Traffic Penalty Tribunal launches new online appeals portal

A new online portal to help motorists appeal against parking fines issued by English and Welsh local authorities outside London goes live today (Monday 14 March).

The platform has been developed by the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) in partnership with Resolver.co.uk, an online consumer complaints service.

A new online portal to help motorists appeal parking fines issued by English and Welsh local authorities outside London went live on 14 March. The platform has been developed by the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) in partnership with Resolver.co.uk, an online consumer complaints service.

TPT hopes that offering online appeals will see an increase in the number of motorists who contest unfairly issued penalty charges notices (PCNs). Currently, just 0.5% of people issued with PCNs appeal to the tribunal, even though half of those who appeal do have their fine overturned.

Brighton & Hove City Council will be the first authority to offer the new service. Brighton’s policy and development manager Paul Nicholls said: “We are very excited to be the first local authority to use the portal. It reduces the time taken to process appeals, streamlines our communication with appellants and cuts the cost of administration, which benefits all of our residents.”

By the end of this year, all motorists whose appeals are dealt with by TPT will have the option to appeal online. It enables drivers to appeal the fines via smartphones, tablets, laptops or PCs. They can also upload videos and photographic evidence.

The platform will be available to drivers who receive a PCN for parking or bus lane contraventions in England outside London, and in Wales. The system also allows people to appeal fines for the Dartford Crossing and Durham congestion charge.

TPT anticipates that the system will also make the process quicker and cheaper for local authorities, with the tribunal’s independent adjudicators able to decide cases within days rather than weeks.

Caroline Sheppard, chief adjudicator of the TPT, said: “Getting a parking ticket can be a frustrating experience, but our new portal makes the appeals process quicker, simpler and more transparent, putting paid to the old adage that ‘the wheels of justice grind slowly’. The platform has already generated considerable interest from other areas of the UK judiciary because it is fast, efficient, accessible and will bring cost savings to local authorities as well as simplifying the process for those appealing.”

The new system builds on TPT’s experience of running a prototype in the south-west, Bristol, Cardiff, Manchester, Leeds and for the Dartford River Crossing. Brighton’s service has been refined to take account of how people used of the original system.

People who make representation to a local authority receive a PIN number enabling them to access the online appeal option. “You can go online and immediately upload what you say,” she said. “The council will see it straight away. They can upload their evidence and the adjudicator can look at it within days. Or, if you want to have a telephone hearing with the adjudicator, that can be arranged, usually within a fortnight.”

Sheppard expects the new system to encourage more people to appeal. “Because it is very open and it is very easy for people to upload different varieties of evidence. In the past they found it a bit difficult to pull a page from their Facebook, which proved, where they were or something like that. The councils in our pilot schemes are very happy to see what people send,” she said.

However, she noted that one of the reasons why there are few appeals is that drivers pay half if they settle a PCN within 14 days. “Of course, most people think that’s the easiest way to proceed,” she told the BBC.

TPT has worked with Resolver.co.uk over the past 12 months to develop the new portal. Resolver is a free online complaints service that allows consumers to raise manage and resolve complaints with more than 30,000 companies and other organisations across the UK. To date, it has helped more than three million consumers seek redress.

In 2015 TPT reviewed the user experience of ‘pathfinder’ councils using a proof of concept appeal portal through which the tribunal handled over 2,000 digital appeals. “The feedback from appellants, local authorities, adjudicators and tribunal administrators has been extremely valuable in shaping the next iteration of the portal,” said Sheppard. “Pathfinder authorities have particularly welcomed the savings in time and resources brought about through digital appeals handling.”

• Luton Borough Council: “The time taken to prepare a case file has dramatically improved. The average time for a case, from preparation of documents to their upload onto the portal, is no more than 30 minutes”. 
• Manchester City Council: “Our printing costs have reduced by 85% plus savings in postage.”
• Bristol City Council: “Initial monitoring of our incoming processing of appeals is showing a time saving of a minimum of five minutes per case, by not having to copy, scan, input etc. In the current climate this new portal is good news and will assist Bristol's move to smarter working”.

The latest iteration of system is called FOAM (Fast Online Appeal Management) on account of the increased speed that the process allows.

It is expected to make the operation of the tribunal more efficient. Sheppard said: “The tribunal has been able to re-focus its staff on customer service responsibilities rather than scanning and data entry. The ability to message through the system, rather than prepare Adjournment Directions, has significantly reduced both time and resources for the tribunal as well as the parties. More often than not the parties reply to the adjudicator and upload any additional evidence required in a couple of days.

Digital appeals at a glance

• Authorities issue information on accessing the portal to the motorist through the Notice of Rejection
• There is no need for the authority to post an appeal form to the appellant
• Any requests for hard copy forms are direct to the tribunal – tribunal staff then enter these on to the portal with authorities alerted that they must post evidence to the appellant
• Evidence is submitted online by both parties who may view and comment on each piece of evidence
• An authority dashboard with “calls to action” to manage  and follow cases
• Dashboard filtering and reporting facilities
• Instant messaging enables a more inquisitorial approach
• “Next steps” facilities guide the parties through the process and email prompts for appellants explaining the process and what actions are required
• Any hearing requests take place once the authority has submitted its evidence
• The portal is accessible on smartphones, tablets, laptops and PCs.