Congestion Charge Auto Pay deduction but no longer the owner - is this legal?

lbb20222023

We feel a bit desperate and aren't sure where to turn to. My husband received a change of ownership car slip on feb 4th. He thought he had the previous car set up on auto pay for the congestion charge. He tried to go on what he thought was his account but his old car wasn't registered, he set up the new car and believed the old one hadn't been registered after all. 

Last week TFL deducted over £200 from his account and left him overdrawn. When he queried this it turned out to be charges incurred by the new owner after feb 4th. We anticipate more charges to come.

We have contacted TFL who will not reverse the charge as the t+c's make my husband liable for the previous car as apparently it was still on the account. It turned out there were different account details where the car was - my husband’s fault but he did do what he thought was the right thing. He changed his car details over everywhere. Is there anything we can do to appeal this
or anywhere we can turn.  My husband is self employed, I am on maternity leave with a 5 month old and in the current climate that money is vital to use. Where can we turn for help to recover this money? It doesn’t seem right that the government is able to leave you liable for charges incurred by a car you have no legal interest in anymore. 

lisyloo

what kind of financial arrangement is it?
debit card? credit card? direct debit from bank account? paypal?
Please give as much detail as you can e.g. provider (as mastercard & visa are different so it matters).

lbb20222023

I believe it’s direct debit straight from bank account, again think visa 

EssexHebridean

To summarise:
The old car was registered with tfl for congestion charging autopayments.
Your husband forgot the login details for the account - I assume? (Or did he log in, but the car wasn't showing on the account?)
Your husband has now sold the original car and registered a new one with tfl - using a new account?
Your husband has had the slip back confirming the change of owner from DVLA, but had not notified tfl that the original car was no longer owned?

Assuming the above understanding is correct:
The slip from DVLA means nothing so far as tfl are concerned - it's like anywhere else he might have had the car registration saved - parking apps for example - unless he told them he no longer owns it as far as they are aware it is still his. DVLA cannot and will not share information across - essentially - third parties. 

Had there ever been any charges taken by the autopay relating to the old car as far as you can recall? If not, then he may well have a decent argument that he took due steps to check whether the old car was in fact registered with tfl.

Did tfl email confirming the amount to be taken via DD? hey should have done - at which point your husband would have had an opportunity to query it.

I'd suggest a letter to tfl appealing the charges, explaining the situation, including the phrase "severe financial hardship" and including a copy of the DVLA slip confirming that he was not the registered keeper at the time of the charges being incurred. 

In the meantime, can you raid your emergency fund to cover the shortfall in your budget? No sense in having money sitting in savings that can bridge the gap while you appeal and relieve some of the stress. if the answer to this is that there is no emergency fund or anywhere else the money can be taken from, I'd suggest that it might be a good idea to create an SOA (Statement of affairs) and make sure your budget is working for you as you are left very open to things going wrong without any form of EF - what happens for example if your fridge stops working tomorrow? Posting the SOA in a new thread here might be a good idea - you'd be amazed where we can find savings to be made to free up a little extra money which people simply haven't spotted - it's often easier from a distance, if that makes sense. 

lisyloo

Have you formally disputed the charges so far?
Or just chatted to an agent on the phone?