I paid my Ulez charge, but I am still receiving threats from TfL

I paid the £12.50 London Ulez charge on my Amex card within hours of driving through the zone. I was then fined £90 for non-payment. According to my card issuer, Transport for London (TfL) had failed to collect the £12.50.

TfL’s letter threatened a £180 fine, rising to £360, and possible destruction of my car, if I did not pay. My appeal was rejected.

As my wife and I are in our 80s and need a car for hospital appointments, I paid the £90 fine under duress.

VR, Fleet, Hampshire

I’ve lost track of how often I have exposed TfL’s habit of fining fully paid-up drivers because of its own administrative incompetence.

The process is always the same: the driver pays a Ulez/congestion/Dart charge within the deadline, but TfL, or its acquiring bank, omits to collect the money and refuses to accept evidence of the payment.

You submitted a screenshot from your banking app showing the payment was confirmed, and a letter from American Express stating it had authorised the sum but that TfL did not collect it. TfL ignored both, insisting that, as it had no record of the money it had failed to collect, you must take the rap. Back in 2019, it assured me it had changed its systems to prevent exactly this. It rang you the day after I challenged this latest lapse with an apology and a refund.

It says: “Cases where payment is not taken are rare but we have established processes to ensure drivers are not issued with a fine. Unfortunately, they were not followed. We are reminding our contractor of the correct course of action if a case like this occurs.”

We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions.