Congestion charging (1 Viewer)

Dare_Devil_Dennis

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Hi
As a coach-built motorhome, my unit is registered as zero emissions. This is because the original base vehicle manufacturer cannot just guess the final weight of the finished vehicle, so a special case has been made for coach-builts.

Does this mean it will not be charged for entering the low emissions zone, or have they got this loophole covered? (I am an eternal optimist)

I read somewhere recently about someone who picked up a family member from Heathrow in their motorhome and fell foul of the charge and got a £500 penalty.

I used the Datrford crossings recently to and from Canterbury and saw the signs. As a Northener and infrequent visitor to London and surrounding areas, I am ignorant of the detail. Any advice appreciated.
 

magicsurfbus

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Go on the TfL website and check with your vehicle's type or registration number. It only applies on weekdays during working hours.

It's £11.50 basic paid up front or on the day (online or by phone with debit card) before midnight, otherwise £14.00, or a fine if you don't pay the £14.00.

We were down there recently working in central London with a diesel car and had to pay, so I'd be surprised if your MH would get away with it.
 
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Dare_Devil_Dennis

Dare_Devil_Dennis

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Thanks, Just checked, and My unit is exempt! Amazing.

I just feel sorry for the poor guy who unknowingly entered the zone and it cost him dearly.

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Nov 5, 2013
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Just checked ours, 2008, 3.0 litre euro4, 5.2t......no charge :xsmile:

Not that I'd drive into London deliberatly,Packet Boat Marina is quite far enough ! :xeek:
 
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SMB

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My vehicle is also showing as being exempt. 2012 Ducato 2.3l 4.25T. Tempted to drive into the LEZ just cos I can :xThumb:
 
Oct 2, 2008
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The TFL site is not always accurate , it doesn't get updated to be correct if there is a change of original vehicle data, in both directions.

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SMB

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The TFL site is not always accurate , it doesn't get updated to be correct if there is a change of original vehicle data, in both directions.
Don't burst my bubble :Grin:

I will check via landline if I ever decide to visit London whih is unlikely to be honest...
 

Lenny HB

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You are all confussing the conjestion
Go on the TfL website and check with your vehicle's type or registration number. It only applies on weekdays during working hours.

It's £11.50 basic paid up front or on the day (online or by phone with debit card) before midnight, otherwise £14.00, or a fine if you don't pay the £14.00.

We were down there recently working in central London with a diesel car and had to pay, so I'd be surprised if your MH would get away with it.
You are confusing the Central London Congestion charge with the LEZ. The LEZ goes out nearly to the M25 and if your vehicle does not comply and is over 2500kg it is £100 a day up to 3500kg, £200 a day over 3500kg.

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magicsurfbus

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Go on the TfL website and check with your vehicle's type or registration number. It only applies on weekdays during working hours.

It's £11.50 basic paid up front or on the day (online or by phone with debit card) before midnight, otherwise £14.00, or a fine if you don't pay the £14.00.

We were down there recently working in central London with a diesel car and had to pay, so I'd be surprised if your MH would get away with it.


Whoops, just realised I got mixed up between the Low Emission Zone (basically within the M25) and the Congestion Charge Zone (Central London). Sorry about that.
 
Aug 26, 2008
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It is worth checking online whether your vehicle is recogised by TFL as exempt from the charge, before travelling anywhere near the LEZ.

The TFL checker didn't recognise my previous 2002 VW T4 campervan as LEZ charge exempt, which I had assumed it should have been at that time, both because of the date of first registration (in Germany) and it being Euro3 emissions compliant on the Certificate of Conformity. It was an import and somewhere between the DVLA re-registration and TFL there may have been a mixup. I didn't bother trying to sort that out with TFL, but made sure that I stayed well clear of the LEZ while I drove that campervan. The M25 is all OK, outside the LEZ.

I don't know if mine was an isolated example, but any Funster with an import who assumes they should be exempt from the charge should use the TFL checker before entering the LEZ.

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SMB

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Jul 5, 2013
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It is all getting very confusing in London. You have the congestion charge in the central part of London, and, on top of that, you have the T-charge, which is an emissions surcharge on top of the standard congestion charge. This applies if your vehicle does not meet the Euro 4 standards.

Entirely separate and additional to this you have the LEZ (Low emissions) zones and soon to be introduced ULEZ (ultra low emission) zones. These operate 24 hours a day and every day. The LEZ only apply to heavy vehicles, which I think are over 3.5T. With these the charge for a none-compliant vehicle is an eye watering £200! The ULEZ will apply from April 2019 to all vehicles that do not comply with Euro 4 for petrol vehicles and Euro 6 for diesel vehicles. It covers exactly the same areas as the congestion charge and T-charge, but is paid in addition to these. If your vehicle is non-compliant the charge is (I think) £12.50 if you are under 3.5t and £100 if you are over 3.5t.

If you drive a vehicle which does not comply with any of the requirements of these charges (and those requirements are different for the different charges) into central London after April 2019 you will have to pay 4 lots of different charges and if you forget you will be subject to 4 lots of different fines. I have a 4.5t Euro 5 moho. I can drive it in the LEZ without charge. If I drive into the congestion charge area I have to pay the congestion charge, but not the T charge. After April 2019 I will have to also pay the ULEZ charge of £100!

