To not know whether to pay the Congestion Charge or not?

[outdamspot]

Yesterday I was driving around the edge of London's Congestion Charge zone when my SatNav fell off the window. While my passenger was grappling to put it back I got into the wrong lane and was forced to turn into a street that I think is part of the zone because I drove passed the signs. Once the satnav was fixed, we got back on track but I don't know at what point we left the zone - maybe 15-20 minutes later but it's hard to tell because I didn't see an obvious sign to say we were leaving it.

If I owe money then I'll pay up, but how can I be sure? The website allows you to enter a postcode to see if it's in the zone, but I don't know what the postcode was.

If I pay, but it turns out I don't owe anything, I don't suppose I'll get my money back, will I? But if I don't pay do I automatically get a fine? And if TfL's computer system can read my number plate, how come it can't check to see if I actually owe anything before it takes my money?

If you don't pay the charge goes up a lot very quickly. Check the website.

tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/congestion-charge/paying-the-congestion-charge

I've checked the website. It seems to be aimed at people who plan to drive into the zone, or know they've driven into the zone.

If you went past a sign saying you are entering the zone, then pay up. There are cameras on every entrance route.

If you drove past a sign, you need to pay up, and quickly if you want to avoid a fine.

"You can pay in advance, on the day of travel or by midnight of the third charging day after travel."

It's a simple as that. It's only £15 so chalk it up to experience.

You could use google street view to check the signs for where you went.

Unless there's a recent change I don't know about, if you are not registered for autopay then the only way for you to get them to tell you whether or not you owe money is to wait for a fine, which is obviously a bad idea.

I'm going to half-help here.

There is a way to check if you did enter it & therefore whether you need to pay or not, unfortunately it was a long time ago & I can't remember how exactly. -sorry.

But I definitely was able to confirm for sure.

Do you have to pay it at weekends? I thought it was only week days!

Register now for auto-pay then they should just take the payment if you did go in.

OP, I've had exactly the same issue today - you can go onto the website, select pay and then enter your registration plate and it'll tell you if you have to pay or not! I've just paid the £15 because the camera picked my reg up

@OwlinaTree the congestion charge is now 7 days, to stop people driving in central during COVID! tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/congestion-charge?cid=pp020

@JustKeep

Register now for auto-pay then they should just take the payment if you did go in.

I looked at that option, but you have to pay £10 to register. It's not a mistake I plan to make regularly, so auto pay isn't worth it. I"ve lived in an outer London borough for more than 20 years and have never driven in the congestion zone before.

@Oobahdoobs

OP, I've had exactly the same issue today - you can go onto the website, select pay and then enter your registration plate and it'll tell you if you have to pay or not! I've just paid the £15 because the camera picked my reg up

I did that,but it didn't tell me whether I needed to pay. It just gave me a little calendar with today's date selected as default. I changed it to yesterday then there are instructions to enter my card details. It doesn't confirm whether I owed anything or not, though it seems happy to take my money.

You drove PAST the signs, not passed! *totally misses the point of the thread...

@outdamspot oh how odd, when I looked at it, it told me that I needed to pay the congestion charge but not the ULEZ payment because of the type of car I have! When I selected yesterday's date, it told me that there wasn't any movement for my car registered

My ex thought he might have but wasn't sure. Did nothing. Letters went to house he had rented out. Over 300 quid by the time one letter was sent to the estate agents

@parietal

If you went past a sign saying you are entering the zone, then pay up. There are cameras on every entrance route.

This. No sat nav and an “accident” aren’t an excuse.

So you know you did turn into a street that I think is part of the zone because I drove passed the signs

If you passed a sign, you entered the zone

We once stopped and asked directions from a copper, she sent us down one single road on the very edge of the congestion charge, we were off it within a minute. We appealed the charge and lost, we had to pay. Absolutely infuriating.

"Yesterday I was driving around the edge of London's Congestion Charge zone when my SatNav fell off the window. While my passenger was grappling to put it back I got into the wrong lane and was forced to turn into a street that I think is part of the zone because I drove passed the signs. Once the satnav was fixed, we got back on track but I don't know at what point we left the zone - maybe 15-20 minutes later".

It took you 15-20 mins to re stick a sat nav?

It took you 15-20 mins to re stick a sat nav?
No, to navigate round the one way system and back to the route.

unless I've misread, you think you were within the zone for potentially 15-20 minutes? Pay up

Does Google maps on your phone show you were you went?

You owe the money, pay it. Simple

Hard lines then OP. You entered the congestion charge zone and were there for a while as you could not navigate yourself out.

Can i recommend in future a bit of old sch London A-Z maps. Us old bird London girls used to use them. Also, a little bit of night before route planing before yr next jaunt.

@LadyMargaretBeauforte

Hard lines then OP. You entered the congestion charge zone and were there for a while as you could not navigate yourself out.

Can i recommend in future a bit of old sch London A-Z maps. Us old bird London girls used to use them. Also, a little bit of night before route planing before yr next jaunt.

That's patronising and delusional LadyM. It was my 14yo son in the passenger seat and he helped out with resetting the satnav very well and checked the route in his phone too, but a one way system is a one way system - you have to go round it. Re maps, I remember many more issues and family arguments over navigation when I was a child, so I certainly don't pine for the bad old days pre-satnav.