Help! London COngestion Charge!

[djdavep]

Hi folks wondering what to do here really. I recieved a penalty notice through for the london cc.
The problem I have is i'm not from london and on the route i took into london there was nowhere telling me where to pay the congestion charge and I ended up just outside liverpool street station, where I was working a one off gig at a bar.
3 weeks later I recieved a penalty saying I had had one opurtunity to pay and £50 fine and thnat the fine was now £100 (i had never recieved the £50 fine!) so I telephoned the call centre a couple of weeks later, as I was working away.

The call centre said that I had also missed the dead;ine for the £100 fine and that now the fine would be £150!" And I had been sent out a letter to tell me about this. (I haven't to date recieved this letter!).

At this point I sent the following letter:

David xxxxxx
14 xxxxx Crescent
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxx
West Yorkshire
HXx xxx

Congestion Charging London
PO Box 2985
Coventry
CV7 8ZR


13/09/2006


Re: Charge Certificate Issued 28/08/06 Penalty Charge Notice Number: TLxxxxxxxxxA


Dear Sir/Madam,


I today opened the above mentioned letter after returning from business, this is for a penalty charge of £100 payable within 14 days of the letter. Unfortunately this period has expired. However, I must draw your attention to the fact that, after discussion with Paul at your call centre today, I never received the initial first letter which I believe to be for a penalty charge of £50.


Paul also informed me that I should have received a further notice for a £150 charge which I have also not received and that I will now be receiving papers from the county court with regards to this debt.


I must inform you that I find this to be both harsh and unfair. I am not a Londoner and there is nowhere on the route i took into London which tells me where to pay the congestion charge. I therefore assumed it was somehow automatic and I would receive an invoice for the congestion charge.


The fact that I never received the first letter is the whole cause of the ongoing debt here. I do not think any kind of penalty charge is fair as it is not clear where to pay. I am therefore offering to pay the actual congestion charge and if you are willing to accept this, please could you tell me how and where I can pay this.


If you are refusing this offer then I shall require proof of postage for all the correspondence you have sent me so far.


I hope we can settle this in a civil manner.


Thank you for your time.


Kind Regards,


Anyway today I recieve what looks like a standard letter refusing to accept my offer

It basically says that the penalty charge was issued on 20/07/2006 and the notice payment or representation within 28 days of this date and my correspondence was not reieved til after this date but I never reieved the first letter!!!
They say they have considered if mitigating circumstances have affected the representation but on this occasion they cannot consider my representation.

The basically a load of sh!te on how I can pay it!

Please please please can somebody help me with this it will be greatly appreciated.

I am quite willing to enter a defence against them in county court and I had 3 passengers in the car who can all confirm that there was no clear place to pay the congestion charge.

Thanks

	County Court guidebook by Judge Patricia Pearl Follow this link to read the review of this excellent Small Claims Guidebook. This comprehensive and very accessible guide will take you through the process of suing or defending a claim. This guide will help you take control of your litigation and make you more confident about doing it yourself. Applies to England and Wales

[djdavep]

Also no reference to the proof of postage point in their return letter!?!?

[Seminole]

Unfortunately I think you have misunderstood the nature of this charge. You are supposed to pay it at a retail outlet or by phone or over the web. There are plenty of ways to pay but very little time which is, in my view, a form of entrapment particularly for non-Londoners.

I think my advice would be to pay the fine and put it down to experience. Transport for London are a law unto themselves- quite literally- they were set up with powers that are quite draconian. I doubt if you would succeed in a defence based on the reasons you've been given.

For what it's worth I believe that the congestion charge is yet another attack on the motorist by a profoundly anti-car government and its London Mayor. The answer to this lies in the ballot box I suspect.

[graham100]

pay the fine thats all you can do ,it is quite maddening this con charge you note i say con cos that is what it is ,i work down in london and every one i speak to say i never voted for that man ,if thats the case how the hell did he bcome mayor i tell you now if this hapened up where i live he would be kicked out on is aris

[24vgaz]

Hi djdavep
DO NOT pay the charge.

[24vgaz]

sorry email me off line and I will send you some information. We had the same problem with the Robbing so and sos. We went to court and won mind it took a year!!!!

rsj12@hotmail.com is my email

[barracad]

On what basis did you win a claim in court?

[djdavep]

I agree totally wiv what is said but I don't thin k it is right for them to do this there is no-where not one single sign telling me where to pay otherwise i would have i am not a dodger this is why i am mad about it. I am willing to pay the fee but not a fine.

[brechiner]

Originally Posted by djdavep

I agree totally wiv what is said but I don't thin k it is right for them to do this there is no-where not one single sign telling me where to pay otherwise i would have i am not a dodger this is why i am mad about it. I am willing to pay the fee but not a fine.

Well I travel to sunny Scotland alot to support my beloved Brechin City and even in the Brechin library they have stuff about the congestion charge, as practically every motorway services on the UK network. So ignorance is no defence and believe me I fight every ticket I get. You must have driven past a 1,000 shops with the C charge logo and many signs saying c charge zone x miles ahead.

Trouble is no one likes to ask anyone anything until it is too late. Any tourist info centre will have the c charge info as does transport for london web site.

[wandererpaul]

i took a charge to arbitration and lost, but i only had to pay the original fine of £40 then.
We used to go to Gt Ormond St Hosp a lot due to my daughter. I paid the charge through their web site but this one time i obviously didn't press the confirm button. I had evidence i visited the site through the computer log but they still didn't accept it. i also had over 15 other charges i paid over a 8 month period to prove i always paid the congestion charge, but that didn't matter. i didn't pay so paid the penalty !