TFL Autopay - how long before I'm charged?

Barkin

I almost never drive in London but, to be on the safe side, I set up TFL Autopay a few months ago. 

I did my first journey into the ULEZ zone on 3rd December, and again on 15th.
The TFL app shows that everything's in order - correct reg. no. shown, autopay active, and shows a charging date of 10th of the month. DD is active. 

I expected to be charged for the first journey on 10/12 and the next one on 10/1, but so far it's showing no charges and I've not had any payment taken.

Anybody know if this is normal? Could there be an issue with my account, or does it just takes ages for the wheels to turn? 

Bigwheels1111

I would contact TFL and get ahead in this battle.

I'm registered but a disabled vehicle & blue badge holder, so no charge or issues.

Or so I thought.

I had to drive through London due to the Blackwall tunnel being closed.

Rotherhithe tunnel was my other option.

Thought nothing of it, Until about 4 weeks later when the fine arrived.

Called and they were not much help.

I said, Look at my reg and its exemptions from congestion charge.

I can see it he said, but I can't stop the ticket.

Anyway I emailed the address on the fine to contest the charge.

Used screen shots from TFL'S own site as proof, but said I would be happy to see the idiots in court if they wanted.

About 3 hours later and email arrived, We are sorry about this error Ticket canceled.

cpbackhouse

A friend I work with set up autopay for when he was going on holiday out of Heathrow.
This was a couple of months ago and he hasn't been charged or fined. All we can assume is that the cameras are as unreliable as everyone says they are and that his car wasn't logged either coming or going.

Barkin

Thanks, I think I'll just wait and see what happens. 

I've got screenshots showing that everything appears to be set up correctly, with correct reg. details etc and DD info, so as far as I'm concerned I've done my bit. 
If they can't get their act together, so be it. 

I've just tried to query it through the in-app messaging system, and it gives an error... 

jimjames

cpbackhouse said:

A friend I work with set up autopay for when he was going on holiday out of Heathrow.
This was a couple of months ago and he hasn't been charged or fined. All we can assume is that the cameras are as unreliable as everyone says they are and that his car wasn't logged either coming or going.

I was about to post exactly the same question as the OP until I saw this thread.

Car used on 22/12 to get to Heathrow, nothing showing in the account at the moment. Son was driving and said he couldn't see any cameras and only 1 sign on M25 on the way so maybe not actually in place yet. Rather frustrating as I'd done another journey before setting up Autopay and paid that manually - maybe didn't need to pay after all!!

Moral of the story - setup autopay and you might not actually need to pay after all.

oceansoul1

Do you need to pay? Many cars are ULEZ compliant. It's only the "Reach" type media outlets that constantly reporting that every car that enters have to pay ULEZ.

Barkin

My journeys were to Heathrow too. I didn't see any ULEZ signs on the M25, but there was definitely signage as I left the M4.

Hey-ho...I shan't be losing any sleep over it.

jimjames

Barkin said:

My journeys were to Heathrow too. I didn't see any ULEZ signs on the M25, but there was definitely signage as I left the M4.

Hey-ho...I shan't be losing any sleep over it.

Definitely seems like Autopay is the way to go to avoid paying ULEZ un-necessarily.

oceansoul1 said:

Do you need to pay? Many cars are ULEZ compliant. It's only the "Reach" type media outlets that constantly reporting that every car that enters have to pay ULEZ.

Yes. The Autopay system shows which charges your vehicle is liable for. Mine are pre 2015 dirty diesels so not compliant. It's not foolproof, there are some older cars that are compliant that TFL don't identify as such but I think that's the minority.

Barkin

jimjames said:

Barkin said:

My journeys were to Heathrow too. I didn't see any ULEZ signs on the M25, but there was definitely signage as I left the M4.

Hey-ho...I shan't be losing any sleep over it.

Definitely seems like Autopay is the way to go to avoid paying ULEZ un-necessarily.

oceansoul1 said:

Do you need to pay? Many cars are ULEZ compliant. It's only the "Reach" type media outlets that constantly reporting that every car that enters have to pay ULEZ.

Yes. The Autopay system shows which charges your vehicle is liable for. Mine are pre 2015 dirty diesels so not compliant. It's not foolproof, there are some older cars that are compliant that TFL don't identify as such but I think that's the minority.

Yup. 20 year old deceasel here - definitely not ULEZ compliant...

I've actually got all 3 of our cars registered for autopay, just in case. I once drove our daughter in her car to our local train station as she was going in to London for a job interview on a Sunday morning. Got there to find that all trains were cancelled, and I ended up driving her to Kings Cross. If something like that were to happen again, at least I don't need to worry about forgetting to pay any charges.

And it's an easy DD for current account switching purposes. Yay!