So far I've had no problems paying the London Congestion Charge on-line as and when appropriate - except the pain of parting with £8 ... ;o(
A friend of mine at a car dealership got a letter from the LCC authorities with a big surcharge for an unpaid CC, together with photo purporting to be his car. Fact was, the car in question (i.e. with that legitimate reg number) was demonstrably nowhere near London on the day alleged. Turned out that the car which was in London was of the same make, but fitted with false plates - obvious when the photo was examined more closely. Is this scam widespread?
Oz (as was)
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Yes - and growing.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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With all this reliance on cameras be it speed/ANPR or congestion charging ones, it stands to reason people are going to clone plate to get away with it.
I'm sure it was on PePiPoo ages and ages ago how someone had been done for speeding in somewhere like Cornwall yet could prove by work records and CCTV that the car was in the works car park up in Liverpool say.
I seem to remember even with the evidence, they had a hard time dissuading the local Speed Camera Pratnership.
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>>I seem to remember even with the evidence, they had a hardtime dissuading the local Speed Camera Pratnership.
And I seem to remember hearing (in a different but equally justified context) that the LCC authorities are not exactly open to discussion.
Oz (as was)
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I seem to remember even with the evidence, they had a hard time dissuading the local Speed Camera Pratnership.
Adam, was that a typo or intentional?
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>> I seem to remember even with the evidence, they had a >> hard time dissuading the local Speed Camera Pratnership. Adam, was that a typo or intentional?
Purely accidental Robbie! ;-)
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According to the following article from the Telegraph, the theft of number plates from cars has been rapidly increasing with over 800 sets a month in the South East.
www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml?xml=/motor...l
A having number plates made is now becoming more difficult it is now easier to steal them than make them.
The rise of Congestion Charging, Speed Cameras and Number Plate Recogintion Cameras has caused this new problem with cloning and theft of registrations.
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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Last Feb 04, we got a letter from Transport for London charging us £50 for driving in a bus lane, as we had not been near london, we wrote back, they ignored us, and sent a bill for £100. We wrote again and then noticed a poor quality black and white image of a car on the original bill, I though this was just part of the design of the page, but was a poor quality bitmapped black and white photo of a car like ours and next to it a photo of the number plate.
I kept writing to them, and they ignored our letter (recorded delivery) and just kept sending automated threats.
I even sent them CCTV stills from work (even though you couldnt see number plate) in the end, they said baliffs were coming round to seize property so I paid £50, even then I got more letters saying I hadn't paid and it would go up and baliffs would come round etc...
It is disgusting criminal fraud and sponsered by the government and ignored by the Police. I still ahve a folder of correspondance.
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Last Feb 04, we got a letter from Transport for London charging us £50 for driving in a bus lane, as we had not been near london, we wrote back, they ignored us, and sent a bill for £100. We wrote again and then noticed a poor quality black and white image of a car on the original bill, I though this was just part of the design of the page, but was a poor quality bitmapped black and white photo of a car like ours and next to it a photo of the number plate.
Are you not supposed to get a NIP(notice of intent to prosecute) first asking for the name of the driver?
How do they know who is driving?
You could have legitimately lent me your car and I was the culprit. You(the registered owner) are not responsible for the actions of other people driving your car.
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NIPS do not come into it as buslane offences in London are subject to decriminalised enforcement The owner is usually liable. At some point IL should have had a "notice to owner". At and an opportunity to make formal representations to TFL. If these are rejected there is a right of appeal to an adjudicator. The adjudicators are independant lawyers appointed with the consent of the Lord Chancellor.
See www.parkingandtrafficappeals.gov.uk/ for more details of the procedures etc.
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... so I paid £50,
You should never pay these things - once you've paid you're in danger of opening the floodgates to lots more claims, and it'll be to convince people that you're not responsible if you've paid once.
I think I'd write to my favourite newspaper's help column and let them sort it out - they can get to Chief Executives etc who aren't accessible to most people.
I do wonder if it would be useful to have your car cloned - you could just blame the other car for everything then!
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