LEZ exempt: disabled person's vehicle or disability transport (tax class)
Two national exemptions protect vehicles connected with disability from Low Emission Zone penalties. The first (regulation 3(1)(e)) covers a vehicle registered to a disabled person who receives the standard rate of the mobility component of Personal Independence Payment and holds the 50% disabled vehicle-tax reduction on that basis — the regulation names this PIP route specifically, so the reduction alone is not enough: the same 50% reduction can arise from Adult Disability Payment under a different sub-paragraph the regulation does not name. The second (regulation 3(1)(f)) covers vehicles exempt from vehicle tax under the disability provisions: a vehicle used by, or for the purposes of, a disabled person who meets the benefit conditions in paragraph 19(2) (the nil-rate disabled class), or a vehicle — other than an ambulance — used by a recognised body for the carriage of disabled people. Both the 50% reduction and the nil-rate class also require that no other vehicle registered in the disabled person's name already has disabled-rate treatment (they are one-vehicle concessions). In every case the exemption turns on the vehicle's qualifying use and status on the day of the alleged contravention, evidenced by the tax record together with the underlying award or use. A Blue Badge in the windscreen is a separate exemption with its own ground.
Legal basis
The Low Emission Zones (Emission Standards, Exemptions and Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/177) reg 3(1)(e) (vehicle to which Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 Sch 1 para 1ZA applies by virtue of para 1ZA(2) — disabled person in receipt of the standard rate of the PIP mobility component, 50% duty reduction, one vehicle per person per para 1ZA(2)(b)), reg 3(1)(f) (vehicle exempt from vehicle excise duty under Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 Sch 2 para 19(1) — vehicle used by or for the purposes of a disabled person satisfying para 19(2), one vehicle per person — or para 20(1) — vehicle other than an ambulance used by a recognised body for the carriage of disabled people); representations under reg 8(1), ground reg 8(4)(a).
How to identify this in your case
Check the V5C and the vehicle's tax status with DVLA for the date of the alleged contravention, and what that status rests on. The exemption applies where the vehicle was in the nil-rate disabled class and used by or for the qualifying disabled person; registered as a disabled passenger vehicle used by a recognised organisation carrying disabled people; or held the 50% disabled reduction on the strength of a standard-rate PIP mobility award (a reduction based on Adult Disability Payment arises under a provision the LEZ regulation does not name, so it needs the PIP basis). Gather the award letter and evidence of the vehicle's use, not just the tax class. A Blue Badge alone is a different exemption — use the Blue Badge ground for that.
Sample appeal wording
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.
Dear [COUNCIL], Re: PCN [PCN_NUMBER] I make representations under regulation 8(1) of the Low Emission Zones (Emission Standards, Exemptions and Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/177), on the ground in regulation 8(4)(a): the alleged contravention did not occur, because the vehicle is exempt. The vehicle is exempt under regulation 3(1)[(e)/(f)] of SSI 2021/177: [it is a vehicle to which paragraph 1ZA of schedule 1 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 applies by virtue of sub-paragraph (2) of that paragraph — it is registered to me as a disabled person, I was in receipt of the standard rate of the mobility component of Personal Independence Payment on the detection date (award letter enclosed), and the vehicle held the 50% disabled reduction on that basis / it is exempt from vehicle excise duty under paragraph 19(1) of schedule 2 of the 1994 Act — on the detection date it was being used by, or for the purposes of, the qualifying disabled person in whose name it is registered (evidence of use enclosed) / it is exempt from vehicle excise duty under paragraph 20(1) of schedule 2 of the 1994 Act — it is registered to [BODY], a body recognised for the carriage of disabled people, and was in use for that purpose on the detection date (evidence enclosed)]. Evidence: V5C showing the vehicle's tax class on the detection date; DVLA confirmation of the tax status and its basis; [PIP award letter / evidence of qualifying use / the body's recognition and evidence of use]. Please cancel the penalty charge notice. Yours faithfully, [NAME]
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- SSI 2021/177 reg 3(1)(e), (f); reg 8(1), (4)(a)
- VERA 1994 Sch 1 para 1ZA; Sch 2 paras 19(1), 20(1)