Has anyone succesfully argued a Clean Air Zone charge away?

WellKnownSid

Gerrard00004 said:

So for example, my car is a 2006 diesel so not CAZ compliant

Have you considered swapping your 2006 diesel for a 2006 petrol?  My daughter did something similar (2009 diesel for a 2010 petrol) and the cost to change wasn't that much.

Nasqueron

Gerrard00004 said:

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.

 

You don't have to drive into the city, you can park outside the ring road and get a bus/train/tram/cycle/walk in, the CAZ isn't that big. You view it as a money making scheme, others view it as a way of dealing with the dirty pollution your old banger is producing - which also punishes the poor who have to live there, breathing in the particle matter and getting cancer/lung diseases

WellKnownSid

It’s not PM but nitrogen dioxide - that’s what is killing people and yes the poorer families that can’t even afford a car or young/elderly that can’t even drive are statistically the worst affected.