TfL wanted £513 to release my car after I got lost in London
IN SEPTEMBER 2016, I sold my car. During the journey to drop it off, I unknowingly drove into the London Congestion Charge zone. I’d never driven in London before and got terribly lost.
The car was registered at my old address in Essex, therefore I didn’t receive any notices from Transport for London (TfL).
Last week, I had the most intimidating bailiff knock on my front door in Kent, demanding £513 for unpaid Congestion Charge plus fees. He clamped my car until I had gone to the bank and scraped together the cash.
He refused to allow me to pay in instalments and told me TfL required the money in full immediately.
ThaT sounds thoroughly unpleasant and I have a great deal of sympathy. But I am surprised you didn’t see the Congestion Charge signs. From my experience driving in London, they are very prominent.
TfL says you were written to three times at your old address. The problem was that you had not updated your driving licence details with the DVLa. Incidentally, when you move home, you must tell the DVLa promptly about your new address. You can be fined up to £1,000 for not doing so.
TfL dug around, found your new address and wrote to you twice there. Perhaps you thought this was junk mail and threw it away without reading it properly.
Eventually, bailiffs were put on the case — with the unpleasant consequences you describe.
I am pleased to say that, having considered your case, TfL agrees you seem to have made a genuine mistake. It is therefore refunding the penalty fees and bailiff fees.
But you will still have to pay the original £130 Penalty Charge Notice, as you did drive into the zone on September 12, 2016, and failed to pay the Congestion Charge. Your refund will be £383.
Your letter is a good reminder that not paying the Congestion Charge in London can lead to a sizeable penalty and, eventually, bailiffs knocking on your door.
If you drive into the zone, you must pay by midnight the next day. The charge is between £10.50 and £14, depending on when, and how, you pay. The penalty charge for late payment has also now increased to £160. Visit tfl.gov.uk. I HAVE a FlexAccount with Nationwide Building Society and have enjoyed its free travel insurance. The main condition to qualify is that a minimum of £750 is paid in each month.
My two pensions, amounting to more than £850, are paid directly into this account.
However, one, which is usually paid on the 1st of each month, can occasionally be paid out just before the end of the previous month.
This means that, on paper, I don’t have the requisite £750 minimum going in — and I have now lost my travel insurance.
I talked to Nationwide in August when I received a warning letter and again today, but it is unwavering. J. G., Larne, Co. Antrim. I waS somewhat surprised by your letter. Nationwide generally adopts a common sense approach to cases such as yours.
But it appears that the person dealing with your case suffered a lapse in this department. In May and July last year, bank holidays and weekends meant your pension went in early, so you did not meet the qualification criteria. This prompted the automated letter you received in august.
Your October credit was, again, paid a couple of days early.
But, as I suspected, Nationwide has an exemptions process to cover people such as yourself who occasionally have pension or benefit credits paid in early — and your name is on this list.
when you called, you should have been transferred to the travel insurance eligibility team, who would have reassured you that your cover was not going to be withdrawn. Regrettably, this didn’t happen.
In recognition, Nationwide will pay you £75 compensation. a spokesman says: ‘The exception process has been applied and the confirmation of cover letter has now been issued.’