Order for Recovery of unpaid penalty charge

An Order for Recovery of unpaid penalty charge allows the authorities to take legal action to recover the money you owe.

You cannot challenge the PCN at this stage.

After receiving an Order for Recovery, you have 21 days to:

• pay the PCN promptly. If you don’t take action, the matter may be escalated and passed to enforcement agents (bailiffs), potentially increasing the total amount owed
• make a witness statement to the Traffic Enforcement Centre

Grounds for filing a witness statement

You can file a witness statement if:

• you did not receive the Notice to Owner or the Penalty Charge Notice
• you made representations about the Penalty Charge Notice to the charging authority within 28 days of service of the notice, but did not receive a reply (notice of rejection)
• you appealed to an adjudicator within 28 days of the authority’s decision to reject your representations, but one of the following happened:
  • you had no response to your appeal
  • the appeal had not been determined by the time the Charge Certificate had been served
  • the appeal was determined in your favour
• you paid the charge shown on the Notice to Owner or Penalty Charge Notice. You will need to give the date of payment and the method of payment (e.g. cash or cheque)

Page last update: 18 July 2025