Appeals · evidence · deadlines

If you have already got a court order

An order for recovery is not the end of it. There are 21 days, one form and four grounds — and a warning worth reading before you sign anything.

UK-specific guidanceSources shown on every guideReviewed 8 September 2026

An order for recovery is the point at which most people assume it is over. It is not, and there is a specific form for saying so.

When the debt is registered at the Traffic Enforcement Centre you have 21 days to pay or to challenge the order. Challenging it is done by filing a witness statement, not by writing a letter to the council.

21 days, and one form

The form is Form TE9, a witness statement filed with the Traffic Enforcement Centre.

The witness statement has four permitted grounds, and they are all about the process rather than about the parking:

  1. You did not receive the notice to owner telling you how to make a formal challenge.
  2. You made a formal challenge on time but never received a notice of rejection.
  3. You appealed to the tribunal on time but never received a response.
  4. You have proof that you paid the penalty charge, such as a card statement.

Filing it withdraws the order for recovery, and enforcement agents can no longer seize your property. The council then either cancels the notice, issues a fresh notice to owner, or refers the case to the tribunal — so the process restarts rather than simply ending.

If the 21 days have gone

If the 21 days have already passed, Form TE7 is the application for more time. It is filed alongside the witness statement rather than instead of it.

Read this before you sign

A witness statement is a statement of truth. Filing one that is not true is a serious matter in its own right, quite apart from the parking charge — so this route is for people who genuinely did not receive the paperwork, not for people who ignored it.

The stage you were meant to be at →

Common questions

I have had a letter from enforcement agents. Is it too late?
Not necessarily. If you never received the notice to owner, or challenged on time and never got an answer, filing form Form TE9 withdraws the order for recovery and stops enforcement agents acting. If the 21 days have already passed, form Form TE7 asks for more time and is filed alongside it.
Does filing the witness statement cancel the ticket?
No, and this is the part people misread. It cancels the court order, not the penalty charge. The council can then issue a fresh notice to owner and the statutory process starts again — which is usually what you want, because it gives you back the representation and appeal rights you never got to use.
I did get the letters but could not afford to pay. Can I use the form?
No. The grounds are about what you did or did not receive, not about whether paying was affordable. Filing a witness statement that is not true is a serious matter in its own right. Contact the council about a payment arrangement instead — that is a conversation authorities do have.
Does it cost anything to file?
Filing the witness statement itself does not carry a fee at the Traffic Enforcement Centre. Check the current position on the form and its guidance notes before you send it, since fees and forms are the part of this process that changes most often.

Sources

Figures last checked 8 September 2026