TfL seizes 1,400 non-compliant Ulez cars with thousands more sold to help claw back unpaid fines
TfL seizes 1,400 vehicles
GETTY/PA
Transport for London has revealed that in the past 12 months, it has seized more than 1,400 non-compliant Ulez vehicles.
The figures issued by the transport authority come after the London Assembly accused the group of being £376million in debt.
In response, TfL explained that it had recouped £25.6million in enforcement agents over 12 months following non-payment of penalties and over £700,000 by selling vehicles belonging to persistent non-payers.
But despite the measures in place, the London Assembly still found the body to be in "bad debt expenses" from approximately £160million in 2020-21 to around £450million this year.
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The Ulez expansion saw fines increasePAAlex Williams, TfL's Chief Customer and Strategy Officer, said: "The most recent data shows that on average, over 96 per cent of vehicles seen driving in the ULEZ are compliant.
"We want to send a clear message to vehicle owners that if you receive a penalty charge for driving in the zone, you should not ignore it.
"Your penalty will progress to enforcement agents to recover the fines that you owe, and there is a risk that your vehicle and other items of property will be removed.
"The aim of the ULEZ is to clean up London's air and remove old polluting cars from the road so no drivers need to pay and no fines occur."
He added: "There is only a small minority of drivers who are eligible for the charge, and even fewer who are refusing to pay - but we encourage anyone experiencing financial difficulties not to ignore PCNs, and to engage with our staff, who will work with you towards a resolution, including setting up debt payment plans."
A cohort of people who refuse to pay multiple PCNs has left a huge blackhole in fines with significant amounts of debt remaining out standing.
To help crackdown on this, TfL said it would triple the number of people in its investigations team to boost the work with enforcement agents to target those in polluting vehicles that refuse to pay the daily charges.
The authority would also increase the use of bailiffs to visit an evader's address, clamp a vehicle, remove a vehicle and even resort to selling it at auction to help raise funds.
TfL warned: "If a registered keeper ignores a warrant, bailiffs visit their address to recover money owed. In July, a driver with 45 warrants against them was traced by TfL agents to a new address.
"They claimed that they no longer owned the vehicle, but TfL's investigations team established that the PCNs were received before the vehicle was sold. The driver settled their balance of almost £16,000."
Another repeat offender with 21 warrants against their vehicle was visited multiple times by TfL enforcement agents and made a series of payments to settle their outstanding debt of over £7,800.
Enforcement agents also have the power to seize particular belongings of the debtor and use the proceeds to satisfy any outstanding debt.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
TfL said it would continue to sell cars and use bailiffs to obtain Ulez revenue
PAIn August enforcement officers seized and removed a vehicle after the owner ignored 10 warrants. The driver in question had been issued with a total of 43 letters and been visited by bailiffs five times previously.
Between August 2023 and July 2024, 1,429 cars were seized and removed by bailiffs while 761 seized cars were auctioned, recovering £710,147 of debts accrued by the minority who refuse to pay the Ulez charge.