Congestion Charge :(

flyingscotno1

Shafted wrote: »

I've already been told it's not a fine, advice which I think is correct.

What offence am I guilty of that someone is punishing me?

Even if I am guilty, how can they fine me before trial?

Yes technically it is a 'Penalty Charge Notice' but for the general public it is a 'fine' and essentially it is a fine by another name. Even Boris states he got a 'fine' for the same thing you did!

The 'offence' you are guilty of is driving in the congestion charging zone without payment. London has decriminalised offences and to explain it simply this means the system is different. For example in my area if you get a parking ticket it is issued by the police and court is a last resort if I do not agree I was guilty and pay upfront, I can contest it in court. In London they are issued by local authorities, in this instance TfL, and you can agree you were guilty and pay up front, else make representations and appeal to an adjudicator.

They are not essentially 'fining' you but for all intensive purposes that is what this is, and they are simply offering you a way to settle if you agree with them if not you have to make a representation with a reason and the adjudicator will decide who is correct. Bit more complex but that is it in simple terms.

One thing- don't ignore it or turn up with 'I didn't know I had entered' or 'I didn't know how to pay' because this is unlikely to be winning reason.

Shafted_2

You seem to know what you are talking about, surely there's some way you can get time to pay if you cannot afford it?

Shafted_2

Sorry can't really help, and doubt whether you'll get much advice here.

honest_guy wrote: »

Hi please can someone help last yr we was hit with baliffs at the doors saying they wanted £517 fine for a congestion charge not payed the yr before but had only 1 letter and forgot about it so payed it .. now had them here again this morning saying in march we didn pay a congestion again this time not sure if us but since march we have not recieved 1 letter and they say tough we have to pay and they have clamped our car and say they will take it in 48 hours if we have not payed please what can i do. i honestly recieved no lbetters im sure they dont send letter out and they should do it recorded

Crabman

honest_guy wrote: »

Hi please can someone help last yr we was hit with baliffs at the doors saying they wanted £517 fine for a congestion charge not payed the yr before but had only 1 letter and forgot about it so payed it .. now had them here again this morning saying in march we didnt pay a congestion again this time not sure if us but since march we have not recieved 1 letter and they say tough we have to pay and they have clamped our car and say they will take it in 48 hours if we have not payed please what can i do. i honestly recieved no letters im sure they dont send letter out and they should do it recorded

Go to Pepipoo.com as this is probably beyond what anyone can help with here. Hopefully it's not too late but you should get some good advice there - good luck

1968gmr

I think a class action is needed...

British people V Transport for London

As an example i went on a leisure break to london (spending several hundreds pounds at businesses in my capital city) .. and i toured around on the bus and light railway , boat and tubes.. On leaving my hotel , south of the river , i heard the blackwall tunnel was closed due to cables coming down.. so i foolishly tried to come back north by road sign but hit the C zone area in london.. I too thought with all the cameras , that can pick up spots on your face , that this must be an auto charging system.. as no public notificaton to the driver showed payment within 24 hours was required to avoid a £60 fee... what if you are on holiday in London for a couple of days as most people on leisure breaks are ?

I hadnt even got home from my trip to be able to check how payment takes place before these second hand car salesmen (legalised cowboy clampers) had turned a £10 fair charge into a £60 and then deliberately escalating £120 14 days later.. I appealed but this is all designed to trap tourists with no appeal AGAINST LACK OF INFORMATION supplid by TFL to visiters.. so a class action is needed ... citing the failure by TFl to inform people outside the M25 about payment methodology... full and complete failure .. no newspaper ads in the North , no letters to home address etc.. thus an illegal charge i would argue has been levied on all people that this none informing of charging mechanism has affected.. If a class action can gather momentum i would hope to return ALL first time offence charges levied on individuals outside the M25 where TFL cannot show they have informed people UK wide to the same standard regarding the 24 hr post entry clock countdown , as Londoners and people living inside the M25.

This has to have been by design .. to take easy money from none informed tourist..that is a dereliction of duty and reponsibility by TFL.

and Those up north dont take kindly to legalised robbery of hard working individuals.

so i will attempt to get a class action going to return fines to first offenders that through geography have not had fair and equivlent scheme operation information made available.

How ignorant are those that are familiar with the scheme because they live in London, that claim people who have never and will never see a congestion charge in the North should know how Londns shady post charging scheme works..

a Once bitten , twice shy charging approach should not be raified in a british court.. The seller of these goos and services have not taen adequate steps to equivalently inform about charging for pre and most seriously post Congestion charge zone entry.

The consequence of that for TFL should be to return all the qualifying levied fees to the provinces and hence to their local economies.

THEN THEY WILL CONSIDER WHAT IS REALLY FAIR ... i support traffic limiting scemes in certain grid locked areas in the UK ..but not with unfair charging rules ... seemingly rubber stamped by some local court ..

that is the start of the road to civil unrest... More qualified and senior judges need to rule on these matters and that can only be achieed through a class action that i will put my name down as the first plaintif.....

taffy056

thisa thread is about 2 years old, please create a new thread dedicated to your problem as people may not see this

adouglasmhor

taffy056 wrote: »

thisa thread is about 2 years old, please create a new thread dedicated to your problem as people may not see this

Or like me may to give a flying one as we don't believe someone can be so dumb as to not know about the charge or believe it was an automatic payment.

Coupon-mad

I know you are sooo p'eed off that you've bumped a 2-year old archived thread - and indeed perhaps your part of 'up North' is grim, 1968gmr - but you don't live in another Country! (except if it's Scotland).

I don't live 'up North' and I don't live in 'that London' either but I still know enough about the Congestion Charge to realise that you have to pay up front/on the day to avoid extortion. Like most people in other parts of the UK - South, West, East and North - I never got any info, never saw a clock counting down to it, don't even know really which area it would be charged in.

But if I were going to 'that London' I wouldn't drive there if I could avoid it, but if I had to drive there I would check out the CC zone first, online. Up North they also have t'internet, I hear...you clearly do.

Shoulders and chips spring to mind...along with mushy peas (oooops sorry, 1968gmr but your comment 'those up north dont take kindly to legalised robbery of hard working individuals' got my back up. You seem to think those South of the Watford Gap are another species or summat?). :huh: