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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, came 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.
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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.
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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
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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).
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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.
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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.
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So How Do I Pay?
There are a multitude of payment methods including:
Online - visit the 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 , 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
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