London’s Ulez fines still being sent to French-registered car owners

Owners of French-registered cars are still receiving fines in the post for entering London’s low-emissions zones.

This is despite there being no agreement on driver information-sharing in place between the UK and France.

Around 100 drivers are awaiting news of a French legal challenge against the fines, which in some cases totalled thousands of pounds.

The fines relate to driving a car with emissions above set levels and/or not pre-registering foreign cars on a website. The latter requirement is not flagged up by specific signs.

It is unknown how debt collection agency EPC obtained details of drivers of French cars.

Read more: Debt collector of UK fines ‘illicitly’ got data of drivers in France

Appeal with EPC by uploading carte grise

A lawyer in the case, Romain Binelli, said they are still awaiting a response from the public prosecutor and data protection agency Cnil.

Léa Marchal, administrator of a Facebook group for those involved, said: “We are still waiting for things to move on. The situation is ongoing as people ask every day to join the group.”

The lawyers have advised people who have been fined to appeal with EPC by uploading their car’s carte grise, especially if the vehicle is compliant with the low-emission rules.

Read more: Register French-plated cars for London driving to avoid penalties

London’s Ulez (Ultra low emissions zone) has now been enlarged to cover all of Greater London, the same area as the Lez zone.

The Lez area was meant to relate only to HGVs but foreign cars were in some cases fined for entering without being registered.

France has ZFE low-emission zones in 11 large cities where cars are required to carry an emissions-rating sticker called Crit’Air.

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