PCN Registered Against the Wrong Person? How to Fix It

The SDW Team · 4 August 2026 · 8 min read

A Penalty Charge Notice landing on your doormat is annoying at the best of times, but discovering it has been registered against you for a vehicle you no longer own, or never owned, is a different problem altogether. This situation is more common than you might think, usually arising from a change of keeper that was never properly recorded, a clerical error at the DVLA, or a vehicle sold privately where the new owner failed to update the registration documents. Whatever the cause, if enforcement action such as bailiff involvement or a County Court judgment is now underway against you for someone else's contravention, you need to act quickly. The good news is that the law provides a specific remedy for exactly this scenario: the statutory declaration.

How a PCN Ends Up Against the Wrong Person

A Penalty Charge Notice, whether for a parking contravention, a bus lane offence, or a moving traffic contravention such as an illegal turn caught on camera, is registered against the person recorded as the vehicle's registered keeper with the DVLA at the time of the alleged offence. Problems arise when:

You sold the vehicle but the buyer never submitted the V5C logbook slip to update the DVLA record.
A vehicle was scrapped, exported, or transferred to a dealer, but the paperwork was lost or delayed.
The DVLA made an administrative error linking the wrong name or address to a vehicle registration number.
You were the previous keeper of a lease or hire vehicle, and the handover paperwork was not processed correctly.

In each of these cases, the enforcement authority (whether a local council or Transport for London) has no way of knowing the DVLA record is wrong. Notices are sent to the address on file, and if they go unanswered because you never received them, the case can escalate through to registration at the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) and eventually to enforcement action such as a warrant of control or an order for bailiffs to visit the address held on record.

Why a Statutory Declaration Is the Right Tool

Once a PCN debt has reached the TEC stage without your knowledge, ordinary appeal routes are usually closed. You cannot simply telephone the council and explain the mistake. Instead, the law allows you to make a formal sworn statement, a statutory declaration, setting out that you did not receive the original notices, or that you were not the correct recipient because you were not the keeper at the relevant time.

This declaration effectively reopens the case. It tells the TEC that due process was not properly followed as far as you were concerned, and it allows enforcement action to be paused while the matter is reconsidered by the issuing authority.

Which Form Applies to You

The correct form depends on the type of contravention:

PE3 is used for bus lane contraventions and moving traffic contraventions (such as those enforced by TfL or a local authority using camera evidence) once the case has reached the County Court Business Centre or TEC stage.
PE2 is a related form used in similar circumstances, typically alongside PE3, depending on the stage the case has reached.
TE7 and TE9 are used for parking contraventions. The TE7 is an application for more time to file the declaration, while the TE9 is the statutory declaration itself, setting out the grounds such as not being the correct person liable.

It is important to use the right pair of forms. Submitting a PE3 for what is actually a parking contravention, or vice versa, will cause delay and may result in your application being rejected on procedural grounds.

The Witnessing Requirement: A Key Difference

One detail that catches many people out is the witnessing requirement, and it differs depending on which form you need.

A PE3 or PE2 statutory declaration must be sworn in person before an independent authorised witness, such as a solicitor, a Commissioner for Oaths, or another authorised person. This is a legal requirement, not an optional formality, and a declaration that has not been properly witnessed can be rejected outright.
A TE9 statutory declaration, used for parking contraventions, does not require this third-party witnessing in the same way. It is still a formal legal document made under statutory declaration rules, but the process for parking cases is generally more straightforward in this respect.

This distinction matters enormously when you are working out what you actually need to do next. If your case involves a bus lane or moving traffic contravention, you cannot simply sign the form at home and post it off. You will need to find someone authorised to witness your signature, which for many people means booking an appointment with a solicitor's practice.

What Happens After You Submit the Declaration

Once a valid statutory declaration is filed with the TEC, several things typically follow:

Enforcement action is paused, including any bailiff instructions or warrant enforcement connected to that PCN.
The case is sent back to the issuing authority, whether that is the council or TfL, for them to reconsider.
You will usually have the opportunity to make representations explaining that you were not the correct keeper at the time.
The authority may accept your declaration and cancel the charge, or it may reissue the notice or ask for further evidence.

It is worth being clear that filing a statutory declaration does not guarantee the PCN will be cancelled. It simply reopens the process so that the underlying dispute, in this case that the notice was registered against the wrong person, can be properly considered. You will usually need to provide supporting evidence, such as a copy of the sales invoice, the V5C new keeper slip, or correspondence with the DVLA showing when the vehicle changed hands.

Practical Steps to Take

If you discover a PCN or enforcement action against you for a vehicle you no longer owned or never owned, consider the following:

Gather any evidence of the sale or transfer, including dated correspondence, receipts, or DVLA confirmation.
Check which type of contravention is involved (parking versus bus lane or moving traffic) so you know whether you need TE7/TE9 or PE2/PE3.
Act promptly. Enforcement action such as bailiff visits can continue while you delay, so time genuinely matters here.
If a PE3 or PE2 is required, arrange for the declaration to be sworn before an authorised witness before submission.
Keep copies of everything you submit and send it by a traceable method where possible.

Getting the Witnessing Done Without the Hassle

Finding a solicitor or Commissioner for Oaths at short notice, especially if you are dealing with this for the first time, can feel like an unnecessary hurdle on top of an already stressful situation. This is where our service can help. We arrange an in-person appointment for the statutory declaration witnessing, currently priced at £49, so you can get your PE3 or PE2 properly sworn without having to track down a willing solicitor yourself. This fee covers the convenience of arranging the appointment and is not a court or statutory fee, and using our service does not affect, and cannot guarantee, how the TEC or the issuing authority will ultimately decide your case.

Next Steps

If you believe a PCN has been wrongly registered against you because of a DVLA keeper error or an unrecorded vehicle sale, the sooner you establish which form you need and get your evidence together, the sooner you can bring enforcement action to a halt and have the matter properly reviewed.