London Ultra Low Emissions Zone extension

[Allan T]

On 25 October the London ULEZ will be extended to within the north and south circulars, and I'll have to interact with the system, which I've never done before. TFL has confirmed they recognise my 1978 MGB as a Vehicle of Historic Interest and therefor free of ULEZ charges. But they've failed to answer my questions about how it'll actually work. Will their system automatically recognise the VOHI status, and I'll not need to do anything? Or will I have to attempt to pay each day I drive, and make a zero payment, similar to taxing free of charge with DVLA? Or can I set-up an Auto Pay Account, which will take zero payments automatically? It would be hard to be free of the £12.50 daily charge, but collecting hundreds of pounds in penalty charges for not attempting to pay the zero-pounds owed. I've just tried to set-up an Auto Pay Account, and the TFL system wouldn't let me after I'd entered my vehicle details.

My first response from TFL was plain wrong, and since they can't have a great many VOHIs to deal with, I guess it'll be hit-or-miss finding someone there who actually knows the answers.

Any experiences and insights gratefully received!

[Allan T]

This back from tfl:

'Please be advised that your vehicle is exempt from paying the ULEZ charge because of its taxation class being a 'Historic Vehicle' and not because it meets emission standards for ULEZ. As this is the case the ULEZ checker will flag it up as a payable vehicle, however when you attempt to pay the charge for the vehicle you will not be able to do so.'

So it looks as though tfl is trying to trick VOHI owners into believing they're ULEZ-exempt and doing nothing, when in fact each day we drive in the Zone we have to log-in to the ULEZ system and attempt to pay and then have payment declined by the system, failure to do which will make us liable for a daily £160 Penalty Charge, instead of the daily £12.50 ULEZ payment.

I've asked for further clarification.

[Allan T]

TfL are still not responding, so I've asked the AA to take it up. Other VoHI owners are reporting different advice from them, and one has been driving through the old, smaller, central London ULEZ with no interaction at all with TfL/ULEZ - that would be nice, if typical.

Meanwhile - https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/news ... 6_Ax7jA39o

[Allan T]

TfL have just sent this:

'Based on the information that you have provided we can confirm that your vehicle, registration XXX XXXX is subject to the ULEZ and meets the Emission standards. This means you do not have to pay the ULEZ charge to travel in the zone.

Our vehicle compliance register will be updated accordingly.'

TfL has now told me that:
1. I'm not exempt
2. I am exempt, but each day I travel in the ULEZ I'll need to attempt to pay the £12.50 daily charge, when the system will decline to take my payment, and now
3. I am exempt, and apparently don't need to do anything more

It seems there's some confusion at TfL how to handle VoHIs.

It would probably be a good idea for anyone driving a VoHI inside the ULEZ to e-mail TfL (cclondon@cclondon.com) to get something in writing specifically covering each car.

[Peter Cresswell]

I can't find any advice from either TfL or in the press to suggest the a VoHI is liable to pay the charge. All I can find is it is an automatic detection (which probably uses the DVLA database). I assume therefore you haven't modified your MGB in a way that has rendered it liable for VED!

I suggest you contact the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) via this site: https://fbhvc.co.uk/contact-us,
and point them to your posts on here i.e. to: - https://mgbforum.mgb-register.org/posti ... d1dd8ab7f9
so they can read your case. I think the FBHVC were instrumental in affecting the decision for exemption from ULEZ charges (anywhere as many more are planned around the UK) for Historic vehicles. They can read the posts on here but can't post a reply.

There are probably more historic tax vehicles in London than you think, not to mention quite a number of dealers for Classic Vehicles.
Perhaps the boss of TfL is too busy trying to persuade his wife to stop joining the Insulate Britain protests to get it sorted!!!!

[Allan T]

Thanks Peter. TfL's website specifically says VoHIs are exempt from the ULEZ charge.

All I really wanted to hear from them definitively was how it worked on a day-to-day basis.

Would I need to do anything? - as the second reply said I would.

Or would the system recognise my VoHI status automatically, and I needn't do anything? - as the third response now says.

As I said earlier, what would be hard to take would be to be free of the £12.50/day ULEZ charge, but liable to a £160.00/day penalty for not - if that was how it worked - going through the clunky daily process of attempting to pay, and having payment refused.

[Allan T]

It might be worth anyone meaning to drive a Vehicle of Historic Interest in the London Ultra Low Emissions Zone to use this link to check their standing with TfL, and to screenshot the result: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/pay-to-drive-in-london and click 'Pay' at the bottom of the page.