London Congestion Charging

What do I need to know about congestion charging?

The central London congestion charge, a £5 daily charge for driving or parking a vehicle on public roads in the congestion charging zone, cam into operation on Monday 17th February, 2003.

The charge applies from 07:00 to 18:30, Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays). The charge is not applicable on weekends. Payment of the £5 daily charge allows you to enter, drive around and leave the zone as many times as you wish in one day.

The central London Congestion Charging Zone

The boundary of the central London congestion charging zone is formed by the ‘Inner Ring Road’. It links Euston Road, Pentonville Road, Tower Bridge, Elephant and Castle, Vauxhall Bridge Road, Park Lane and Marylebone Road. The charge will only apply to vehicles travelling inside, not on, the boundary.

Europcar has no locations within the zone. Victoria is just outside the zone and Kensington is further out, so the decision to drive within the zone is entirely your own.

How does this affect you as a Customer?

Rental vehicles are not exempt from this charge therefore if you drive or park inside the inner ring road in the heart of the city, you as the driver of the vehicle are liable for the charge.

Europcar have taken the following steps to ensure limited customer disruption:

1. If required, Europcar can add the first day’s charge onto the Rental Agreement. This option must be requested at time of booking. Responsibility for subsequent day’s charges passes to the driver thereafter.
2. Information at every Europcar rental station to assist each customer (maps of zone, methods of payment).
3. Direct dial phone points to the central London congestion charges call centre at our London locations

What happens if you fail to pay the charge in time?

If you fail to pay the Congestion Charge by midnight on your day of travel, Europcar will be sent a penalty notice of £80 by Transport for London. At this point we will provide the name and address of you the renter of the vehicle when the contravention occurred, thus passing the liability for payment of the fine over to the driver.

If payment is made within 2 weeks the fine is reduced to £40, if after 2 weeks payment is not made the fine reverts to £80, if payment is still not made within 28 calendar days the fine increases to £120.

If Europcar have to settle the fine on your behalf for any reason, you will be charged for the fine plus an administration fee of £25 (as with any other parking ticket we deal with).

Corporate Customers

For our corporate customers the above applies but with the following addition:

For account customers where Europcar may have insufficient driver details to pass on to the Transport for London, Europcar will settle the fine on your behalf, and will charge your account for the fine plus an administration fee of £25 (as with any other parking ticket we deal with).

For all deliveries and collections within the zone, Europcar will purchase and recharge the first and/or last day’s congestion charge. However, should it become necessary to deliver the vehicle the day before the following days requested delivery time, Europcar reserves the right to recharge the extra day’s congestion charge.

How does the charge operate?

There will be no tollbooths, barriers or tickets; instead you will be paying to register you vehicle number on a database.

A network of cameras, fixed and mobile, will read your number plate as you enter or drive within the charging zone and check it against the database. Once the vehicle registration number has been matched, showing that you have paid the charge, the photographic image of your vehicle will be automatically wiped from the database, leaving only those vehicle who have not paid the charge.

So How Do I Pay?

There are a multitude of payment methods including: Online - visit the CC London website and follow the links to payment.
Phone - 0845 900 1234
Mobile Phone Text Message - You can register for the text message payment with online at the CC London website, or by phone on 0845 900 1234. Once registered you can pay the £5 charge at any time up to 10.00pm on the day of your travel by sending a simple text message from your mobile. Please remember it is dangerous to text while driving.
Selected retail outlets and petrol stations – pay in cash at newsagents, convenience stores and petrol stations where you see the congestion charging sign or PayPoint logo.
Self service machines – pay the charge, with certain credit and debit cards, at self service machines in many major public car parks within the zone. Post – the ‘Paying the congestion charge’ form can be obtained by writing to Congestion Charging, PO Box 2985, Coventry, CV7 8ZR, or by calling 0845 900 1234.

For more information on congestion charging visit http://www.cclondon.com/