the law the contravention did not occur," believes Anton. "You should also try and obtain photographic evidence – the camera in your mobile will do - if the sign is misleading or illegible, for example due to vandalism. If you don't do this, you won’t stand a chance of challenging the fine."

Lucy adds: "Another way to find out whether or not the PCN is valid is by checking if it has been filled out correctly. It should list the reason that it was given, the amount of fine to be paid, the deadline for payment, a reduced fee amount for payment within 14 days, a statement of notice if the fine is not paid within 28 days, and lastly a return address. If it is missing any of these details, you have legal grounds to appeal as the ticket is invalid."

Steps to challenging the parking ticket

Once the PCN has been issued the council will serve a ‘Notice to Owner’ to the business or owner of the vehicle. The Notice to Owner will contain a form that enables you to challenge the PCN, which the Local Authority either accepts or rejects. If it’s rejected, there are two options.

You can either pay the fine and get on with life; or appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. However, if you do appeal you're likely to lose the reduced rate because this will have expired by the time the appeals process concludes.

Furthermore, if the appeal is rejected for a second time you’ll be billed for the full amount as opposed to the reduced sum. The Local Authority has the discretion to freeze the PCN at the lower rate until the appeal is resolved, and there’s no harm in asking. Some may do it automatically.

What happens next?

You need to respond to the rejection within 28 days, either taking the decision to pay the fee or to make an appeal.

"If you don’t," warns Anton, "the council is likely to take debt recovery steps, making it really important for SMEs to have a procedure in place to ensuring PCNs don’t end up at the bottom of a pile of paperwork."

Lucy adds: "The key to winning an appeal is supporting evidence: obtain photographs of signage, road markings (or lack of them), and particularly important for courier or delivery drivers, a delivery receipt or witness statement if you received a ticket while making a delivery. The tribunal is sometimes more lenient if there are mitigating circumstances that attributed in some way to the PCN, so include these in the appeal."

Anton continues: "The Traffic Penalty Tribunal is the last chance to get the PCN overturned, so make sure as much supporting evidence has been gathered before filing an appeal. If you fail at this stage it’s usually a good indication that you should pay the fine and get on with life. Pursuing it further will be time-consuming and may incur legal costs."

Of course, if you do succeed in appealing against your parking ticket you do get that warm glow of victory: business one, parking attendant nil.

Author Ralph Morton is editor & publisher of Business Car Manager magazine (www.businesscarmanager.co.uk). He was named Business Writer of the Year in the Guild of Motoring Writers Awards and can be contacted at editor@businesscarmanager.co.uk