London Congestion Charges

If you need to go to Central London either for pleasure or on business depending on where you go and the times you travel you will need to consider how you pay your congestion charge. Unless your vehicle is exempt it is best to make sure you pay the Congestion fee prior to making your journey as this will save you money. If your vehicle is on a Contract Hire or Leasing agreement the Congestion charge is still payable by you the operator. In the event you do not pay the Contract Hire or Leasing company will in most cases have to pay the fee and subsequently invoice you. Most Contract Hire and Leasing Companies will also levy an administration fee which is typically £25 to £50 + Vat. This clearly is an expensive way of paying the Congestion Charge.

If you are a responsible for a number of cars or a Fleet you should decide a clear policy on how the business operates vehicles within the charging zone. It may be cheaper, more environmentally friendly and often quicker to consider getting your Company Car drivers to find suitable public transport before entering the Congestion Zone.

• The current charge at 19 November 2009 is £8 per day.
• The charging zone operates from 7am to 6pm Monday to Friday.
• There are currently six ways in which you can make payment
  1. Online
  2. Mobile Phone using Text (SMS)
  3. Phone
  4. Automated Telephone
  5. At selected Shops, Petrol Stations and some Car Parks
  6. By Post

Visit the London Congestion Charge website for all the latest information London Congestion Charge website

Ignore the charge at your peril!

• Late payment carries a £2 surcharge
• Non payment carries a £120 fine which is reduced to £60 if paid in 14 days. This is why Contract Hire and Leasing Companies make the payment as soon as they receive it to prevent the full fine being applied to you or your Company car driver.
• You can apply for a Fast Tracker Card which is useful for regular Fleet users, this speeds up payment as the card holds all the relevant information about the Fleet driver and vehicle. The card has the additional benefit of being pin protected.
• For Car Fleets of over 10 vehicles there is an automated scheme which is designed to reduce time and be efficient when dealing with regular visits. To register a fee of £10 per vehicle will be levied.
• Not all vehicles are subject to Congestion Charges and for full details of these visit the Transport for London website will give you the very latest information. Broadly speaking if you have an Electric, or Hybrid fuelled vehicle you may be eligible for 100% discount on the normal fee. These vehicles discount is based on the C02 emissions, as these are constantly being reviewed check on the website detailed below for the latest information.

A selection of discount qualifying vehicles:

Click here for the governments guide

. This is an excellent document which goes into real detail.

How do I find out whether the area I am planning to drive to is in the Congestion Zone?

The Congestion Charge zone covers most of Central and West London and includes Kensington and Chelsea. There is constant debate about extending the areas covered under the charging scheme and in order not to get caught out you can keep yourself and Company Car drivers updated here.

The Future for Congestion Charging

With the continued pressure from Government to reduce our C02 emissions it is likely many cities will follow the lead of London, especially as the technology exists and has been tested to make billing easy. It is also a useful way for additional revenue to be generated for the Government which in these difficult times make the concept attractive.

There are new proposals for the London Congestion charging scheme put forward by Boris Johnson the Mayor of London in October 2009. These changes are likely to come into force in December 2010.

• To implement automated payment accounts system, this is likely to be called CC Auto Pay.
• An increase in the daily rate to £9 for CC Auto Pay customers.
• Increase to £10 for those customers not operating on the above system
• Removal of the £1 Fleet discount
• Removal of the Western Extension of the Congestion Charging Zone