TfL agrees payouts to drivers after faulty info persuaded them to change vans

Transport for London has agreed to pay compensation to 35 van owners after supplying them with inaccurate information about London’s low emission zone.

The information about compliance with changes to the zone led the drivers to replace their vans needlessly, an investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman concluded.

TfL had told the drivers that the vehicles they owned could not be used in the zone without paying a daily charge of £100. A failure to pay the charge would result in a £500 penalty.

The authority advised the drivers to either buy a new vehicle or make modifications to their existing vans.

However, the investigation found that the vans were either compliant or not within the scope of the scheme.

The LGO, Dr Jane Martin, concluded that TfL had “made several fundamental errors in notifying owners”.

This included failing to make adequate checks or to give prominent warnings in its letters that vehicle owners should make their own check, she said.

Five of the drivers complained to the Ombudsman. TfL has agreed to make payouts to them and a further 30 people who complained direct to it.

Dr Martin said she accepted that TfL had conducted research in an attempt to discover which vehicles would be affected by the changes to the low emission zone and had made significant efforts to inform owners of the changes.

However, when it became aware that information it had sent to the owners was wrong, TfL did not take steps to give the owners the correct information.

The LGO found maladministration causing injustice in each of the five complaints.