TFL Issue Incorrect fines over car number plate ULEZ
Reg Plates ArticleTFL Issue Incorrect fines over car number plate ULEZ
Unjust Ulez Fines Leave Motorists Frustrated
Two motorists have been wrongly fined for driving in London's Ultra-Low Emission Zone (Ulez) after their car registration plates were cloned. Despite providing evidence that their vehicles were not in the capital at the time of the alleged offenses, they have been forced to battle with Transport for London (TfL) to get the fines overturned.
C and FC from London received parking and speeding fines, which they promptly contested. However, their auto-pay account with TfL had already been debited by £400 in Ulez penalties. After canceling auto-pay, they were further harassed with a £200 demand from debt collectors. TfL initially refused to accept that the offending car was not theirs, despite clear evidence to the contrary.
AW from Northampton found herself in a similar situation. She received multiple Ulez fines even though she had never driven to London. Photos attached to the fines showed a number plate one digit different to her own. Despite repeated appeals, the fines kept coming, leading her to fear that the situation would never be resolved.
TfL admitted that it had failed to spot a "bolt" in the cloned number plate, causing a D to be mistaken for a B. The agency apologized and placed a marker on the account to prevent further errors. It also finally accepted that C and FC were not liable for the fines and apologized for the distress caused, promising a "full" refund.
These cases highlight the need for TfL to improve its processes for verifying registration plates and issuing fines. The current system is clearly flawed and is causing unnecessary stress and inconvenience for motorists.
How popular any name or initial it contains is: You are more likely to get good money for a registration plate that spells out a name like 5UE than you are with a more unusual name, simply because there is more demand for Sue (or Dave or Mel) than there would be for Hector, Primrose or Zebedee
How valuable the letters and numbers the plate contains are: in terms of numbers, lower numbers with fewer digits tend to be the most valuable when reselling personalised number plates, making BOB 1 more valuable than BOB 379. Sequential numbers (123, 456 etc.) and repeated numbers (444, 88) are more popular than random combinations, and special occasion numbers like 18 and 21 can also boost a number plate’s value a little. In terms of the letters in a number plate, the likelihood of a series of letters being a name or a person’s initials increases the value of the plate, too.
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