London Congestion Charge

ci_newman · 29 Aug 2013 at 10:20

Back on the 9th August I drove to a customer site near Waterloo station and just outright forgot to pay the congestion charge. I arrived near 9am and left at around 4pm, well within the congestion charging window. Waterloo station is within the congestion charge zone, and I've highlighted my route to & from the area on the map below:

The odd thing is, I haven't actually received a PCN from Tfl. I have recently moved address and although the V5 was registered at my new address I was concerned that Tfl might send a PCN to my old address. I called them up and asked them to look into it, and they can't find any details of my vehicle being in London on that particular day.

With the amount of CCTV cameras around London I find this very surprising. I even drove down the Mall and on Parliament Square! Has anyone else encountered this before?

TL;DR, I drove into London, forgot to pay the congestion zone fee, Tfl haven't noticed that I visited. :confused:

Wizzkidy · 29 Aug 2013 at 10:33

general luck, maybe the camera's where having a bad day

geekman · 29 Aug 2013 at 10:34

You can get lucky sometimes - I accidentally went in the zone 10 minutes early a few months ago. I called TFL and asked if there was a grace period, and they informed me there was none whatsoever, so I'd probably been caught.

When I asked them if they could tell me if they had a record of my car entering the zone, they said they weren't allowed to, so I decided to chance it and have heard nothing since.

ci_newman · 29 Aug 2013 at 10:41

geekman said:
When I asked them if they could tell me if they had a record of my car entering the zone, they said they weren't allowed to, so I decided to chance it and have heard nothing since.

That part is very odd as the woman I spoke with was very confident that I wasn't on their system, unless they were checking against the PCN database rather than just whether or not I'd entered?

geekman · 29 Aug 2013 at 10:46

ci_newman said:
That part is very odd as the woman I spoke with was very confident that I wasn't on their system, unless they were checking against the PCN database rather than just whether or not I'd entered?

Sounds like they were checking the PCN database. The fact they won't tell you if you've entered or not is the main reason why I think the whole thing's a massive scam - I bet they make a fortune off people who aren't sure whether they've entered, or taken a wrong turning and driven 5 metres into the zone and decide they're better off just paying it.

I can't believe it would be that difficult for them to have a simple web-based system where you enter your reg, it tells you whether or not you've entered the zone, and if you have, gives you the option to pay. All far too fair and sensible for TFL though :rolleyes:

Hamish · 29 Aug 2013 at 13:07

geekman said:
Sounds like they were checking the PCN database. The fact they won't tell you if you've entered or not is the main reason why I think the whole thing's a massive scam - I bet they make a fortune off people who aren't sure whether they've entered, or taken a wrong turning and driven 5 metres into the zone and decide they're better off just paying it.

I can't believe it would be that difficult for them to have a simple web-based system where you enter your reg, it tells you whether or not you've entered the zone, and if you have, gives you the option to pay. All far too fair and sensible for TFL though

I agree, it's annoying that they won't tell you if you've been in.
At least they have an Auto Pay option now which automatically just bills you when you've been in: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/congestioncharging/17096.aspx

ci_newman · 29 Aug 2013 at 15:59

The auto-pay system is great in principle, but absolutely rubbish that you have to pay a subscription fee for it.

ironman · 29 Aug 2013 at 18:04

ci_newman said:
The auto-pay system is great in principle, but absolutely rubbish that you have to pay a subscription fee for it.

It is not absolutely rubbish, the registration costs £10. The charge is reduced to £9 so once you have done 10 trips into the zone you've made it back.

thedoc46 · 29 Aug 2013 at 19:40

So speaking of the congestion charge, what improvements has there been since its introduction. The millions upon millions that drivers have paid into it. What have they rec'd in return?

I left London back in 04 and it was fairly new back then. A personally thought it was a complete scam at the time. Has there been any independent report to highlight its success? Or has it simply been another way to fleece the British driver out of even more cash.

geekman · 29 Aug 2013 at 19:54

gurdas said:
It is not absolutely rubbish, the registration costs £10. The charge is reduced to £9 so once you have done 10 trips into the zone you've made it back.

The system shouldn't have any registration charge at all though - it should just work like that as standard.

pepp77 · 29 Aug 2013 at 20:00

thedoc46 said:
So speaking of the congestion charge, what improvements has there been since its introduction. The millions upon millions that drivers have paid into it. What have they rec'd in return?

I left London back in 04 and it was fairly new back then. A personally thought it was a complete scam at the time. Has there been any independent report to highlight its success? Or has it simply been another way to fleece the British driver out of even more cash.

I have driven from SE9 into SE1 (by London Bridge so within the zone) almost daily for the past 8 years and must admit that traffic (although still heavy) definitely seems quieter now than it did when I first started doing the drive.

Thankfully I have never actually had to pay the charge though

#Chri5# · 29 Aug 2013 at 20:00

geekman said:
The system shouldn't have any registration charge at all though - it should just work like that as standard.

Indeed. It's £10 per year as well.

On the subject of the CC, somebody in our accounts department was paying the CC on behalf of our engineers. She had just put CC into Google and ended up on a site like this which charges £16 upwards...

pepp77 · 29 Aug 2013 at 20:03

#Chri5# said:
Indeed. It's £10 per year as well.

On the subject of the CC, somebody in our accounts department was paying the CC on behalf of our engineers. She had just put CC into Google and ended up on a site like this which charges £16 upwards...

Damn, but why would you go anywhere but TFL?

lemonade · 29 Aug 2013 at 20:12

thedoc46 said:
So speaking of the congestion charge, what improvements has there been since its introduction. The millions upon millions that drivers have paid into it. What have they rec'd in return?

I left London back in 04 and it was fairly new back then. A personally thought it was a complete scam at the time. Has there been any independent report to highlight its success? Or has it simply been another way to fleece the British driver out of even more cash.

None. Basically you pay £10 to sit in congestion, take the name "Congestion Charge" literally as that what it exactly is.

They bring out stats to show so and so improvements, but in reality it is utter tripe, I have driven through it a few times and all you do is sit in the same congested traffic as before it but with the added privilege of paying £10 which goes to the fat cats and thieving scum of the "City".

:rolleyes:

BigT · 29 Aug 2013 at 20:12

The CC cameras are only placed on the perimeter of the zone on roads entering the zone. If the camera on the road you entered on was faulty then you probably weren't clocked. They don't constantly snap you as you move about in the zone or indeed leave it (wel not for congestion charging purposes anyway

)