LEZ compensation from TFL after wrongful fines

[Bilkob]

After some general advice here. Some may recall a few months ago I was erroneously ’fined’ £500 by TFL for using my C15 van to carry out my work. I run a small and successful cycle business and collect and drop back bikes for customers, mainly high end road bikes.
TFL had my C15 down as LEZ (not ULEZ) non compliant when in fact it was compliant
After an upsetting and frustrating call to TFL helpline (I know..) and eventually ’winning’ the appeals process, I now wonder about compensation for loss of earnings and my time spent researching what should have already been correct.
At the time I was so concerned about just how many £250 fines I was going to get, I SORN’d and uninsured my van (19days) and went quite a long way down the route of buying a new van
So for 2 1/2 weeks I was without my main work ‘tool/asset’ through absolutely no fault of my own and consequently my earnings during that period fell away sharply.
I should point out that all is now absolutely fine and I’m as busy as ever again.
What do people on here think I should/could do? There’s a bit of me that rails against a big, faceless organisation just spewing out fines, and my guess is 9 times out of ten people just pay up.
However, I’m also VEHEMENTLY against ‘compensation culture’ for the sake of it. But I strongly feel I was wronged here, a bit stressed, and fundamentally down on earnings during that period
I have all the corroborating paperwork still, and a time line of events….
I don’t want to go into the rights and wrongs of LEZ/ULEZ, just what are people’s thoughts on what I could/should do?
Thanks in advance

[donkmeister]

It's worth finding out how much a commercial van rental would have cost you for that same time, and satisfying yourself that your only sources of business involved going through the zone.

Basically, you need to be able to answer the question "so why didn't you just rent another van and carry on instead of SORNing yours? Why didn't you take on work outside the zone instead?"

TBH I think you would have had a better chance of reclaiming out of pocket costs for mitigating further fines rather than loss of earnings from downing tools. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and the stress of bureaucracy stopping you from doing your usual work, with no end in sight, doesn't help at the time.

[ingenieur]

Don't vote Labour again would be my suggestion. There were plenty of parties out there who promised to knock this stuff on the head at the recent mayoral election but people in London appear to be totally stupid.

How many people have seen adverts for classic cars (less than 40 years old) where the owner said they're having to sell their beloved that they've owned for more than 10 years due to ULEZ? They didn't read the small print before giving Khan another go!

If I were in your shoes with your specific issue I'd avoid the stress and chalk it up as experience to learn from. I don't think the process of squeezing compo out of TFL is going to be pleasant. You may end up even paying for legal advice and being out of pocket again. You could write a letter yourself setting out your thoughts and see how it goes... but if they pull up the drawbridge it would be more sensible to take it on the chin. That's just my view though... some people enjoy fighting with the authorities.

[Canon_Fodder]

Bilkob said:

So for 2 1/2 weeks I was without my main work ‘tool/asset’ through absolutely no fault of my own and consequently my earnings during that period fell away sharply.

If their mistake has cost you money then you have a case OP

How much roughly are we talking about?

[Bilkob]

It’s probably around £1500-£2k, I’d have to work out what an average weekly income would be, impossible but I could pro rata it I guess. August tends to be a busy month. Then my time sending letters, ringing Citroen UK, DVKA, etc……
This is absolutely not about the rights and wrongs of low emission zones, but as I said, a big organisation bullying a citizen and affecting my business.

[Ian Geary]

ingenieur said:

Don't vote Labour again would be my suggestion. There were plenty of parties out there who promised to knock this stuff on the head at the recent mayoral election but people in London appear to be totally stupid.

Hmm, pretty sure it was accurately reported during the pandemic that HM treasury (under Conservative leadership) were making Khan extend charges for cars as a condition for financial help for TfL.

Posing this as a labour/ Tory issue is a bit lame tbh, given candidates will say any old nonsense if they think there's a vote in it. There was zero chance a successful Tory mayor would have been able to afford to abandon these charges.

[ingenieur]

Ian Geary said:

ingenieur said:

Don't vote Labour again would be my suggestion. There were plenty of parties out there who promised to knock this stuff on the head at the recent mayoral election but people in London appear to be totally stupid.

Hmm, pretty sure it was accurately reported during the pandemic that HM treasury (under Conservative leadership) were making Khan extend charges for cars as a condition for financial help for TfL.

Posing this as a labour/ Tory issue is a bit lame tbh, given candidates will say any old nonsense if they think there's a vote in it. There was zero chance a successful Tory mayor would have been able to afford to abandon these charges.

I never said anyone should vote Tory! If they're forcing people to sell their old cars how much of a revenue earner is it anyway? Surely nobody is paying £27.50 every day in road charges?

[Canon_Fodder]

Bilkob said:

It’s probably around £1500-£2k, I’d have to work out what an average weekly income would be, impossible but I could pro rata it I guess. August tends to be a busy month. Then my time sending letters, ringing Citroen UK, DVKA, etc…….

As someone else mentioned I'd write to their complaints dept setting all that out and making a claim for your losses then review the position when you get their (inevitably negative) reply

[BertBert]

Canon_Fodder said:

Bilkob said:

It’s probably around £1500-£2k, I’d have to work out what an average weekly income would be, impossible but I could pro rata it I guess. August tends to be a busy month. Then my time sending letters, ringing Citroen UK, DVKA, etc…….

As someone else mentioned I'd write to their complaints dept setting all that out and making a claim for your losses then review the position when you get their (inevitably negative) reply

There's no point in doing that in my view. As you say, we know that the answer will be no, so the OP can review his position now

[Canon_Fodder]

BertBert said:

There's no point in doing that in my view. As you say, we know that the answer will be no, so the OP can review his position now

I was thinking that the point would be to see what their denial / defence consists of. To flush them out as it were.

If they refer to some obscure part of their Charter or some such thing then that might make the prospect of suing them unattractive. On the other hand if they just say 'No. tough', then they look more vulnerable

[drdel]

Calculate your losses and send in a bill, then take it to the online claims process. It may get their attention or not. If they cant be bothered you'll win.

[caziques]

Skim through https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damages

Put your claim in, give them 20 working days to reply - file in small claims.

Also google "misfeasance" and "malfeasance"

Edited by caziques on Wednesday 10th November 03:10

[anonymous-user]

Bilkob said:

After some general advice here. Some may recall a few months ago I was erroneously ’fined’ £500 by TFL for using my C15 van to carry out my work.
TFL had my C15 down as LEZ (not ULEZ) non compliant when in fact it was compliant

I had similar with my Land Rover.
TfL: "Its a van"
The rest of the English-speaking world: "It's a car"

Just move on.
TfL are a law unto themselves, will always tell you they know best and they will never, ever apologise or admit fault.