Congestion Charge: Not sure if we entered bt can we get a refund?

cs95aam

Apologies if this has been asked before however after going through 5 pages of search results I can't find anything like this.

My dad was driving somewhere near Kings Cross on Wednesday and he thinks he *may* have entered the zone. He isn't sure and he doesnt know the names of the roads he entered.

Just to be on the safe side we payed the £8. When we called them up as expected they couldnt tell us whether we'd entered the zone. I checked the map on the website and the border is pretty close to the station.

I was wondering is it legal for the government to take our money like this? In the sense that when you pay a company for goods but they cannot for some reason provide them they are obliged to return your money. Doesn't the same principle apply here?

Its just so unfair that we paid when really we may not have entered the zone at all. :mad:

louidog

I can see where you are coming from but what would you prefer?
A £50 fine (or whatever it is!) for not paying the charge or to be £8 in credit if you didn't need to pay the congestion charge?? You might find you will actually be in credit but if not then at least you have paid the charge!

As to if it's legal or not.....it must be if Ken says so! :rolleyes:

Andy_L

http://www.cclondon.com/Penalties-Enforcement.shtml
" Payment of the Congestion Charge allows you to enter, drive within, and exit the Congestion Charging Zone as many times as you wish on that day."

You've been provided with something for you money. You could of gambled the £8 against the £50 fine but decided to play it safe

Conor_3

You cannot miss entering the CC zone. There's big red circles painted on the road with CC in them where the zone starts in addition to the signs at the side. You'd have to be blind to be unaware.

You'll not get a refund but as Andy L said, think of it as playing safe.

And BTW, it's not the government that were taking your money but Ken Livingstone. Your anger is directed at the wrong people.

moneymaster

Just to be clear, you appear to be saying that;

1) Your father may have passed into the congestion zone, but he is not sure.
2) To be on the safe side, he called CC London and asked whether he had passed into the zone, and they could not tell him.
3) He paid the charge in order to avoid a possible fine.
4) If he did not go into the Congestion Zone, can he get a refund?
5) CC London do not provide a service to determine if a charge is owed, but they will fine you if you fail to pay, is this fair?


The answer to the first question would appear to be found in the following PDF, under the heading; 'How to claim a refund' http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/Chemistry_WEZ_Phase2_GeneralCollateral_WEB_160107.pdf


'If you pay in advance for a charge that commences on an incorrect date
you will need to give seven days’ notice before the date of
travel to be eligible for a refund....and £10 to cover the cost of administration.'

This only applies if you have paid your Congestion Charge monthly or annually.

'You are not able to obtain a refund for past unused days,
for a daily charge'

So even if you could claim there is a huge £10 administration charge, thereby making any claim pointless.


This seems very unfair. It is easy to pass into the zone without noticing, especially if you are trying to navigate around an unfamiliar area in heavy traffic.

Legally, you are liable for a statutory fine by going into the congestion zone during operating hours. The 'statutory' part means that you are liable to a fine regardless of the intention or circumstances.

CC London, could easily provide a system that could automatically deduct the daily charge from your bank card if you go into the Congestion Zone, but they make a lot more money from fining unfortunate people like your father.

CC London would appear to be taking advantage of the system to extract as much money out of car owners as possible, which in turn provides a stealth tax and huge amounts of wealth for its operators.

May be we should start asking where all this money is going, and question what the £10 refund 'administration charge' actually covers.