Unpaid Penalty Charge Notices

Failure to pay your Penalty Charge Notice will result in action taken under the relevant legislation to recover the penalty charge, so what action will be taken?

After 14 days

You lose the right to pay at the discounted sum after 14 days starting with the date on which the Penalty Charge notice was issued.

After a further 14 days

A Notice to Owner or Enforcement Notice will be issued to the registered keeper (as held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency - DVLA).  Failure to act on this will result in a Charge Certificate.

After a further 28 days

A Charge Certificate will be sent to you notifying you that the charge has increased by 50%.

After a further 14 days

Your debt will be registered at Northampton County Court and a registration fee of £5 will be added to your charge.

After a further 21 days

At the Councils request, Northampton County Court will issue a Warrant of Execution against you for the unpaid sum.  This is then passed to approved bailiffs who will take over the debt and will add on their own recovery fees (i.e. administration, sending bailiffs to your address, clamping your vehicle, removal of goods for auction etc.)

As you can see, the severity and cost of the Penalty Charge Notice can increase rapidly if nothing is done with a £120 fine increasing to £180 and being registered at court within only 2 ½ months.  The penalty charge could have been discharged for £60.00 (if payment was received within 14 days starting on the date the penalty charge was issued).

Therefore you should not ignore any correspondence sent to you with regards to the Penalty Charge Notice, and should read it carefully, it is in your best interests to do so.

Please note that even if you make a payment, if the debt is not cleared and you have not made an instalment arrangement with the Council, then the process to recover the unpaid amount will still continue.