How to Fill Out and Submit Form TE9: Unpaid Penalty Charge

To fill out Form TE9, download it from GOV.UK, enter the penalty charge number and vehicle registration exactly as they appear on your order for recovery, tick the single ground that matches your situation, type your name under the statement of truth, and send the completed form to the Traffic Enforcement Centre by the deadline printed on the order.¹ Filing it on time triggers a stay on enforcement, so bailiffs must stop chasing the debt while the court reviews your case.²

Confirm TE9 Is the Right Form

The Traffic Enforcement Centre uses different forms for different contraventions, and sending the wrong one wastes time you may not have.

Form TE9 is a witness statement. Use it for parking penalty charges, Dart Charge penalties, and Clean Air Zone penalties. You sign it by typing your name; no witness is needed.¹

For unpaid ULEZ or Congestion Charge penalties issued by Transport for London, and for London bus lane offences, you need Form PE2 or PE3 instead. Those are statutory declarations and require a physical signature witnessed by a solicitor or at a county court. A typed name will not do.

If you are not sure which category your penalty falls into, check the order for recovery. It identifies the issuing authority and the original penalty charge notice, which tells you which form belongs on your desk.

Pick the One Ground That Applies to You

You can only file a TE9 if your situation matches one of the grounds listed on the form. Tick a single box. For London borough parking contraventions you are limited to one ground in any event.¹

You did not receive the penalty charge notice (or notice to owner). This is the most common ground, and it covers notices sent to an old address, lost in the post, or never issued.

You made representations to the local authority within 28 days of the notice to owner but never received a rejection notice.

You appealed the authority’s rejection to an adjudicator within 28 days, but received no response. On the road user charging version of the form, you can also use this ground if the appeal was not decided before the charge certificate was issued, or if the appeal was decided in your favour.³

You already paid the penalty charge in full before the order for recovery was made. On this ground you must give the date of payment, the payment method, and who you paid. The court can ask for proof later.¹

If none of these describe your situation (for example, you received the notice but forgot to pay), TE9 is not open to you. Pay the debt, or contact the local authority directly.

Filling In the Form

The form is a single page, but every field is used by the centre to find your case. Keep the order for recovery (Form TE3) next to you while you work through it; most of the identifying details are printed there.¹

Copy the penalty charge number and the vehicle registration number exactly as they appear on the order for recovery. Enter your full name and current address. Tick the one ground that applies. If you ticked the “paid in full” box, complete the payment details section with the date, method (cash, cheque, card), and the name of the organisation you paid.

The form ends with a statement of truth. Typing your name in the signature field is a declaration that the facts in your statement are true. Anyone who makes a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth, without an honest belief in its truth, can face proceedings for contempt of court.⁴ Contempt can mean a fine or, in serious cases, imprisonment. A genuine mistake is not contempt; deliberately lying on the form is.

Evidence to Have Ready

The form does not require you to attach documents, and the instructions do not list evidence for most grounds. Even so, have something ready in case the authority challenges your statement. If you are saying you never received the notice, a council tax bill at a different address or a Royal Mail redirect confirmation helps. If you are saying you paid, keep the bank statement or receipt accessible, because the form warns that proof of payment may be requested.

Sending It to the Traffic Enforcement Centre

You can submit the completed form by email or by post:⁵

Email: tec@justice.gov.uk
Post: Traffic Enforcement Centre, Civil National Business Centre, St Katharine’s House, 21–27 St Katharine’s Street, Northampton NN1 2LH

The form must arrive by the deadline printed on the order for recovery.¹ What matters is the date the centre receives it, not the date you post it, so leave room for delivery if you send it by post. Email is faster and gives you a sent record if the filing date is ever disputed.

If the Deadline Has Already Passed

A lot of people only find out about the penalty when a bailiff knocks. By then the deadline on the order for recovery has often gone. You can still file, but you submit Form TE7 alongside your TE9. The TE7 asks the court for permission to file your witness statement out of time, and you need to explain why you missed the original deadline, such as living at a different address and never seeing the order for recovery.

Late filing does not automatically cancel the debt. The court sends your statement to the local authority, which decides whether to consent to the late application. If the authority refuses, the debt stays in place unless you take the matter further through a court application.

What Happens Once Your Statement Is Accepted

If the centre accepts your TE9, the order for recovery is revoked under Civil Procedure Rule 75.8. The court serves a copy of your statement on the local authority, any enforcement warrant stops having effect, and the authority must instruct its enforcement agents to withdraw.²

Revocation does not erase the penalty charge. It rewinds matters to an earlier stage so you can handle the charge through the proper channels. Depending on your ground, the authority may re-serve the notice, reconsider your representations, or accept that the charge was already paid. If it re-serves the notice, you get the usual chance to pay at the discounted rate or make representations.

Bailiff fees added to your debt are cancelled once the revoking order is issued. Any money you already paid to an enforcement agent should be refunded, typically within about two weeks of the revoking order and through the same method you used. A seized vehicle must be released, and storage and removal charges fall away with the rest of the fees. Keep a copy of the revoking order. If an enforcement agent contacts you after revocation, show them the order and send them to the local authority; they have no legal basis to keep collecting.

If Your Statement Is Rejected

The centre can reject a witness statement, for instance where the ticked ground does not match the facts, or where the authority produces evidence that the notice was properly served. You can ask a court to review the rejection by filing Form N244, a general application notice. The fee depends on how the review is handled:

Without a hearing (on paper): £123
With a hearing: £313⁶

If you receive certain benefits or have a low income, apply for fee remission using Form EX160. Full remission is available if you receive income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Universal Credit with earnings under £6,000 a year, or Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit), and have savings below £4,250. Partial remission may be available on income grounds without those benefits.⁷

In the N244, explain why the rejection was wrong and attach any supporting evidence. A judge will either reinstate your witness statement or uphold the rejection. If the judge sides with you, the order for recovery is revoked and the process above follows.

1
GOV.UK. TE9 Witness Statement
2
Justice UK. Part 75 – Traffic Enforcement
3
GOV.UK. Witness Statement – Unpaid Penalty Charge
4
Justice UK. Practice Direction 22 – Statements of Truth
5
GOV.UK. Appeal Against a Penalty Charge Notice – If You Get a Court Order
6
GOV.UK. Senior Courts Costs Office Fees
7
GOV.UK. Get Help Paying Court and Tribunal Fees