London Ultra low emissions zone

s0mewhitedude

Good evening. The other Saturday i traveled to London to St Thomas`s Hospital to visit a very sick relative in Hospital.
I parked at the hospital, which cost me £12 for a few hours.
Because it was the weekend i know that i did not have to pay Congestion Charge.

Anyhow i have come home tonight to find a £160 fine lowered to £80 if i pay within 14 days. I can honestly say i had no knowledge of this extra charge being introduced, as i very rarely come to London, and chose to live a quieter life in sunny eastbourne.

I rang TFL tonight, and tried to explain i had no idea of this charge, as i had not seen any advertisments on TV or papers about this at all. To which the lady on the phone called me a liar, and told me they have advertised it loads over the last few months, and i should have seen the signs. I said i didn't see a single sign, and even if i did see a sign, seeing as i knew nothing about it would have not known what those signs for. But again i did not see a single sign travelling into or out of London. probably mainly because i was trying to navigate the roads that went from 1 lane to 3 lane to lane, with hoards of cars, buses taxi, and 2 wheeled vehicles cutting you up and pulling out in front of you.

I have an account for the Congestion charge and also the Dart charge, so it is not like i was purposely trying to dodge the fee.

I am reluctant to pay as would rather get my point across, but feel i cant ring them if they are all rude like the women i got...

Any helpful advise would be appreciated,

Many thanks in advance

fisherjim

There are numerous signs as you enter the central area telling you you are entering the low emission zone though if you live outside London you probably won't know much about it, or what vehicle it covers. I think it came in for a wider vehicle catchment in April this year.


However I have a TFL congestion charge account with auto pay and it automatically debits the low emission zone charge.
Are you not on auto pay?

s0mewhitedude

I believe both my TFL Congestion and Dart are auto pay.
We have low emission signs here in eastbourne, but these are like level crossings where they advise you to switch engine off when stationary. I had never heard of this at all. Never seen a single advert.
Also the Dart one advises you for approx 5 miles after each way to pay before midnight. I honestly did not see a single sign at all....

i really dont need this as the ill relative passed away, and now i get this rubbish,

MistyZ

Very sorry to hear of your loss.

I'm not wised up about all of this either. I saw a sign about the low emission zone while a wee bit lost on the motorway last weekend. I don't think I entered it ...

Advice from one noodle to another: investigate Autopay fully just in case. Phone TFL again and persevere. If you draw a blank, pay up and then do some research ready for the next time you leave Eastbourne. Sorry. Modern life is a pain in the neck.

LoneStarState

I would recommend you take this over to another parking forum called Pepipoo (google Pepipoo) and post in their council/decriminalised parking forum and not to pay the penalty just yet (depending on the time you have available). When you setup an account on peipoo don't use a hotmail address.

I would strongly recommend a post on that forum (MSE only really deals with private parking companies and the parking charge notices they issue). You might get confusing information here as it is not our forte.

I'm sure it's not intentional but for example Fisherjim has already conflated the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) and the Low Emission Zone (LEZ). The LEZ covers the most polluting of diesel vehicles (typically HGVs/LGVs/buses/coaches and other commercial vans, lorries etc) which attracts a charge of either £100 or £200 per day per vehicle in greater London. The ULEZ is far less at £12.50 per day covering all vehicles in a smaller part of central London (currently as the ULEZ zone will be expanded).

Many regulars at Pepipoo believe TFL signs for the ULEZ are wholly inadequate (e.g. signs do not mention the actual daily charge at all) as I'm sure they will tell you when you post on that forum. They will probably also recommend that if this is your first ULEZ offence that you should appeal for discretion from TFL and allow you to pay the original 12.50 charge given this is a first time offence (as the Dart Charge allows you to do) and also mention the situation with the relative.

I would also recommend if you ever need to travel into London (ULEZ zone is going to be expanded by 2021 to to cover the area of London within the North and South circular), that you do so in a small petrol (not diesel) car and check the reg online using the ULEZ tracker to make sure you are not liable.

cotleigh

I have already written to TFL to tell them that when they extend the ULEZ to include where I live, we are heading for a total confrontation, because I am not willing to be forced to sell my vehicles, and I regard this as an unacceptable imposition on my rights. A state of war will ensure.

cotleigh

What can I do? I cannot oppose them force on force, they hold all the cards. But everyone lives somewhere, and everyone has their weak spots. I just want to be left alone. But they will not leave me alone.

BoGoF

Make your mind up?

cotleigh

BoGoF wrote: »

Make your mind up?

I think that if they go through with this, I will be ordering some phony plates on fancyplates.com.

I regard it as unacceptable that these people are effectively going to fine me for owning a car within this area.

I may also take direct action against anyone employed by the organisation imposing these draconian rules, but "to win without fighting is best".

Coupon-mad

Try ringing again and explaining your mitigating circumstances about your dying relative, and see if the person on the phone will be charitable and waive it.