Has anyone succesfully argued a Clean Air Zone charge away?

htrj

Hi everyone, 

Just got home to find a Birmingham City Council penalty charge waiting for me. My first reaction was to scratch my head as I distinctly remember paying the £8 charge before I made my journey into Birmingham, and looking through my credit card statement I can see that that is exactly what I did........ but then the penny dropped. They aren't fining me for driving into Birmingham that evening....... they are fining me for is driving out of Birmingham at 25 minutes after midnight. 

I know that technically I have not paid the charge for that day although I have paid the charge for the previous day. Has anyone found they can successfully argue this away? Is there any mitigation for a first offence? (I know that used to be the case for the Dartmouth Bridge if you hadn't paid on the day) Can anyone offer any suggestions or have I got to just take this on the chin?

tacpot12

Do you have any reason why you didn't or couldn't leave Birmingham before midnight, if that was your intention?

WellKnownSid

I think the rules are pretty clear.  Midnight to midnight.  Plus, successful appeals against a CAZ appear non-existent.

https://www.keycases.info/contravention-types/clean-air-zone/

htrj

No reason for being in the city that i'd be able to evidence. There were some temporary traffic lights that were on the blink and a bus that had broken down and was blocking my route but i don't think that kind of argument would go far as soon as they asked me to prove it. 

WellKnownSid

htrj said:

No reason for being in the city that i'd be able to evidence. There were some temporary traffic lights that were on the blink and a bus that had broken down and was blocking my route but i don't think that kind of argument would go far as soon as they asked me to prove it. 

Yes, given the circumstances you mention there is a grace period of six days to pay for the extra travel.

htrj

Oh well, I guess ill have to put this down to experience. My complacency came from believing I was covered for 24 hours. Ignorance is no excuse, however. 

WellKnownSid

Sadly, a claim of ignorance is a dangerously counter-productive admission for most driving-related matters.

DjangoUnchained

maybe you had a puncture on the way out and had to change your wheel making you 25 minutes late?

WellKnownSid

DjangoUnchained said:

maybe you had a puncture on the way out and had to change your wheel making you 25 minutes late?

...and then failed to pay within the six day grace period 

Bigphil1474

But Sid, he wouldn't have failed to pay if he'd left 25 minutes earlier, as he wouldn't have needed to.

Gerrard00004

Unfortunately, CAZ charges are like free introductory subscriptions where you know you need to cancel before you get charged but forget to do so.

Iv got about 7 pending against me, even though I have paid for over a 100 other times. I am refusing to pay them, I called up after being a day late to see if I could pay and there was no movement or grace. Appeals are always rejected and they pass them onto to debt collectors straight away, who try to scare you into paying, send unregistered bailiffs to your property and then when you question them escalate the situation, like a follow up text to state that my vehicles registration has been put on a high priority ANPR recovery, this minutes after trying to be diplomatic and advising I was going to talk to the council.

Apologies but I am going to offer you no advice here but purely rant about the CAZ scheme - sorry.

CAZ, especially in Birmingham is a complete money making scheme, it punishes the poor. So for example, my car is a 2006 diesel so not CAZ compliant. I enter into the city and have to pay £8 plus parking, I could drive a gas guzzling Defender and only pay for parking. To qualify for the scrappage scheme in which I may be eligible for a £2k grant, was that I earned less than £30k a year, worked more than 18 weeks in the CAZ and that I had been the registered keeper since 2018. Even if my position was accepted, I would have to choose a vehicle via their selected party (Motorpoint). I done a search and one of the cheapest cars, on the minimal miles involved a deposit of over £1k and a monthly finance fee of £250+ and guess what, I wouldn't even own the vehicle and would have to renew at the end of my contract.
So, how is it, that at a time where people are really struggling financially, and cannot afford to pay either way, are we not charging rich people, driving massive cars, commonly parking in a care free manner anything? it is so backwards. Infact the most backwards part of the whole scheme is the HS2. How many wagons or plant do they have working in the area, kicking up dust, running generators, etc. These wagons pay a one off fee for the day, which will be offset as costs in the contractors budgeting, so the Council are basically paying for them to be allowed to drive into the CAZ they created. Its bonkers.