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of PCN appeals against City of Wolverhampton Council are won
The Traffic Penalty Tribunal recorded 1,329 outcomes for appeals against City of Wolverhampton Council from 2013/14 to 2024/25, and 998 of them ended with the driver paying nothing. That is 20.7 points better than the 54.4% tribunal average.
What the appeals were about
City of Wolverhampton Council enforces more than one kind of penalty, and drivers do not fare the same on each.
| Penalty type | Outcomes | Not contested | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bus lane | 840 | 391 | 77.7% |
| Parking | 489 | 240 | 70.6% |
631 of those 998 wins were uncontested. In 63.2% of the appeals City of Wolverhampton Council lost, it put up no defence at the tribunal at all. That is the bulk of its losses, which tells you something plain: on most of the tickets that reach an adjudicator, the council would rather drop the case than argue it. Those tickets were not close calls. The authority had already given up on them, and the appeal was the only thing standing between the driver and a cancelled charge.
Is it getting easier or harder?
In 2013/14 to 2015/16, drivers won 68.7% of appeals against City of Wolverhampton Council, from 383 outcomes. In 2022/23 to 2024/25 it was 77.4%, from 283. Drivers are doing better now than they were, by 8.7 points.
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| Year | Allowed | Not contested | Refused | Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013/14 | 24 | 50 | 35 | 67% |
| 2014/15 | 23 | 65 | 28 | 75% |
| 2015/16 | 22 | 79 | 41 | 65% |
| 2016/17 | 9 | 31 | 9 | 82% |
| 2017/18 | 109 | 3 | 6 | 95% |
| 2018/19 | 89 | 34 | 27 | 81% |
| 2019/20 | 44 | 74 | 41 | 73% |
| 2020/21 | 7 | 31 | 25 | 59% |
| 2021/22 | 17 | 68 | 32 | 71% |
| 2022/23 | 15 | 101 | 20 | 83% |
| 2023/24 | 3 | 63 | 19 | 77% |
| 2024/25 | 5 | 32 | 19 | 65% |
| All years | 367 | 631 | 302 | 75.1% |
Busiest year: 2019/20, with 162 appeals decided. A further 29 appeals were closed by consent order across the period, which the tribunal counts separately because it can mean the driver agreeing to pay the original charge.
What this does and does not tell you
These are appeals that reached an independent adjudicator, which is the last stage. They leave out every ticket cancelled earlier, when you first challenge it or make formal representations, and that is where most successful challenges actually end. So your real chance of getting a ticket cancelled somewhere in the process is higher than 75.1%, not lower. Among the 204 authorities in England outside London and in Wales with enough appeals to compare, City of Wolverhampton Council ranks 8th for how often drivers win.
Two details worth knowing before you read too much into the number. The refused column includes appeals made after the deadline and appeals the driver withdrew, so it is not purely a record of arguments that lost on the evidence. And a small number of appeals each year finish with no outcome recorded against any of these categories, so the totals here are of appeals that reached a recorded outcome rather than of every appeal lodged.
Before you write
- Find your contravention code. Every PCN carries a two digit code that says exactly what they claim you did, and what they have to prove. Look yours up.
- Check the deadline. Discounts and rights both expire. Work out your dates.
- Know how appeals work outside London. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal route, step by step.
- Do not just ignore it. What actually happens if you do.
How similar authorities compare
| Authority | Appeals won |
|---|---|
| Gloucester City Council | 79.7% of 143 |
| Coventry City Council | 77.3% of 3,093 |
| Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council | 76.1% of 402 |
| City of Wolverhampton Council (this page) | 75.1% of 1,329 |
| Gwynedd Council | 74.5% of 243 |
| Guildford Borough Council | 74.4% of 125 |
| Bassetlaw District Council | 73.9% of 153 |
Every authority we hold figures for, with sources →
Source: Traffic Penalty Tribunal, appeals data by authority, covering 2013/14 to 2024/25. The tribunal decides appeals for England outside London and for Wales, across parking, bus lane, moving traffic, clean air zone, river crossing and littering penalties. Every type City of Wolverhampton Council enforces is counted above. A tribunal outcome depends on the evidence in that particular case, so nothing here predicts yours.