English media against TFL and EPC

English dailies The Telegraph, The Express, The Daily Mail, and The Evening Standard have massively picked up on the lawsuit that Transport in Nood has been preparing against TFL and EPC for over a year on behalf of about 100 customers. In total, this collective case involves more than 10,000 fines.

Around this time last year, our customers faced an avalanche of fines from TFL and EPC for violations related to HGV/DVS, Low Emission Zone, Ultra Low Emission Zone, Congestion Charge Zone, Dart Charge, ParkingEye and other regulations.

What stood out in this regard was that all the fines over the past few years had apparently been collected by TFL and EPC and sent to the affected carriers at once. In the process, all fines had as their issue date 05/11/2022, while the carriers did not actually receive them until over a month later.

This created an impossible situation for many hauliers, as for:

• A self-employed driver with only 1 truck, who received 385 fines in one go for a total amount of over €400,000.
• A company with 40 trucks, which received 1721 fines in one day for a total amount of more than €2 million.

And for many other companies that received hundreds of fines at once.So far, no carriers have gone bankrupt, but that would be their fate for quite a few if they still had to pay all the fines imposed. Fortunately, for most clients who have already appealed with the help of a lawyer at TFL and EPC, it appears that 90% of the thousands of fines have already been waived.

To be clear, we are not litigating against the English regulations, but rather against the manner in which TFL and EPC have tried to collect all the fines retrospectively at once.

In summary, what are our objections to the modus operandi of TFL and EPC?

1. That fines are sent so massively and over an extended period.
2. That fines are sent too late, leaving no opportunity to appeal.
3. That fines should be paid in Euros instead of pounds.
4. That in doing so, EPC determines the exchange rate, which on closer examination gives them a currency gain of between €20 and €200 per fine.
5. That fines from UK should be paid into a German account of EPC.

If you would still like to register for this collective claim or receive more information please send an email to info@transportinnood.nl.

Read more in the newspapers:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk
https://www.express.co.uk
https://www.dailymail.co.uk