of PCN appeals against Cornwall Council are won

Name: Penalty charge appeal outcomes for Cornwall Council, 2013/14 to 2024/25
Creator: Traffic Penalty Tribunal

The Traffic Penalty Tribunal recorded 1,057 outcomes for appeals against Cornwall Council from 2013/14 to 2024/25, and 539 of them ended with the driver paying nothing. That is close to the 54.4% tribunal average.

1,057appeals with an outcome

539won — nothing to pay

498refused

126 of those 539 wins were uncontested. In 23.4% of the appeals Cornwall Council lost, it put up no defence at the tribunal at all. That is a small share, so expect Cornwall Council to defend most cases and put your argument in front of an adjudicator rather than fold early. 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 49.4% of appeals against Cornwall Council, from 470 outcomes. In 2022/23 to 2024/25 it was 43.5%, from 193. The rate has held broadly steady across the decade.

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Year by year

Year	Allowed	Not contested	Refused	Won
2013/14	88	24	123	47%
2014/15	62	22	63	57%
2015/16	28	8	46	43%
2016/17	17	4	31	40%
2017/18	37	5	33	54%
2018/19	36	15	20	69%
2019/20	41	11	46	51%
2020/21	17	4	13	58%
2021/22	29	7	15	69%
2022/23	17	8	24	50%
2023/24	28	12	52	43%
2024/25	13	6	32	37%
All years	413	126	498	51%

Busiest year: 2013/14, with 240 appeals decided. A further 20 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 51%, not lower. Among the 204 authorities in England outside London and in Wales with enough appeals to compare, Cornwall Council ranks 127th 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
Carlisle City Council	51.6% of 182
Kingston-upon-Hull City Council	51.2% of 877
Suffolk County Council	51% of 194
Cornwall Council (this page)	51% of 1,057
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council	50.5% of 1,234
North Somerset Council	50.4% of 415
Calderdale Borough Council	50.1% of 461

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. Only parking penalties appear in its record. A tribunal outcome depends on the evidence in that particular case, so nothing here predicts yours.