TE9 or PE3? Challenging an Order for Recovery

But you have to use the right form, and this is where most guidance, including a lot of it online, gets it wrong.

Which form do you need?

The two families of form are not interchangeable, and filing the wrong one wastes the time you may not have.

All of them go to the Traffic Enforcement Centre at the County Court Business Centre, 21 to 27 St Katharine's Street, Northampton NN1 2LH.

GOV.UK publishes two versions of the TE9 and TE7: one pair titled for Dart Charge, Mersey Gateway and clean air zone charges, and another, published in July 2022, for a traffic enforcement order outside London boroughs or a parking charge in a London borough. Form PE3, the statutory declaration, belongs to the TfL road user charging schemes, the Congestion Charge, LEZ and ULEZ, under the 2001 Regulations. All the forms sit under CPR Part 75.

So if a council issued your penalty, TE9 is your form, not PE3. A good deal of guidance, including some still online, routes council penalties to the PE3; regulation 23 of the 2022 Regulations makes a witness statement the instrument, and it has worked that way since the 2007 regulations.

What has already happened by this stage

Traffic penalties follow a fixed sequence, and knowing which step you are on tells you what is still available.

1. A penalty charge notice is issued.
2. If unpaid or unsuccessfully challenged, a notice to owner follows.
3. A charge certificate increases the amount.
4. The debt is registered at the Traffic Enforcement Centre.
5. An order for recovery is posted to you.
6. A warrant of control is issued and enforcement agents are instructed.

The order for recovery is what turns an unpaid penalty into a court-registered debt. The PE3 or TE9 is your response to that order.

It is not an appeal about whether the contravention happened. That argument belonged at an earlier stage and these forms do not reopen it.

The grounds you can declare

For a council penalty, regulation 23 of the 2022 Regulations says the TE9 witness statement must state one and only one of the following:

• You did not receive the enforcement notice, the document many people still know as the notice to owner. This commonly applies where paperwork went to an old address after a house move or a vehicle sale.
• You made representations to the enforcement authority, but did not receive a notice of rejection.
• You appealed to an adjudicator against the rejection of your representations, but had no response, or the appeal had not been determined by the time the charge certificate was served, or it was decided in your favour.
• You have already paid the penalty charge the certificate relates to.

The printed form invites you to tick every box that applies, but the regulation is the rule: pick the single ground that is true and stay with it.

For a TfL Congestion Charge, LEZ or ULEZ penalty, the PE3 statutory declaration offers three grounds only: that you did not receive the penalty charge notice; that you made representations to the charging authority but did not receive a notice of rejection; or that you appealed to an adjudicator against the rejection but had no response to the appeal. There is no ground on this route for a penalty you have already paid.

Note what is not on either list: that the ticket was unfair, that the signage was poor, or that you have since sold the car. Those are not grounds at this stage.

The PE3 must be sworn; the TE9 is not

A TE9 is a witness statement verified by a statement of truth: you sign it yourself, and no oath is needed. A PE3 is a statutory declaration, not a form you simply sign and post.

The PE3 must be sworn before a Commissioner for Oaths (for example a solicitor), a Justice of the Peace at any magistrates' court, or an officer of your local county court. A fee may be payable, though magistrates' courts will often administer the oath free.

Any amendment to a PE3 after it has been witnessed requires it to be re-witnessed, and a declaration without a full postal address will not be accepted.

If you have been told that every form filed at the Traffic Enforcement Centre needs swearing, that is wrong too. Only the PE3 statutory declaration does; the TE9's statement of truth needs no witness at all.

The criminal warning on the form

This is worth quoting in full, because it is printed on the PE3 and it is not decorative:

> Filing a false declaration knowingly and wilfully is a criminal offence under Section 5 of the Perjury Act 1911 and you may be imprisoned for up to 2 years or fined or both.

The TE9 is not sworn, but it is no safer to bend: it is a court document verified by a statement of truth, and a false statement in it carries its own consequences before the court.

Tick a box only if it is true. "I did not receive it" means you did not receive it, not that you received it and set it aside. If you are unsure whether a ground applies, take advice before signing or swearing the document.

If you are past the deadline: form TE7 or form PE2

You normally have 21 days from service of the order for recovery to file.

If that has passed, you can still apply out of time: TE7 for a council, Dart Charge, Mersey Gateway or clean air zone penalty, PE2 for a TfL Congestion Charge, LEZ or ULEZ penalty. You will need to explain why it is late, and the court decides whether to allow it. A good reason, honestly explained, is often accepted.

Do not let lateness stop you from filing. An application that may be refused is better than no application.

What happens after you file

If the declaration or witness statement is accepted, the order for recovery is revoked and the warrant of control falls away with it. The enforcement agent's authority disappears, and the enforcement fees added under that warrant go with it.

The penalty itself does not vanish. The process usually returns to an earlier stage, and the council may re-serve the notice, giving you the chance to make representations or pay at the original amount rather than the inflated one.

That is the real prize: not cancellation of the ticket, but removal of the enforcement fees and a fresh opportunity to challenge or pay.

Tell the enforcement agent, in writing

Filing does not automatically stop a visit, because the agent may not know.

Send them written confirmation of what you filed and when, and keep the court's receipt or sealed copy. They are not obliged to halt simply because you say so, but many firms will hold action, and the written record matters if fees are later disputed.

Where you have applied out of time on a TE7 or PE2, Practice Direction 75 goes further than goodwill: while the application is pending, the local authority must suspend enforcement of the local authority warrant of control until the application for an extension order is determined. If an agent presses on regardless, quote paragraph 8.1 of Practice Direction 75 to the authority in writing.

Do the same with the council.

Where this leaves you

If a council issued the penalty, use TE9, and TE7 if you are late. No swearing is needed, just the statement of truth.

If it is Dart Charge, Mersey Gateway or a clean air zone, it is TE9 and TE7 as well.

If it is the TfL Congestion Charge, LEZ or ULEZ, use PE3, and PE2 if you are late. Have it sworn.

If it is a London bus lane or moving traffic penalty, check the form enclosed with your order for recovery; those schemes run under separate London legislation.

Check the grounds honestly before signing or swearing anything, given the warnings each form carries.

Tell the enforcement agent and the council in writing, with proof of filing.

If the order for recovery is revoked, ask the council in writing to confirm the position and the balance now due.