Congestion Charge Was Already Paid

You can pay the Congestion Charge in advance, on the day you drive, or by midnight on the next charging day. If you have Auto Pay, it settles the charge for you automatically. A penalty notice is not valid if a proper payment was actually made for the right vehicle on the right date.

Legal basis

Greater London (Central Zone) Congestion Charging Order 2004 (made under Greater London Authority Act 1999 ss 295-297 & Sch 23); Road User Charging (Enforcement and Adjudication) (London) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/2313)

How to identify this in your case

Find your TfL payment confirmation email or receipt and check it against the vehicle registration and date shown on your penalty notice. Also pull up your bank or card statement to find the matching payment line. If both show the charge was paid for that vehicle and date, this ground may apply to you.

Sample appeal wording

Before you send this

Deadline. A late submission can be turned down without your argument being read. Check your notice for the deadline and how it is counted.
Paying may end it. Paying can count as accepting the notice and can close a challenge already under way. Part-paying or acknowledging an old debt can also revive a time limit that had expired.
The amount can change. Check what happens to the sum if you challenge — it may be held, re-offered lower, or keep rising, and fees or enforcement can continue meanwhile.
Use the official route. Use the method, recipient and form your notice specifies, with any reference, evidence and signature it asks for. Sent elsewhere, it may not count.
Only say what is true. Do not copy any statement of fact unless it is true for you, and check the legal point still applies. Delete what does not fit. It may be treated as your statement.
Careful what you volunteer. Avoid unnecessary admissions — naming the driver or accepting responsibility can remove arguments. But answer anything you are legally required to answer, and do include the evidence your ground needs.
Keep the record. Keep what you sent, the attachments, any receipt, and the reply. Note the next deadline.

Sample wording to adapt and send yourself — it may not fit your notice or the stage you are at. Replace the bracketed prompts with your own details; leave any case citation as it is.

I am writing to make representations against this Penalty Charge Notice. The Congestion Charge for vehicle [VRM] on [DATE] was paid [in advance / on the day / under Auto Pay], as evidenced by the enclosed payment confirmation and bank statement. Under the Greater London (Central Zone) Congestion Charging Order 2004, payment may be made up to midnight on the next charging day. No penalty is therefore due and I request that this PCN be cancelled.

Beat It writes this argument automatically

Scan your PCN — our AI checks if this ground applies to your specific ticket, drafts a properly-cited appeal letter, and sends it for you where the council takes email — guiding you through their own online form where they use one, so you press submit. The win fee is only charged if you win.

Congestion Charge Was Already Paid

Legal basis

How to identify this in your case

Sample appeal wording

Beat It writes this argument automatically

Sources

Related appeal grounds

Next steps