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Thread: advice please - congestion charge penalty

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    disMember M0nkeyb0Y's Avatar
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    Question advice please - congestion charge penalty

    Hello all,

    I'm in a bit of a fix:
    We've had a congestion charge penalty notice forwarded to us from our old address... It shows our car on Southampton Row in September last year. The problem is I was in work that day (I take the train) and we think my wife was using the car at that time to pick up our eldest from school (some 30 miles away). Bottom line is I'm sure we weren't there, and was wondering if anyone else has been in this situation?

    Thanks for any advice
    MB

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    Re: advice please - congestion charge penalty

    I haven't, because I don't drive in London on congestion charge times. To put that another way, I won't do so. I get some choice about when and if I go in, with thankfully is rare, and avoid chargeable times. I guess the charge does it's job in me and keeps me out.

    I have heard of this complaint before, and the first thought that goes though my mind is number plate cloning, and if so, this could be only the start of your problems.

    If you're sure it wasn't you or the wife, then I assume there's a process for disputing the charge but I also assume they have a photo capability???

    Oh, and plate cloning goes back years ... decades. I know of one case of a cloned E-Type Jag plate, where the genuine car owner parked next to another identical Jag in a cafe car park near London, having driven down from Leeds, and it was only on going into the cafe that he noticed they were "identical" right down to the number plate. He rang the police, and they waited for the driver of the other Jag to go back to his car, and nicked him. It turned out that they'd spotted an identical(colour and everything) E-type in Leeds and copied the plate, and were unlucky enough for the legit owner to park next to the fake one on a trip to London. And both E-types were virtually brand new, which gives you an idea of how long ago this was... waaaaayyyy before ANPR etc.

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    Re: advice please - congestion charge penalty

    Quote Originally Posted by M0nkeyb0Y View Post
    Hello all,

    I'm in a bit of a fix:
    We've had a congestion charge penalty notice forwarded to us from our old address... It shows our car on Southampton Row in September last year. The problem is I was in work that day (I take the train) and we think my wife was using the car at that time to pick up our eldest from school (some 30 miles away). Bottom line is I'm sure we weren't there, and was wondering if anyone else has been in this situation?

    Thanks for any advice
    MB
    Going to be a hard one to prove.....while number plate cloning does happen, chances are it was you or your wife and given the fact that it was five months ago that you just forgot. Do you ever go into London during Congestion Charge times? Any reason why you might have gone into the zone?
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    Re: advice please - congestion charge penalty

    Also when did you move? you might be in more trouble for not informing the DVLA of the change of address sooner

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    Re: advice please - congestion charge penalty

    On the numberplate cloning topic, this happened to me. Had a letter informing me that my car was sitting in a London pound after getting clamped and towed. Phoned them from work the next day and explained that my car was sitting outside my window, they asked me what colour the car was, they confirmed that the car they had was a different colour to the registration documents. End of problem.

    My advice woul be to contact them stating that you dont think the car was where they claim, and ask for any photographic evidence. Might be worth checking your bank statements for that time, see if there is a record of both of you being elsewhere.

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    Re: advice please - congestion charge penalty

    I presume you have not been given a picture... if so as ask for a photograph of the car, if its clearly yours give up and pay quickly, it might be completely the wrong car or colour and easy to prove its not you... I got done for driving in a bus lane.. and I was sure I had not done it got the picture and it was me and I must have been absent minded.

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    Re: advice please - congestion charge penalty

    sounds like the wife is having an affair :|

    what? we all thought it..


    In all seriousness, inform them ASAP, if its a letter direct form the DVLA they will be quite open minded of the problem, if you leave it and leave it, it'll be passed onto debt collection companies and you'll have no chance
    Gamertag - Russonf (xbox and ps3)

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    Re: advice please - congestion charge penalty

    Thanks guys;

    Quote Originally Posted by Saracen View Post
    If you're sure it wasn't you or the wife, then I assume there's a process for disputing the charge but I also assume they have a photo capability???
    Quite sure

    They've got a photo, it's a very bad photocopy on the the letter they sent, it just shows what looks like the grill of our car with our number plate

    Quote Originally Posted by IBM View Post
    Going to be a hard one to prove.....while number plate cloning does happen, chances are it was you or your wife and given the fact that it was five months ago that you just forgot. Do you ever go into London during Congestion Charge times? Any reason why you might have gone into the zone?
    buuutttt... as IBM points out it was [four] months ago and my memory isn't what it used to be.

    The only time I'm ever in the zone when I'm doing a favour for my parents in their car (which has a permit), and it's literally a couple of times a year. My wife is sure she's never driven in London...

    We've written a letter of appeal asking for a clearer picture of the car and driver, my wife wants to enclose a £60 cheque (the initial charge - rather than the £180 it's shot up to because of the delay of it going to the old address), but I think that's an admission of guilt.

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    Re: advice please - congestion charge penalty

    Quote Originally Posted by Flash477 View Post
    Also when did you move? you might be in more trouble for not informing the DVLA of the change of address sooner
    yeah - don't! I thought we had (we've taxed our car twice since)

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    Re: advice please - congestion charge penalty

    Quote Originally Posted by Flibb View Post
    Might be worth checking your bank statements for that time, see if there is a record of both of you being elsewhere.
    good idea

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    Re: advice please - congestion charge penalty

    Weird question for you Londoners...

    Are disabled people exempt from this? As if they are, you wont have to pay.

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    Re: advice please - congestion charge penalty

    Quote Originally Posted by abaxas View Post
    Are disabled people exempt from this? As if they are, you wont have to pay.
    lol - was that a joke?! It sounds like you're calling me disabled...

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    Re: advice please - congestion charge penalty

    Seeing as you don't have a whole rash of them... and you would if you had been cloned, its probably you. You could contact your old address and see if there are more of them. If so looks like you have been cloned. I would be inclined to pay this time and chalk it up to experence. If more start arriving your need to investigate it. Did the letter tell you were entered the zone, if its on your normal route its even more likely someone forgot. Either way, pay before the debt collectors get hold of it, as the fine will get alot more expensive if they do.

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    Re: advice please - congestion charge penalty

    check on google maps where it was you entered the zone, look on street view, show the wife.

    See if any of it is familiar.
    throw new ArgumentException (String, String, Exception)

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    Re: advice please - congestion charge penalty

    Quote Originally Posted by Russ View Post
    sounds like the wife is having an affair :|

    what? we all thought it..
    I'm sure she'd just go down the road rather than drive to town, but I'll ask her.

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    Re: advice please - congestion charge penalty

    Quote Originally Posted by M0nkeyb0Y View Post
    lol - was that a joke?! It sounds like you're calling me disabled...
    No,
    Just the best way to fight any fine is to complain of discrimination. Works next to 100% of the time, becasue the enforcers are too scared to test this out. Works best with councils.

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