London congestion charge for foreign cars

Ok so this is the thing.

I drove through London yesterday without paying the congestion fee with German number plates (but not my car)

So according to this link I can pay it before midnight tonight.

I will tell my German friend whose vehicle it was (Scout minibus) this but the he'll no doubt ask me if we can get away with it or if there is a special procedure for foreign number plates.

Does anybody know?

Oh and to make it a little more confusing we were towing a trailer with a different reg to the bus so which number should we give in online payment?

Thanks in advance

No idea. I paid it last time because having lived and worked in London I think it's a damm good thing and has lead to an improvement. Why not pay it and be honest, or leave it and tell us what happens?

What Gideon said.

There was a story on the BBC website within the last couple of weeks - from memory, it related to parking fines and speeding. It basically said that visitors to the uK were getting away without paying due to no linkup with the authorities in the offender's home country.

I will post the link if I can find it...

The driver of a scout bus is considering dodging a payment?!

Up until now, yes.
But there are agreements being made that will make it possible to collect money for motoring offences anywhere in the EU.
I heard they are already partly in place.

Oh I agree and have no problem to pay it. As I said it was not my vehicle so not really up to me to decide whether we pay it or not. I just wanted to know other experiences.

dont pay - it's an illegal tax on the poor

also I drove for 4 years in london with a german plate, many times in the zone (once it was introduced), never paying and my ex never got a ticket sent to her place in HH where the car was registered. It also worked for a car with french plates i drove every now and then too. If i remember right the Evening Standard ran a story years ago saying that many police forces in Europe don't recognise not paying the charge as an offence (such a getting nicked by some parking nazi, or speeding) and so don't chase it up.

http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/upload/pu...hments/1106/TfL CC case study final.doc

Could anybody actually answer my question about foreign number plate and trailer and how to pay the charge?

As I have said I have no problem to pay it but is not up to me!

This has been in the works for a very very long time. France and Germany still don't collect each other's parking fines. It seems the admin still costs more than persuing the fine, which is usually only 10 euro anyway. The London congestion charging may be different as the fines are much higher.

i was talking to a cabbie when i was back in february and he said it made a difference for like 6 months when first introduced but now it is as bad as always. it's a pure money making scheme by ken so he can waste the cash on things like bendy buses. vote Boris!

Online you only have the option of putting in the vehicle registration and not an additional one.
So, put the bus one as you'd be admitting an offence by saying the trailer did not show the same registration as the bus.

Exactly HellesA, it gets interesting when the fines are higher.

Although Lassie is talking a loadatorybollix, there is a bit of truth in what he says.
Traffic levels did fall with the CC but they are starting to creap up again.
Driving has become if you like a "premium service" for which some people are willing to pay.

The extension of the CC west to cover much of the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea enables the residents thereof to drive all over the zone at a much reduced rate.

Buses are better in London than ANYWHERE else in the UK and the passenger numbers are climbing.

I've contacted the major ports in England, and when you drive through your car will be confiscated and crushed. Thanks for visiting london. We hope you had a nice stay

What you against an illegal tax of the poor?


and you trust what cabbies say...

I think you're going soft.

PM, they won't chase you. But I can see the headlines next month about the police strip searching and analy check a busload of german scouts.

That's an old movie Gids.

"DIB DIB DOBBED - kraut scout mounts"

Unless you are from the U.S Embassy, who as an entity flatly refuse to pay the toll, stating that it is outside the Vienna Convention.

Just to prove I'm not "Anti -American" I'd say in this case I kind of sympathise with them given the miilions of unpaid parking violation in New York
from represenatatives to the UN.

But at least being London there'll be a video of your car being crushed you can keep as a souveneir if you ask Ken nicely...

@SwedishChef
Care to qualify that statement with some reliable sources? Could it be that it's cars with diplomatic plates that are exempt?...

JW, the US Embassy in london claims they are exempt, the London traffic authority disagrees. It's an ongoing discussion.

What are the other embassies up to? You're telling me they unquestioningly pay the congestion charge while the US makes a fuss?

I dunno JW, all I do know is that the USA is in a clinch with TfL.
And I probably agree with the USA on this issue.

This congestion charge is a true disgrace. I don't know how high road tax is in the UK, but just the fact that cars and fuel are much more expensive than elsewhere to begin with makes me feel sorry for British consumers.

Such a disgrace it is viewed with wonder by town and transport planners all over Europe.
I think it is failing in the state senate, but the City of new York wanted to introduce something similar too.

Munich is moving in that direction too. They will be charging for all on street parking wthin the Mittlerer Ring by the end of 2008.

