A concerning issue has arisen in London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), with car experts warning that hundreds of drivers are receiving charges and fines in error.
Over the past three months, the Plates4Less team at VRM Swansea has been inundated with inquiries from drivers who have unfairly received ULEZ charges. The team has been diligently assisting clients in challenging and overturning these charges that should never have been issued.
The ULEZ scheme, which recently expanded to cover greater London, imposes emissions-based charges on owners of non-compliant vehicles. While the scheme was introduced in 2015, it only came into effect in September 2020.
In June, approximately 4,000 ULEZ fines were issued daily. Plates4Less experts claim that many of these fines were unjust because Transport for London (TfL) is not updating its vehicle database promptly enough from DVLA records, which accurately link number plates to the correct vehicle details.
If TfL updated their records daily, experts argue, they would be aware that these vehicles are ULEZ compliant. However, because this isn’t done, the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras rely on a basic non-DVLA database.
This basic database indicates the vehicle’s age based on the age indicator on the number plate. If the vehicle appears older than 2006 for petrol cars or 2015 for diesel cars, TfL seems to automatically issue a charge, which becomes problematic when vehicles have older personalised number plates that make them appear older to the cameras, resulting in incorrect charges.
To assist motorists in challenging unjust charges, the number plate and motoring experts at VRM Swansea’s Plates4Less have created a helpful template that can be used to contest charges or fines from TfL or any other relevant authority.
Antony Clark of Plates4Less explained, “As a trusted supplier of private number plates, people often come to us with their questions, and we’re happy to help. We have found that Transport for London is not updating their vehicles database from DVLA records often enough”.
The guide is available online at www.plates4less.co.uk/ulez. Plates4Less has released several guides that may be helpful to individuals interested in private plates or motorists in general.
While London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone has been a subject of controversy, Antony Clark emphasised, “The issue remains that the system isn’t perfect and the database updates slowly, which is why some motorists who are driving compliant vehicles are receiving charges and fines that they shouldn’t be. This solution proposed by Plates4Less should allow Transport for London to update their files, solving the problem.”
Antony added, “The issue remains that the system isn’t perfect and the database updates slowly, which is why some motorists who are driving compliant vehicles are receiving charges and fines that they shouldn’t be. This solution proposed by Plates4Less should allow Transport for London to update their files, solving the problem.
VRM Swansea – Plates4Less is a reputable agency specialising in the buying and selling of private number plates in the UK. With over 65 million registrations on record, the company boasts a technologically advanced smart search engine to assist clients in finding the perfect plate. Operating since 1997, the agency holds more 5-star reviews on Trustpilot than any other agency in its field.
Despite its name, Plates4Less holds the UK record for negotiating the sale of the most expensive private number plate to date in the United Kingdom, surpassing £600,000 in 2022.