The complexity of having 4 different schemes with 4 different rules is utter bloody madness! I can understand (and agree with) wanting to deter vehicles, and especially higher polluting ones, from driving into London. It has a brilliant public transport scheme with lots of busses and underground trains. When I go up to central London (not often nowadays) I always go by train and then use the tube. But why not make one simple to understand scheme in which you pay depending upon what vehicle you are driving in what area.
 
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Don't burst my bubble :Grin:

I will check via landline if I ever decide to visit London whih is unlikely to be honest...
Ringing them wont help as they just look at the database :)
(This is LEZ BTW)
 

PP Bear

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Ducato 2.8JTD on a 2006 plate and also exempt.
IMG_4386.PNG

It's all very confusing stuff, best just stay away from the place. Heard thy don't speak English there anyway...
IMG_4387.PNG

 
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[
Ducato 2.8JTD on a 2006 plate and also exempt.
View attachment 203414
And this just demonstrates the confusion that rains with this whole sorry mess.

This gives exemption from the T-charge, which is the add on to the congestion charge and applies only in the congestion zone in inner London. But it does not mean that you will be exempt from the LEZ charge, which covers most, but not all, the area of London within the M25, including the congestion zone. And sure enough when I check your reg number your moho is not exempt from the LEZ zone.

So the good news is that you will are exempt from paying the additional T charge of £10 if you venture into inner London. The bad news is that you will have to pay the £200 LEZ charge to get to inner London from the M25 in the first place.

Confused yet ???????

A cynic would suggest the system is designed to trick people into having to pay large fines.

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Jul 5, 2013
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I think it is over 2.5T, my neigbour had to buy a car as he couldn't visit his mum in Croydon in his 2.8T VW camper.
Sorry Lenny, I was guilty of over simplification. With motorhomes, under 2.5t are exempt from LEZ if they were built 2002 or later; over 2.5t and under 3.5t are exempt if they were built 2006 or later.

My head hurts ......
 
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Silver-Fox

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A cynic would suggest the system is designed to trick people into having to pay large fines.

Really who'd of guessed :eek:

The ridiculous thing is you pay a ridiculous amount of money to drive into London with a so called polluting vehicle. The charge doesn't stop the pollution though does it? So it can only be a revenue generator :rolleyes:
 
Jul 5, 2013
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The ridiculous thing is you pay a ridiculous amount of money to drive into London with a so called polluting vehicle. The charge doesn't stop the pollution though does it? So it can only be a revenue generator :rolleyes:
Not really. It is designed to discourage people driving more polluting vehicles into London, and therefore reduce pollution, and I have no problem with that at all. The trouble is that it is simply too complicated.

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Sorry Lenny, I was guilty of over simplification. With motorhomes, under 2.5t are exempt from LEZ if they were built 2002 or later; over 2.5t and under 3.5t are exempt if they were built 2006 or later.

My head hurts ......


Even that is not correct.

Firstly there is a distinction between paetrol and diesel vehicles.

Even many diesel under 3.5t are exempt according to first registration. My 2003 is exempt.

Geoff
 

GWAYGWAY

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Thanks, Just checked, and My unit is exempt! Amazing.

I just feel sorry for the poor guy who unknowingly entered the zone and it cost him dearly.

Done that been there, the cost is a £1000 for HGV or £500 for below 3500kgs. It is not the emission Zone as only an idiot would want to drive a motorhome there, it is the LEZ emmission zone you need worry about.
My new Sprinter base was NOT l;isted either and it took a load of writing to get them to accept it as what it is Euro 6. Had I gone in before it was listed as compliant then would have been done as they go by the list from DVLC and if it is not on it when you go in you get the fine. BaXXXrds money grabbers. It applies everywhere(almost) inside the M25 includung sliproads where there are cameras.
 

Silver-Fox

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Not really. It is designed to discourage people driving more polluting vehicles into London, and therefore reduce pollution, and I have no problem with that at all. The trouble is that it is simply too complicated.


But my point is if someone chooses to drive in with a smog machine the money won't keep the air clean.
They would be better off just banning such vehicles.

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Aug 18, 2014
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It is all getting very confusing in London. You have the congestion charge in the central part of London, and, on top of that, you have the T-charge, which is an emissions surcharge on top of the standard congestion charge. This applies if your vehicle does not meet the Euro 4 standards.

Entirely separate and additional to this you have the LEZ (Low emissions) zones and soon to be introduced ULEZ (ultra low emission) zones. These operate 24 hours a day and every day. The LEZ only apply to heavy vehicles, which I think are over 3.5T. With these the charge for a none-compliant vehicle is an eye watering £200! The ULEZ will apply from April 2019 to all vehicles that do not comply with Euro 4 for petrol vehicles and Euro 6 for diesel vehicles. It covers exactly the same areas as the congestion charge and T-charge, but is paid in addition to these. If your vehicle is non-compliant the charge is (I think) £12.50 if you are under 3.5t and £100 if you are over 3.5t.

