M50 ascending scale for non payment

BattleCorp

Sorry if this question has been asked before but is it legal for eflow to increase your fine as time goes by should you not pay the toll within their expected payment period?

A motorist avails of a service for a fee. You don't pay it by 8pm the next day and then there's a fine added to the charge. If you don't pay that within another time frame, then another fine is added etc etc.

You don't sign up to terms and conditions when using the road (unless you have a toll tag) so how is this legal?

Can a customer say to them "here's the original fee for the service", shove the fine part of it up your jacksie as I haven't agreed to it?

I'm not looking for legal advice, just opinions please.

Paulw

http://www.nra.ie/GeneralTollingInformation/

It's covered by bye-laws.

wally1990

http://www.nra.ie/GeneralTollingInformation/StatutoryNotices/Archive-TollingDocumentation/file,17525,en.pdf

Section 19.1-19.3 states that you must pay the toll within the given Deadline(8pm)
19.2 is the €3 late fee charge
19.3 is the higher 41€ charge as result of non payment for 19.2 and 19.1.

advice is to ring them and see what is outstanding. try to set up an account. you get discounts,payment are automatic and hassle free.

Victor

It isn't a straighforward contract situation as the bye-laws specify how things will be handled - not dissimilar to 'term and conditions apply'.

People know (and are told) there is a toll and should pay if they use it.

wally1990

There is signage appeoaching the toll on either end. Notices on the road. States on the toll pay by 8pm. There is only so much information that can be displayed or then the irish response will "ah there too many signs i cant read them all" . If someone doesnt pay eflow sends them a letter and i guess like most calls centers they would educate the customer on the service. They cancelled my pens when i drove in new car cause they said it was my first trips and yere man on end of the phone spoke to me for 10 min about everything about the toll.

Carawaystick

The consumer protection act 2007, s46:
A commercial practice is misleading if the trader omits or conceals material information that the average consumer would need, in the context, to make an informed transactional decision (“material information”) and such practice would be likely to cause the average consumer to make a transactional decision that the average consumer would not otherwise make



While s46.5(b) is a mitigation, there is no mention of increased charges for late payment, over and above a normal penal interest rate like the revenue might charge

Also, the vehicle driver does not have to pay, only the vehicle's registered owner

wally1990

Thats actually really interesting but would the nra considering Tolls as a business? Define business, the only reason im asking is what would happen if someone said this in court the toll was removed in 2008 and surely someone would of said this


Adding: well its up to the consumer to use this road there is alternative roads i would presume and it was displayed in national newspapers which goverment only needs to for example to raise the toll fee. If your to use a sevice you need to be aware of everything

bliss02

Last Wed I received out of the blue a solicitors letter from Pierce and Fitzgibbons that said I owed €300 for not paying toll charges. The 2 days I apparently drove through the toll was last July and I was out of the country for 8 weeks. I purchased my car at the end of June and it was sitting in my front garden not taxed with no Nct. At that point I had NEVER passed through the toll bridge in my new car. I NEVER received any letters from eflow and the first I knew about any of this was last Wednesday. Their lawyers said that I had been sent 5 letter to my correct address. I have received no correspondence whatsoever and my car was definitely not used at this time. We have only 1 car key and it was on my husbands key ring. He was in another part of the country at this time in his own car with an eflow tag. I feel completely helpless and do not know what to do as they are insisting it was my car AND that they sent me the 5 letters of toll charges. They have also sent me images of the same car as mine with the same reg number. They have advised me to report this to the gardai to see if it is a duplicate reg. At present the police are investigating this and the report has been sent to Dublin castle. BUT what is distressing me the most is that I received NO letters about this and if I had done last August, I would think it was definitely a duplicate reg and could have dealt with the mistaken identity and mistaken toll charges immediately. I honestly do not believe this is a duplicate reg BECAUSE I recieved absolutely no letters about this from eflow over the last 4 months. At present we are waiting for the report back from the gardai. I honestly think eflow have made a terrible, terrible mistake and must have mixed up my information or there is a computer glitch. I feel like a complete victim and that I am being stolen from. If I do not pay the €300 I will have to go to court.

Victor

bliss02 wrote: »

We have only 1 car key and it was on my husbands key ring. He was in another part of the country at this time in his own car with an eflow tag.

You were out of the country, but he was in country. Hmmmm ...

Do the photos show the driver? You can ask for a second photo that shows more than the registration plate.

bliss02

I am a teacher and half Italian so I spend time in Italy with my children during the summer months. Unfortunately my husband does not get the same holidays as I do. However this is kind of irrelevant!
Back to the point, yes I received 2 photos of the front of the car but it is not possible to see a face in any of them.

bliss02

And he passed through the toll just 20 minutes before my car supposedly passed through the toll on the SAME evening. We have printed records of all his journeys from his tag and eflow. Not possible for him to drive 2 cars at once!

Laura Palmer

If the photograph shows a vehicle with your registration plate, that's pretty non negotiable. Seems like a duplicated licence plate all right, which is crap - sorry to read it. Hope it works out.

Or... would it have been just before you bought the car and the first letters therefore sent to the previous owner? I'm assuming Eflow have considered this, but just throwing it out there anyway.

bliss02

It was about 4 weeks after I got the car so I don't think it was the last owner who did this. The car was put into my name at the end of June but this happened at the end of July.

bliss02

Actually Laura that's something I'll look into. I keep thinking I must be missing something. There was only 1 key and my husband had it on his key ring while travelling through the toll roughly around the same time. I just don't understand why I didn't get any letters.

Victor

bliss02 wrote: »

And he passed through the toll just 20 minutes before my car supposedly passed through the toll on the SAME evening. We have printed records of all his journeys from his tag and eflow. Not possible for him to drive 2 cars at once!

So he wasn't on the other side of the country?

Did he try using his tag in your car? This isn't allowed.

bliss02

No he did not. The return journey through eflow noted of my car was on a different day than his car travelling back to Dublin. My car was illegal to drive with no Nct or tax. It was left in our front garden.

goz83

Am I the only one confused about the where abouts of the husband and the time frames involved?

bliss02

He headed north over the toll 20 minutes before my car was spotted traveling north. The following day he headed back south. The evening AFETER that, my car was photographed travelling south again.

bliss02

Just contacted by gardai who said all charges dropped due to car reg being a duplicate. Still does not explain why I never received any of the 5 letters from eflow notifying me of the charges in the 1st place but relieved it is now over.