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#Post#: 109855--------------------------------------------------
Autopay charges- sold van
DIR By: Apple2026
Date: February 15, 2026, 5:47 am
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Hello, I just wondered if could anyone please give advice/or
been in same situation, I set up an autopay account for
congestion charges for a van I once owned. I hadn’t used the van
or autopay for around 6 years as it was SORN off the road. I
sold the van, told DVLA but completely forgot to remove from my
autopay account. The new owner accumulated £150 charges which
they took from my bank. I advised TFL I no longer own the van so
wasnt the driver when the charges occurred. I sent them proof
from DVLA but they have said there is no way of getting a
refund. I want to escalate it, but wondered if anyone else had
been in my situation and how they went about this/ did you get a
refund? Many thanks
#Post#: 109858--------------------------------------------------
Re: Autopay charges- sold van
DIR By: tincombe
Date: February 15, 2026, 6:12 am
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If Auto Pay works the same as Dartford Crossing, then it's your
responsibility to keep your nominated vehicles up to date. I
know through recent personal experience when I was alerted to a
debit because Dart Charge notify the account holder whenever
there's a transaction(otherwise I'd have remained in ignorance).
I did the same as you and was given the same response. I've
chalked it up to experience.
I thought TfL did something similar by notifying account
holders, whether per transaction or per billing cycle, that
debits had been made.
Your description doesn't refer to how you found out, but IMO
it's important. For example, if TfL send you regular billing
updates which you missed then there's a reason for this.
#Post#: 109867--------------------------------------------------
Re: Autopay charges- sold van
DIR By: stamfordman
Date: February 15, 2026, 9:46 am
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This is off-topic here as this section is for PCNs.
But what's interesting is that after 6 years and a new owner you
would have thought they'd pay the CC to avoid getting PCNs, and
I wonder if TFL's systems can collect dual payments for one
charge perhaps because of how Autopay works so if so there is a
strong case for a refund.
Another point is that you presumably set up a direct debit
rather than charging a card - a card payment would have failed
after this long.
#Post#: 109896--------------------------------------------------
Re: Autopay charges- sold van
DIR By: Apple2026
Date: February 15, 2026, 2:09 pm
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Thank you for your replies. Apologies, I didn’t realise I had
posted in the wrong subject area. I only sold the van a couple
of months ago and the first I saw regarding the charges was on
my online banking two weeks after the sale, as I had set up a
direct debit when I opened the account. TFL only sent an autopay
statement email in 2019 then nothing after that date until the
recent charge. Thank you for your assistance, I will post in the
correct thread and see if I can get any further help.
#Post#: 109898--------------------------------------------------
Re: Autopay charges- sold van
DIR By: stamfordman
Date: February 15, 2026, 2:31 pm
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Don't worry - may as well stick here.
I misread your post - if you recently sold it, who to?
#Post#: 109901--------------------------------------------------
Re: Autopay charges- sold van
DIR By: Apple2026
Date: February 15, 2026, 2:47 pm
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Thank you, I sold it to a private seller who bought it to sell
on. I informed the DVLA straight away, I just completely forgot
to cancel the vehicle from my TFL auto pay account as I hadn’t
used it for so long. Not sure if I will be successful in
appealing and getting a refund, but thought I would give it a
try.
#Post#: 109905--------------------------------------------------
Re: Autopay charges- sold van
DIR By: stamfordman
Date: February 15, 2026, 4:15 pm
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Contact the buyer and see if you can find how if whoever drove
it in the zone paid or if they found out it was on autopay (I
don't see how unless they called TFL who told them).
What is the VRM.
#Post#: 109914--------------------------------------------------
Re: Autopay charges- sold van
DIR By: roythebus
Date: February 15, 2026, 7:01 pm
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TfL won't accept payment from A.N.Other if the vehicle is on
autopay. They also told me they take vehicles off the autopay
list if the account hasn't been used for over 6 months.
#Post#: 109929--------------------------------------------------
Re: Autopay charges- sold van
DIR By: stamfordman
Date: February 16, 2026, 5:23 am
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I've just tried to pay a tunnel charge for Saturday for our car,
which is on autopay, and it seems happy to accept payment at
least up to entering card details (I'm not going to waste £4
seeing if the payment completes).
But I was just paying without setting up another account
(logging in with my account presumably would flag up autopay).
I'll try adding the same car to another account later and see
what happens.
On Dart, TFL and other autopay systems you have to revalidate a
payment card every year (not 6 months) I think or the
arrangement lapses. But direct debit is different, which is why
I avoid it if possible.
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