An Order for Recovery informs the registered keeper of the vehicle that a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) has been registered as a debt. The PCN is registered as a debt and the Order for Recovery is sent if no payment is received in response to the Charge Certificate.
The debt will be registered with the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) at Northampton County Court to recover the unpaid charge. A fee of £9 is added to the debt to cover the court registration fee. The TEC is part of the County Court based at Northampton that deals with the registration of debts from England and Wales for all unpaid penalty charge notices. See Her Majesty’s Courts Service website for more details.
When the debt is registered, you will be sent:
- Order for the Recovery of Unpaid Penalty Charge
- Witness Statement
Once you have received an Order for Recovery you can either:
- Pay the outstanding amount which will consist of the penalty charge and a court registration fee of £9 to the council by the date shown on the Order for Recovery, or
- Complete the Witness Statement and return it to the TEC by the date shown on the Order for Recovery.
If no payment is received and no witness statement is made, we can request authority from the TEC to use a certificated Enforcement Agent to recover the outstanding debt arising from the PCN. This is done with a legal document called a warrant of execution. Enforcement Agents are entitled to add statutory fees. Further information can be found on the Enforcement Agents page.