How can I learn if I need to pay London's congestion fee?

Question

I drove through London last week. Mostly on the the A406. I only briefly saw an announcement about the congestion fee, when entering london on the M11. I didn't see any camera or any other signs on the road, that I actually entered the zone where I would need to pay a congestion fee. The question is, how do I see that I am entering a congestion fee area and is there a way to find out as a non resident (ie. no british license plates) if I have a bill running in the UK now?

Answer 1

According to http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/congestioncharging/ , you can call them at (UK) Tel: 0333 200 1000. I can't find a form matching your exact enquiry online. You can pay a penalty online (when you get the penalty form), or you can pay in advance, but I don't see a way to see 'Is there a penalty I owe I haven't found yet?'

Short answer, you need to have "driven by" one of these signs:

Here is the actual map:

Answer 2

I had the problem this morning, so I called the number given above.

No, they cannot tell you whether you have to pay the fee or not. That's what I was told on the phone. Unless you had to pay and didn't pay, in which case they will issue you with a huge fine. At that point it's too late.

It seems that you can pay and then complain later to get a refund, which had an administrative fee of £10 some years ago when the fee itself was less than £10, so you won't get your money back. I couldn't find how you go about the complaining either.

If you expect that you get into the same situation again, I think you can set up automatic payments where they take the money off you if you entered the zone.

Answer 3

(Merged with previous question)
You cannot check if you entered the zone, or owe the payment, even if you are a resident.

If you know the exact route you took, you can check it on this map and many others. Driving along the peripheral roads does not constitute entering the zone.

If you selected a SatNav route, they usually warn if it goes into the charging zone, and give the option to take another route that avoids it.

There is signage and road markings so it should have been clear that you were entering the zone, if you did.

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Also, don't overlook the Low Emission Zone and Ultra Low Emission Zone, which are much larger. You can check if they apply to your vehicle here.