One million drivers in England slapped with £180 fine but 'refuse' to pay it

Drivers in England have refused to pay more than £200m worth of fines. Seven in 10 drivers fined by Transport for London (TfL) have failed to pay the £180 charge it was revealed on Tuesday with almost one million fines outstanding in the ULEZ scheme.

Transport for London commissioner Andy Lord said the London-wide ULEZ would deliver “very significant” improvements to air quality. Mr Lord said: “There will be a report in the next month or so which will show, six months on, what the impacts and benefits have been of the ultra-low emission zone expansion.

“We are expecting it to be very significant. We already know from our own data that the number of compliant vehicles has increased, and therefore by default the air quality should have improved. We have seen some congestion improvements as well. Some people will say this is us having a ‘war on the motorist’. It absolutely isn’t. It’s around improving air quality. At the same time, if it delivers some traffic easing, that’s great.”

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“The Ulez is not about making money. It will lead to cleaner air while generating ever smaller net revenues, as has been the case with the previous expansion to inner London where people switched to greener vehicles," TfL said in a statement to the Standard this week.

The statement went on, adding: “We encourage all PCN [penalty charge notice] recipients to engage with us, particularly if they are struggling with any difficulties or hardship. Unpaid PCNs are passed on to our debt recovery services and can lead to further action.”

If you want to challenge a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) then you have 28 days from the date of service of the PCN "to get your representation to us", TfL says. "To challenge a PCN you need to make a representation. This forms part of a legal process. You can either make your representation online or in writing," it adds.

You can pay by midnight on the third day following the journey or up to 90 days in advance. The daily charge for ULEZ is £12.50 for cars, motorcycles, vans and specialist vehicles (up to and including 3.5 tonnes) and minibuses (up to and including 5 tonnes)