TfL Congestion Charge and Bailiff enforcement.

With so many enquiries being received  about Penalty Charge Notices issued by Transport for London for failing to pay the Congestion Charge, we decided to introduced this new page to outline the process from issuing of a Penalty Charge Notice right through to bailiff enforcement.

How much is the Congestion Charge?

The daily TfL Congestion Charge is currently £15 per day

What happens if I fail to pay the Congestion Charge by midnight the following day?

If you fail to  pay the Congestion Charge by midnight the following day, Transport for London will send a formal notification – a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) to the registered keeper of the vehicle. The amount due will be £180 You will have  28 days from the date of service of the PCN to either:

Pay the penalty or:

Challenge the PCN by making a representation either online or in writing.

However, if you pay within 14 days of the date of service you will receive a 50% discount and the amount payable will be £90

Charge Certificate

If the penalty charge  is not paid in full within 28 days of the date of service, a Charge Certificate will be issued and the amount due increases substantially by 50% to £270.  You will have just 14 days from the date of service to make payment. Once a Charge Certificate has been  issued,  you can no longer make  representation or appeal the Congestion Charge.

Order for Recovery

If the penalty charge (of £270) is not paid within 14 days of a Charge Certificate being served, Transport for London may apply to register the charge  as an unpaid debt at the Traffic Enforcement Centre. The charge increases by 50% to £280 to include a debt registration fee of £10.

You will then be sent an Order for Recovery. This statutory notice is a vitally important because; if you did not receive the original PCN (you may have moved address or been overseas etc) or had made a representation or an appeal to Transport for London and had not received a reply, then you can submit a  Statutory Declaration (form PE3) which needs to be sworn and emailed to the Traffic Enforcement Centre. A word of warning, you have just 21 days in which to file your Statutory Declaration. If you had not received the original PCN,  a fresh PCN will be issued to you allowing you to pay at the reduced amount.

It is important to stress that registering the debt at the Traffic Enforcement Centre does NOT mean that you will have a County Court Judgement. Also, your credit rating will NOT be affected.

TfL Congestion Charge and bailiff enforcement.

If payment in full is not made or a Statutory Declaration filed within 21 days of the issue of the Order for Recovery, TfL can request permission for a Warrant of Control to be issued. This will be passed to one of the three private enforcement companies (Marston Recovery, CDER Group or Bristow & Sutor Ltd).

Once a case has been passed to an enforcement agent, they will commence enforcement activity; this is known as the compliance stage. At this point you will receive a Notice of  Enforcement detailing the amount that you owe and providing a date and time by when a payment (or payment arrangement) must be set up.

At this stage, a compliance fee of £75 will be added to the debt increasing the amount due to £355. If you ignore this notice, an enforcement agent may visit your property to collect the outstanding debt. An enforcement fee of £235 will be added increasing the amount due to £590 At this stage, a bailiff can take control of a vehicle belonging to you to sell to recover the debt.

TfL Congestion Charge and making a payment arrangement with the bailiff.

A payment arrangement can be set up with the enforcement company on receipt of the Notice of Enforcement. However, in order to avoid an enforcement fee of £235 being added, and the possibility  of your car being taken into control, this arrangement must be set up  before the ‘Compliance stage’ expires (this is the date given on the Notice of Enforcement  by when payment must be made).

If full payment or a payment arrangement is not set up by the date given on the Notice of Enforcement, the warrant will be passed to an individual enforcement agent so that a personal visit can be made. The debt will then increase to £590 to include the statutory enforcement fee of £235. At this stage, it is much more difficult to set up a payment arrangement.

I moved address and have not received any notices from Transport for London.

If you had not received the initial penalty charge notice as you had moved address then you can submit an Out of Time Statutory Declaration (forms PE2 and PE3)  to the Traffic Enforcement Centre. Full details of this procedure can be read here.

Commentary from Bailiff Advice Online

If you have received a letter or a visit from a bailiff/enforcement agent in relation to a Transport for London (TfL) congestion charge that you were unaware of (usually because all notices had been sent to a previous address), you can email a question to us using our popular Enquiry Form. Alternatively, you can contact us by phone. Details are on our Contact page.