ULEZ Anyone been in the zone ?

The the information below could apply to anyone straying into the ULEZ zone, as a section we cater for all ages of motorcycle, so some riding machines falling between the 40 year historic tax class and the clubs 25 year rule could be impacted. As a general rule we try not to go anwhere near the ULEZ zone, prefering to keep to quieter areas, however, if an event comes up which may be in the zone I will try to warn you. The information below comes from RAG.

Dear fellow VMCC Section official,

In my role as Convenor of the Club's Regulatory Advisory Group (and via the National Motorcyclists' Council) I have been pressing for the resolution of problems for our members arising from the London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) charge.

You may be aware that motor cycles made after and including Euro 3 (about 2007) are exempt from the ULEZ charge because they are deemed to meet TfL’s emissions standards. This exemption also applies to motor cycles registered as 'historic vehicles' (older than 40 years) because these are deemed to be 'motoring heritage' not daily transport.

Motor cycles are exempt from the TfL London congestion charge because they do not cause congestion. 'Historic vehicles' however are not exempt.

As regards ULEZ and machines falling between ‘historic’ and Euro 3, you can apply for an exemption based on a manufacturer's certificates of conformity (if you can obtain it) or after being tested successfully at one of three TfL test centres. (It is said that most machines being submitted for such testing are passing.)

But several motorcyclists reported that, on getting 'historic vehicle’ status (to avoid the £12.50 a day ULEZ charge) they were then being expected to pay the congestion charge (£15.00 a day) if they entered or moved with the congestion charge zone.

This presumably was not because their bikes suddenly got bigger overnight and caused congestion but simply because the DVLA database could not identify how many wheels there were on an 'historic vehicle' (which, as you will know, is an inclusive registration class).

Following an approach from NMC, TfL now say this was never the case (see NMC press release at https://www.uknmc.org/news/nmc-clarifies-congestion-charge-situation-for-classic-motorcycles ). Hopefully this is a climb down but it will be up to them of course to ensure that the data base and the admin of the congestion charging system are good enough to avoid notices being issued.

In order to help NMC further it would be useful to know if any of your Section members have encountered the above problem. If they have, NMC Executive Director, Craig Carey-Clinch, would be glad to receive details.

If you can help Craig I'd be grateful if you could write to him directly with a copy to me for information.

Kind regards,

Roger Bibbings

Convenor VMCC RAG

Received 14 March 2023