Refunds for ULEZ charge paid in error

NASAK

I recently paid the ULEZ (£12.50) thinking that  I had driven in the zone.  In fact I hadn't, so I assumed I could simply ask for a refund of the charge!!
It seems that is not possible??  How can that be lawful??

Scrapit

Its your mistake. Thats how its lawful.

AdrianC

I bought home contents insurance, and didn't need it. Can I have a refund?

VFR

Cannot see why they should not refund you as the system knows if you have entered the zone or not.

bigadaj

VFR said:

Cannot see why they should not refund you as the system knows if you have entered the zone or not.

They won't because it's time, money and effort to investigate and there is no compunction to do so. It's like buying a ticket for a bus or train and not travelling and then asking for your money back, or parking etc

AdrianC

VFR said:

Cannot see why they should not refund you as the system knows if you have entered the zone or not.

The ANPR is far from infallible.

So somebody could pay, drive in and out, then apply for a refund. If the ANPR has missed them, refund...

Dr_Crypto

I bought a bag of potatoes and didn’t need them can I have a refund? 

facade

Dr_Crypto said:

I bought a bag of potatoes and didn’t need them can I have a refund? 

Wrong example.

You still have a bag of potatoes to use tomorrow, or next week, because you haven't used them. The OP doesn't have a credit to use to actually enter the LEZ in the future, but they paid for a "ticket"  to enter the LEZ and didn't use it.

The unused bus/train ticket bought in advance for a specific date is a better example, and in the past I have exchanged them for a different date without paying any extra.

I think the OP should be refunded, but I accept bigadaj's point that they won't do it.

aroominyork

Similar situation here. I went to London yesterday and I think I skirted the ULEZ zone so don't need to pay. But I don't want to risk a fine...
If I pay unnecessarily, will it hold my money as a credit for when I next go to London and into the ULEZ zone?
Is this situation specifically mentioned on the ULEZ website? 

facade

aroominyork said:

Similar situation here. I went to London yesterday and I think I skirted the ULEZ zone so don't need to pay. But I don't want to risk a fine...
If I pay unnecessarily, will it hold my money as a credit for when I next go to London and into the ULEZ zone?
Is this situation specifically mentioned on the ULEZ website? 

I've never tried to use the LEZ, but I expect your answer is no, as the ridiculously simple thing would be for you to log on to pay, type in the reg. and be presented with a list of occasions when it was pinged in the LEZ and options to pay for them.

You could also have a credit bank to use or top up. (They can manage this with the National Lottery website......)

But of course, if you found that there was no record of you being in the LEZ, you wouldn't pay........

AdrianC

aroominyork said:

I think I skirted the ULEZ zone

It's very hard to miss - the ULEZ is the same as the CC, and there's bloody great big signs and road markings at every boundary.