Your car wasn't in the Congestion Charge zone, or your plate was misread
TfL uses cameras to read number plates automatically, but these cameras sometimes make mistakes — for example, confusing similar-looking characters such as O and 0, 8 and B, or I and 1. They can also misread dirty, obscured, or cloned plates. If you can prove your vehicle was outside the Congestion Charging Zone at the time stated on the ticket, or that your plate was misread or cloned, the ticket should not stand.
Legal basis
Greater London (Central Zone) Congestion Charging Order 2004; Road User Charging (Enforcement and Adjudication) (London) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/2313)
How to identify this in your case
Check whether your car was actually inside the Congestion Charging Zone at the exact time on the ticket. Look for anything that proves where you were — for example, a dashcam recording, sat-nav or telematics data, a receipt, or a work timesheet. If you think someone else has copied your plate (cloning), you should also have a police report. You can request the camera image TfL used to issue the ticket and check whether the plate it captured really matches yours.
Sample appeal wording
formal
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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Scan your PCN — our AI checks if this ground applies to your specific ticket, drafts a properly-cited appeal letter, and submits it to the council on your behalf. Only pay if you win.
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- Greater London (Central Zone) Congestion Charging Order 2004