TFL Congestion Charge

jt270331

I'll try to keep this short and sweet...

I ended up driving through a congestion zone in central London 3 days ago.

I cannot remember if it was before or after 6pm - it was certainly around that time.

Yes, I am to blame for not knowing the congestion charge conditions before doing so. And yes, I should have paid the charge the following day to cover my back.

I entered my number plate into the Tfl website today and there was no indication that I owed any money so I called them.

I was told that "there is no way of telling me if I am liable for a charge" and I must sit and wait 5-10 days to see if a penalty notice of £65 drops through the letterbox.

Assuming I DID drive through the congestion zone before 6pm and therefore liable for the charge, I asked if I would be able to pay the £11.50 charge instead of the £65 penalty fine seeing as it was a genuine mistake and that was the first and last time I will ever drive through central.

The answer was "we don't allow for mistakes".

Is it really true that "there is no way of telling me if I am liable for a charge" ? Surely, if I have a PCN on the way, someone should know?

Has anyone driven through a congestion zone by mistake and received a PCN?

Is it worth appealing to the kindness of their hearts or should I just suck it up and pay the fine?

May I add that I am not "moaning" about the congestion charge - I understand completely why it is in place and have no issue paying the standard charge.

Biomech

I'd like to know the same.
I was IN central London, driving into the carp park at 7.04am (CC starts at 7am) and I left after 6pm (CC ends at 6pm)

Not knowing if the cameras are set to get you as you go into the center or they get you whilst you're in the center, I also put my reg into the website and it also said no charge was applicable or outstanding.