If you drive a vehicle which does not comply with any of the requirements of these charges (and those requirements are different for the different charges) into central London after April 2019 you will have to pay 4 lots of different charges and if you forget you will be subject to 4 lots of different fines. I have a 4.5t Euro 5 moho. I can drive it in the LEZ without charge. If I drive into the congestion charge area I have to pay the congestion charge, but not the T charge. After April 2019 I will have to also pay the ULEZ charge of £100!

The complexity of having 4 different schemes with 4 different rules is utter bloody madness! I can understand (and agree with) wanting to deter vehicles, and especially higher polluting ones, from driving into London. It has a brilliant public transport scheme with lots of busses and underground trains. When I go up to central London (not often nowadays) I always go by train and then use the tube. But why not make one simple to understand scheme in which you pay depending upon what vehicle you are driving in what area.
because they wouldn't scam the drivers for as much money

Ringing them wont help as they just look at the database :)
(This is LEZ BTW)
You are right in that they operate a system like the attendance allowance used to have whereby those answering the phones speak from a sheet but they do have the power to ring the people who actually are supposed to be the brains.
Being foreign registered & having to actually register vehicles with them I actually have to deal with the back office idiots & a bigger load of useless dross you couldn't ask to deal with. & to make it even more bizarre is the fact that you speak to the person on the end of the telephone , who then has to ring said half-wit who relays the info to telephone person who tells me , I then reply to telephone person who............. & this goes on until half-wit finally realises they are wrong & supplies/ corrects the info. you can't make the stuff up.


Sorry Lenny, I was guilty of over simplification. With motorhomes, under 2.5t are exempt from LEZ if they were built 2002 or later; over 2.5t and under 3.5t are exempt if they were built 2006 or later.

My head hurts ......

No ,still wrong. Under 2,5T & diesel are exempt whenever they are built mine is 1989.
2,5T to 3,5T are either exempt or banned depending on year of manufacture.

Even that is not correct.

Firstly there is a distinction between paetrol and diesel vehicles.

Even many diesel under 3.5t are exempt according to first registration. My 2003 is exempt.

Geoff

Yes depends on year of manufacture as to what euro number engine is exempt.
 
Aug 18, 2014
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But my point is if someone chooses to drive in with a smog machine the money won't keep the air clean.
They would be better off just banning such vehicles.
Problem is ,what is a 'smog machine' ? The new UK class selling Nissan Quashquai diesel emits 9 x the pollution, on the road, that it does to pass the emissions CoC test. Many older vehicles emit far less yet are banned from entering ?
It's all for show & to generate money.
 
Aug 18, 2011
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Hi
As a coach-built motorhome, my unit is registered as zero emissions. This is because the original base vehicle manufacturer cannot just guess the final weight of the finished vehicle, so a special case has been made for coach-builts.

Does this mean it will not be charged for entering the low emissions zone, or have they got this loophole covered? (I am an eternal optimist)

I read somewhere recently about someone who picked up a family member from Heathrow in their motorhome and fell foul of the charge and got a £500 penalty.

I used the Datrford crossings recently to and from Canterbury and saw the signs. As a Northener and infrequent visitor to London and surrounding areas, I am ignorant of the detail. Any advice appreciated.
Its all down to engine emissions,,nothing to do with who builds your motorhome,,its based on your base vehicle,,i.e.,,Euro rating,,4,,5,,6,,or what ever no they are up to yet. Doesn't make sense because mine is a 2002 and is excempt,,why because its 2800 gross,,same emissions as heavier vans,,doesn't make sense,,BUSBY.

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Aug 18, 2011
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But my point is if someone chooses to drive in with a smog machine the money won't keep the air clean.
They would be better off just banning such vehicles.
I think they should ban all vehicles from town or city centres,,,No one would be brave enough, Only though if they improve public transport and make it free to all.,,it will happen in the end,,BUSBY,,
 
Jun 10, 2010
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SO I started thinking about ways those in the 3500kgs + category could get caught.

It occurred to me that when travelling around the northern sector and the Dartford crossing is closed the alternatives ( Blackwall Tunnel or Woolwich ferry) will no longer be options after April 2019. I can see people (myself included) getting caught out with that one.

Why on earth they need 4 separate systems is beyond me!!!
 
Jul 5, 2013
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SO I started thinking about ways those in the 3500kgs + category could get caught.

It occurred to me that when travelling around the northern sector and the Dartford crossing is closed the alternatives ( Blackwall Tunnel or Woolwich ferry) will no longer be options after April 2019. I can see people (myself included) getting caught out with that one.

Why on earth they need 4 separate systems is beyond me!!!
AFAIK the only thing that is changing in April 2019 is the introduction of the ULEZ zone. The ULEZ only covers the area of the present congestion charge - see here and is not the same area as the LEZ. The Blackwall Tunnel and Woolwich Ferry are not in the ULEZ, as it only stretches as far East as Tower Bridge. As long as you can use the LEZ at the moment then you will still be able to use these routes. The rules are complex but you can check whether your moho is OK in the Link Removed.

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