Ulez Fine

[Sidecar Man]

So got sent off M25 as it was shut Followed Waze and didn't realise I'd been through Ulez area.Only just in it. So 2 weeks later get a letter for a fine. Only problem is My motorhome is 4.5 ton and EU4. Fine is £1000 if paid within 14 days.
Anyone appealed a fine and won. Seems horrendous fine for a small mistake.

[anonymous-user]

The website says £80… not £1,000!

Edit- up to 3.5 tonnes… can’t see the fine for over that. Seems extreme if it’s correct.

[anonymous-user]

Was it the LEZ and not ULEZ ?

[CharlesElliott]

I assume it must have been the LEZ as the ULEZ doesn't go near the M25.

Unfortunately I don't think you have any basis for an appeal given that you drove into it. I would have expected Waze to have warned you (although I stopped using Waze as it tries too many clever routes for its own good in my view) and there would have been signage on the road as well.

[matjk]

I had a similar thing , motor way shut M25 and everyone forced off , then got caught in other road closers and pretty much funnelled into the centre of Lodon.
I guess the signs are pretty clear but it was stressful situation as I was pretty lost.
All you can do is appeal and hope they see sense

[LunarOne]

You had no intention of driving into the zone and only did so because your route was closed. You have nothing to lose by appealing and I think you'd have a good chance of success. Once you have appealed, the fine will not increate to the full amount until a judgment is made, and even then you could (and should) appeal if necessary.

[neutral 3]

As Lunar says !

[twister]

CharlesElliott said:

I would have expected Waze to have warned you

As this is the LEZ rather than the ULEZ, it won't. Waze's focus has consistently been on commuters, and there is little or no support provided for mapping any restrictions which might apply to anyone driving a vehicle that wouldn't be an obvious candidate as their commuting weapon of choice. So ULEZ is in because it can affect car drivers, whereas LEZ is out because it doesn't...

[Al U]

As others have said, I assume this is an LEZ rather than ULEZ fine. You would have to have gone on a serious detour to end up in the ULEZ from the M25.

If your motorhome is over 3.5T and meets Euro 4 standard (and does not meet Euro 5 standard) the fine should be £1000, £500 if paid within 14 days according to this - https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/low-emission-zone...

Maybe double check your registration here. https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/check-your-vehicl...

I would still appeal, but I can imagine them being very black and white about it. Your vehicle meets this standard, was on this road at this time etc. You didn't pay the charge (which according to what you have said is £100) by midnight the third day after you travelled in the zone.

No different to forgetting to pay the dart charge or congestion charge really, just with bigger numbers unfortunately. Good luck.

Edited by Al U on Tuesday 24th August 06:42

[Red9zero]

I can see a lot more of these posts appearing over the next few years. The main M5 diversion for Bristol takes you straight through the proposed CAZ for one.

[bigothunter]

£1000 fine for inadvertently wandering into a prohibited zone

Very sobering fact. Makes you realise just how intolerant and draconian our society has become

[bartelbe]

bigothunter said:

£1000 fine for inadvertently wandering into a prohibited zone

Very sobering fact. Makes you realise just how intolerant and draconian our society has become

Especially since these emission zones are completely unnecessary. It is a charge to encourage people to buy newer cleaner cars but the majority do that anyway. The air quality would have improved through natural wastage of private car and commercial vehicle fleets.

All low emission zones do is punish the poor, who have to use older vehicles. I don't think forcing a small percentage of drivers, who practice bangernomics and use old vehicles to buy a new car, is really going to make much difference to total population levels.

[Sidecar Man]

Al U said:

As others have said, I assume this is an LEZ rather than ULEZ fine. You would have to have gone on a serious detour to end up in the ULEZ from the M25.

If your motorhome is over 3.5T and meets Euro 4 standard (and does not meet Euro 5 standard) the fine should be £1000, £500 if paid within 14 days according to this - https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/low-emission-zone...

Maybe double check your registration here. https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/check-your-vehicl...

I would still appeal, but I can imagine them being very black and white about it. Your vehicle meets this standard, was on this road at this time etc. You didn't pay the charge (which according to what you have said is £100) by midnight the third day after you travelled in the zone.