Mayor Bloomberg has shown interest in mimiking London's congestion charge. It'll be interesting to see if the UK will pay NY's congestion tax/charge as well.

EDIT: They certainly have not problem paying parking tickets!

Of course. Officials elsewhere must salivate at yet another way to make easy money. Whether it's a "congestion charge", expensive fuel or any other kind of tax, people will keep on using their cars, nothing is going to change that, and they know it.

Stockholm has one too

How much?

Except car use DID fall in London, public transport got better and Ken Livingstone was re-elected as mayor and has every chance of being re-elected again.

slightly different from the London one as it isnt a flat rate. You pay every time you cross the boundary (between 80p and 1 pound 50 depending on time of day with a daily cap of 5 pounds). I think it is applied only on weekdays between 630am and 630 pm

Maybe I should add that there was a test period followed by a referendum, in which the residents voted to keep it permanent (although the residents of surrounding districts voted against)

How many seats did this minibus have? If it has 9 or more it is exempt...although you have to register with them first:


and if not:


EPC Link

Source for the above: Transport for London Q & A Keyword search: 'Foreign'

Also have a look at BBC London: How to pay the charge with a phone number for international users. Maybe they will answer all your questions.

What the hell is someone who is poor driving a car in London for? I'm sure most "poor" are enjoying their new bus routes, which are quick due to there being less traffic on the road.

If you drive a car in London just because you don't want to get public transport, then you're being selfish.. simple as that. You're causing unnecessary environmental damage, slowing down other people on the road who are there for a good reason and making the city loud and less livable for others who live there. The scheme is great, and should be introduced in every big city.

I'm sure that rabble-rousing Red Ken had Land Rovers in Chelsea in mind when he marketed the idea, but if you go to London, you'll see that there are all sorts of cars, not everyone is rich, and public transport as it stands is not a viable alternative for everyone.

Can you give me an example of someone to whom public transport is not viable in London and has to pay the congestion charge?

You need to consider all the other taxes the average motorist has to pay for! It's not like people ride for free and are being his with a congestion charge out of the blue. The quality of public transportation in London is simply not adequate and not viable for people who need to transport anything within the city.

One of the main disagreements I have with the westward expansiopn of the congestion charging zone is that it now gives discounts to the Chelsea tractor brigade.
It didn't come out of the blue. It was and is a central plank of Ken Livingstone's transport policies.
Policies that are accepted by the majority of Londoners. ie He was re-elected.

I'd like to hear examples of "poor" people who are so badly effected by the charge?

Who is it not adequate for? Why are taxes on cars bad? Surely we should be trying to dissuade people from using them unnecessarily as much as possible.

People in other parts of the UK would give their right hand for public transport as good as it is in London.

It is/was not adequate for me. Lived in Zone 4/5, and had to take a bus and tube and on a good day it takes me 1.5 hours where as om my bike, 45 min to an hour tops. Besides, we pay to use the roads in more than one way so CC is unfair to say the least.

rubbish. If you pay your road tax then one should be entitled to drive anywhere on a public highway. That's the the road tax is for. One shouldn't have to pay extra just to drive in London.

The other thing that bugs me is that if you happen to be unlucky enough to live in the zone you have to pay road tax, parking permit and for the pleasure of being able to actually drive your car in the zone. So you're being stung three times because some fuckwit who lives in a glass testicle decided that it's alright to head west rather than east. And this isn't adjusted for income either so those poor sods who live in the Worlds End estate get stung as much the chaps living across the way in the Boltons.

the charge is wrong. Viva la Revolution, Viva le Boris!

but with a different price tag. how much is one single bus ride again?

UK road tax is a tax on the vehicle. It doesn't "entitle" you to anything.

The CC has been a success in cutting the number of vehicles (although that is starting to creap up again) and providing revenue to improve London's transport infrastructure.

There ARE poor people who live and work in the zone, that's what buses are for.

45 minutes on the bike is not unreasonable.. sounds like the congestion charge successfully stopped you from using a car unnecessarily..

Single bus jorneys are 1 GBP if you pay with Oystercard.
Shortest bus journey in Somerset (about 5 stops if I come back from town) is GBP 1.55

When I say bike, I mean 1.2lt motorbike. Gotta be crazy to even think about driving in/out of London during rush hours. And you would get squished on a treadmill.

well, i think 1GBP for 1 stop or even 2 is VERY expensive. yes, 1 GBP is cheap is you go from Oxford Street to Stokey but otherwise for local people who just have to go down the road shopping, that journey is expensive.

yay!! how mega-fab would *that* be?