Got a letter you don’t understand? Find out what it actually means.
Official letters are written to be taken seriously, which is not the same as being written clearly. This site explains the common UK penalty and enforcement letters in ordinary English: what the document actually is, whether it was generated automatically or a person is involved, what the deadlines are, and whether there is a way to challenge it.
No sign-up, no account, nothing to buy. Every page names the official source it was checked against and shows the date it was last reviewed, so you can see for yourself whether it is current.
Which letter have you got?
DVLA
DVLA untaxed vehicle fine
Usually a Late Licensing Penalty of £80, halved to £40 if you pay within 33 days. Most are triggered because vehicle tax does not transfer when a car is sold.
TV Licensing
TV Licensing letter
These letters are sent automatically to addresses with no licence recorded. A visiting officer can only enter with your permission or a search warrant.
DVLA
SORN penalty letter
A SORN vehicle must be kept off the public road. Being parked on the street counts as "kept on a public road", which is what generates most of these letters.
NHS Business Services Authority
NHS Penalty Charge Notice
Five times the charge you should have paid, capped at £100, plus the original charge. Answering the first enquiry letter is how most people avoid the penalty entirely.
Councils, TfL and private parking companies
Parking ticket — “I wasn’t the driver”
For a council PCN the registered keeper is liable, so "I was not the driver" is generally not a defence. For a private parking charge, the rules are different and you can name the driver.
Police, councils and TfL
FPN or PCN — which have I got?
A PCN is civil and has a formal appeal to an independent tribunal. An FPN is an alternative to prosecution and has no appeal — you either pay or go to the Magistrates’ Court.
National Highways, city councils and TfL
Dart Charge and Clean Air Zone PCN
Dart Charge must be paid by midnight the day after you cross. Miss it and the PCN is £70, reduced to £35 within 14 days. Clean air charges are set city by city.
Any issuer — and the people impersonating them
Is this penalty letter genuine?
Most posted penalty letters are real, and most scams arrive by text or email. The only reliable test is confirming it through the official service you found yourself, never through a link in the message.
All seven letter types compared
What happens if you don’t respond?
Every one of these letters has a next stage, and every next stage costs more than the one before. Here is what follows each, and how long you have.
Reference
Penalty letter jargon explained
LLP, OCS, PCN, FPN, NtO, NtK, POFA, TEC. What each term means, and which letter it belongs to.
How this site works
Every page follows the same shape, because when you are worried you should not also have to learn a new layout. It opens with a short, honest answer. Then it explains what the document is, whether it is automated, what your options are, the amounts and deadlines, whether the letter can be left alone, and how a challenge works where one exists.
Figures are the part people get wrong, so they are handled carefully here. Each amount and deadline comes from the issuing body’s own published guidance, and the link to that guidance sits at the bottom of the page. Where an official source does not publish a figure, this site says so and points you at the number printed on your own letter rather than inventing a general one. Charges change, so the review date matters as much as the number.
There is one thing you will not find here: encouragement to ignore a letter. Most of these documents are produced automatically, which is reassuring in the sense that nobody has judged you — and precisely why silence does not help. An automated process escalates on a timetable and cannot learn that you sold the car, that your exemption certificate was valid, or that you were never the driver. Saying so, in time and with dates, is almost always the better move.
Check My Letter is independent. It is not connected to any government department, local authority or enforcement body, and it cannot deal with your case for you. It is general information, not legal advice. If your situation is complicated or a lot of money is involved, Citizens Advice and qualified advisers exist for that, and the issuing body’s own contact details are on your letter.