Recovery of written-off Penalty Charge Notices

The Council requires a specialist debt recovery service for written-off or aged Penalty Charge Notice cases that have been returned by Enforcement Agents as uncollectable under the statutory PCN enforcement process.

The Provider will be assigned aged PCN debt cases, typically over 365 days old, where standard enforcement is no longer viable. The Provider will review referred cases, investigate individual debtor circumstances, generate a propensity-to-pay score for each case, and use this information to determine whether recovery action should be taken and the most appropriate recovery approach.

The service will be delivered on a commission-only, no-win-no-fee basis, with no upfront or ongoing cost to the Council. The Provider will receive a percentage commission only on successful recoveries. The Council expects to refer approximately 400 to 1,200 cases per calendar month, with an anticipated 10% recovery rate on cases passed to the Provider.

The service will include case review, tracing, customer contact, payment recovery activity, management reporting, financial audit reporting, and support through SRA-regulated legal recovery routes where appropriate.