When shd I have rec'd Notice of Rejection?

[gonnagetthemback]

hello,
I appealed against a parking ticket and the council has not cancelled the ticket. To make matters worse, they are saying that they rec'd the appeal late and outside the discount period (i only appealed when we got the notice to owner) and now to pay £100!!!
However they took ages to reply to my appeal. I have searched the net and it looks like the council should write back within 56 days of receiving an appeal, however is this 56 working days, or just 56 days?
Thanks, Sunita

[patdavies]

If you appeal within the discount period, then this is an informal appeal and any letter of rejection is also informal. The Council are not obliged to answer at all!

If you don't pay, you will receive a Notice to Owner (NtO) that will detail how to make a formal appeal. It is this appeal that the Council have to respond to and if they reject the appeal, there must be a formal rejection and the letter must also tell you how to appeal top the adjudicator. If you do not appeal to the adjudicator or pay, then the matter automatically goes to a charge certificate (and a further 50% increase in the penalty).

AFAIK, the only time that 56 days is placed on the Council as a limit is for appealing clamping/removal/storage charges - if they don't reply within 56 days, they are deemed to have accepted the appeal.

If this is a PCN issued from CCTV, then effectively you enter at the NtO stage.