No different to forgetting to pay the dart charge or congestion charge really, just with bigger numbers unfortunately. Good luck.

Edited by Al U on Tuesday 24th August 06:42

Looks like mine is year Before Euro 4 😞

[Sidecar Man]

Thanks for all the replies I have appealed but don't hold out much hope.

[Nigel_O]

Eye-watering potential costs for the OP, but to bring a bit of balance to the subject.

I use an Italian car specilaist in the centre of Birmingham to work on my loopy Fiat Coupe and also my shed of an Alfa GT - their service is one of the main reasons the Alfa has done 265,000 miles and why the Fiat reliably handles close to 500bhp, so I'm keen to continue to use them. I accept that I now have to pay Brum's clean air zone charge if I want to use the garage

Last month, I needed some work doing on both cars, which couldn't be completed on the same day, so:-

• Drove into Birmingham in the Fiat - caught the train home - £8 CAZ charge
• Three days later - Fiat is ready, so I drive into Birmingham in the Alfa, dropped it off and collected the Fiat - 2 x £8 CAZ charge
• Couple of days later, Alfa is ready, so I catch the train into Brum and collect it - £8 CAZ charge

However, in my excitement at having working aircon in the Alfa again, I forgot to pay the charge for driving out of Brum. I received a letter from the authorities telling me the fine would be £120, reduced to £60 if I paid quickly, but that they recognised it "may take a little time for motorists to adapt to the new requirements" and therefore if I paid the £8 within a few days, they wouldn't pursue the fine. Result!

I'd have to say that this is a very fair way of dealing with motorists for the first few weeks after the introduction of the CAZ.

[Newc]

Sidecar Man said:

Thanks for all the replies I have appealed but don't hold out much hope.

Don't want to raise any false hopes but I have seen temporary diversions (ie, not planned traffic works) that forced people into the Con Charge Zone and the zone was suspended on those roads.

Not the exact case with you because you've had a ticket but there's definitely TFL precedent of zone suspensions following impromptu road closures and diversions.

[valiant]

Yep, following a diversion is a valid excuse provided you leave the LEZ as soon as possible.

https://www.commercialmotor.com/news/know-your-rig...

LEZ fines are large as it’s really aimed at operators (as a low fine like the congestion charge fine wouldn’t bother most companies and wouldn’t incentivise them to upgrade or modify their fleets) so it’s important to state that you’re a private owner of an older motorhome who had no intention of entering the zone.

Good luck!

[Second Best]

It's a pisser, isn't it? I have a classic Mini that's serviced by a garage that falls within the ULEZ entrapment zone (I live outside it). Normally, I'd drive the Mini to the garage, drop it off, grab a train back home and return to fetch it when it was ready.

The next service is in a few months, and instead of paying £25 (£12.50 each way), it's cheaper for me to stick the Mini on a trailer and tow it with my 6.2L V8, which somehow is ULEZ compliant. It's actually cheaper to drive my Merc in and out both times, than it is to pay the ULEZ charge. I'm sure the greenies will be very happy that a 1.3L Mini is being towed by a big V8 truck to help save the environment.

[megaphone]

Second Best said:

It's a pisser, isn't it? I have a classic Mini that's serviced by a garage that falls within the ULEZ entrapment zone (I live outside it). Normally, I'd drive the Mini to the garage, drop it off, grab a train back home and return to fetch it when it was ready.

The next service is in a few months, and instead of paying £25 (£12.50 each way), it's cheaper for me to stick the Mini on a trailer and tow it with my 6.2L V8, which somehow is ULEZ compliant. It's actually cheaper to drive my Merc in and out both times, than it is to pay the ULEZ charge. I'm sure the greenies will be very happy that a 1.3L Mini is being towed by a big V8 truck to help save the environment.

Make sure you cover the plates on the mini.

[Biker 1]

It seems my ancient 2.4 litre Volvo is ULEZ exempt. How can this be when it averages below 27 MPG???!!??
On another note, it looks like flying out of Heathrow will soon be affected by this nonsense too: https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/106963/heat...