London Borough of Haringey (26 003 386)
Category : Transport and highways > Parking and other penalties
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 18 May 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the enforcement of a Penalty Charge Notice. It is reasonable to expect the complainant to apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre to seek to regain their appeal rights and, if successful, to use her right to appeal to a tribunal.
The complaint
- The complainant, Miss X, says the Council failed to follow the correct procedure for a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) and denied her the right to appeal against it. She says the matter has wrongly progressed through the enforcement procedure. Miss X also complains about how the Council handled her complaint.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes limits on what we can investigate.
- We cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court or use a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court or appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(6)(a) and (c), as amended)
- London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London, and the Traffic Penalty Tribunal for the rest of England. The Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC), part of the county court, considers applications to set the PCN process back where there has been procedural fault.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information from the complainant and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Miss X became aware she had been issued with a PCN in January 2025. Miss X says she did not receive the necessary paperwork about the PCN or the escalation to enforcement stages as it was sent to a former address. The Council used information from the Driver and Licensing Agency (DVLA). The course of redress for Miss X is the TEC.
- Miss X complains about the Council’s handling of her complaint. It is not a good use of our resources to investigate how a Council has handled a complaint if the substantive matter does not fall to be investigated. That is the case here.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint because it is reasonable to expect the complainant to apply to the TEC to regain her appeal rights and, if successful, to use her right to appeal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman