Did you not see any of the signs telling you to pay the toll before 8pm the next day? Because they are there.
The signs are there, and it is likely you will have to pay. I'd say you may get off the extra 40 Euro fine but you will likely have to pay something.
Did you ignore the letter when it arrived with the 3.00 Euro penalty? To be honest, if everybody simply ignored the letters then the system would be unworkable, so I feel you are partly to blame. I was looking for the signs yesterday... there is a sign on the left hand side of the road, and another gantry type sign over the motorway, which has nothing else on it apart from info on the toll. I do agree however that the signage could be clearer.. however the letter they sent was likely quite clear and you did ignore that too.
I'd be interested in a link to the legislation or the name of the Act, I'm sure there must be something in it allowing for the fines for late payment.
PS, edited to add...
You are complaining about a deadline, and receiving a fine for missing it..
Have you thought about this? Do you think you should have an infinite amount of time to pay? If so no-one would pay, what then?
So a deadline is clearly needed. So what's the problem?, do you think the timescale is too short?
And as for the fine.. do you think there should be no fine for missing the deadline? (now that we agree that a deadline is necessary?) If there was no fine then again no-body would pay, they would all miss the deadline, and then continue not to pay.. for ever. So a fine is also clearly needed.
So your only problem can only be the (possibly inadequate) signage.. however the signage is there, I think you will have a hard time going to court on this one. And it will be hard for you to justify ignoring the letter.
However you can dispute the extra 40 Euro fine on their website.. you can only choose reasons from a list, there is no free text entry as far as I know, what grounds are you disputing it on?
I said quite clearly I had no knowledge of this type of tolling as I have never driven up north before. I knew it existed, of course, but didn't know that you had to pay it before 8 the following night nor did I know even where to pay it. I have no problem with paying €5.10 as the toll but have serious reservations about paying €3 because of a lack of knowledge.Some days ago I tried to pay the €5.10 but the machine in the shop would not allow me to do so.
I have asked them for this agreement I am supposed to have agreed to.As registered owner/driver/person who has entered into an agreement in respect of the payment of tolls of the above referenced vehicle, you are liable to pay these toll charges.
Ah c'mon, it was all over the papers at the time when it was happening. As you saw the signs as you went throught you could have checked it out online when at home. But you didnt bother too much, and then when you got the letter you didnt bother too much either! It was only when you got the fine you realised you were in trouble!
Im assuming by driving on the road which is clearly marked as a toll road that you automatically enter into the agreement. Its like when you drive into a carpark and dont exit within 5 mins, you've automatically agreed to its terms and conditions!!
My question is does a private company have the right to fine people in this manner as the legislation only requires me to pay a toll which i have endeavored to do but the payment system they have won't allow me to do this?
...Regarding the grounds I am disputing the €41.50 extra charge their machines will not allow me to pay €5.10.
....
There are signs everywhere and how you didn't know there electronic tolls on the M50 is beond me anyway (no matter what part of the country you are from).
I recently traveled up the country to a family affair, never drove up there before.
I didn't have any knowledge of barrier free tolls or how to pay the particular tolls (I do now of course).
I thought the way these things are done is you pass through then they send you a letter to say how much you owe. The toll was €5.10 which I'm happy to pay but when the letter arrived it said I had to pay €3 fine for not paying before 8pm the following day, this I object to very much.
Some days ago I tried to pay the €5.10 but the machine in the shop would not allow me to do so. I got another letter from them now saying that I have to pay another fine of €41.50 because I didn't pay the toll within two weeks of the first letter.
In the letter they sent to me they point out the legislation requiring me to pay the toll (which I have no problem with) but I don't see anything requiring me to pay a fine to a private company and before a deadline and 2) any fines for late payment.
My question is does a private company have the right to fine people in this manner as the legislation only requires me to pay a toll which i have endeavored to do but the payment system they have won't allow me to do this?
As i said i have no problem with the toll just with the fines system they operate.
The signs are there. It was in the papers, on the radio, on the news. I'm not driving long either, and I certainly don't take the road much, but I know of it.
You really should have checked it out before you travelled. How long did you think you had to pay the toll? You have to be realistic here.
What machine?
Obviously the machine wouldn't accept 5.10.. as the charge was 8.10 at that stage. I'm sure the machine would have accepted the 8.10. How do these machines work anyway, I've never seen one.. you have to put in your reg I suppose.
The one issue with signs is that sometimes trucks block the view of the left hand side of the road.. however there is at least one overhead sign (going Northwards at least), and the word 'Toll' is printed on the road surface too.
If you insist upon doing it your way then these problems are the result. You could have rang the phone number and tried to pay, or asked about the machine. Instead you did nothing
have you paid the €41?
The next level is a €156 fine.... so beware..... dont just ignor the €41 fine and say sura i dont be up there in the city..... tolls... what tolls....
BTW.... if you have every listened to talk radio would would have at some point heard people giving out about M50 Tolls and Fines
how you didn't know there electronic tolls on the M50 is beond me anyway
I knew it existed, of course, but didn't know that you had to pay it before 8 the following night nor did I know even where to pay it.
A few questions and points:
Your objection to paying the €3 "late payment" fine - In fairness to them, there are signs saying before the toll bridge saying there is a toll and signs afterwards saying what you have to do to pay. The signage could be alot better, but there is signage there. Even if you couldn't see how much was owed, a bell should have gone off that you should follow up on it.
That said, I'm not going to get into the whole "it was in the papers, etc" because in fairness to you, if you didn't think you'd be using the toll at the time you read about it, chances are, it got stored in your short term memory and then dumped. I do it all the time. Of course, that doesn't mean you have a basis for not paying, just saying that I understand if you didn't know understand it all beforehand
You then say that you went to pay the €5.10 a few days ago. Did the letter telling you about the €5.10 fee set out a timeframe for payment and did you attempt to pay for it within this timeframe? I've never received one of these letters, so I don't know what the contents are. Does it say that the money has to be paid by X date?
In answer to your overall question, I would say that if the letter told you there was timeframe and that you would incur penalties for not paying within that time, then yes, it is right that they apply a fine. I would also suspect that the legislation allows for fines, even if the company hasn't specifically referred to it.
It amuses me sometimes reading or hearing this kind of thing off people and then when people point out the stupidity of it all and how a bit of common sense is needed they get defensive and stroppy.
OP you may have heard of 'ignorance of the law does not excuse' and it applies in this instance I'm afraid.
The reality is you have no argument or grounds to challenge this payment notice. You can choose to continue ignoring it until you are up in front of a District Court Judge and sure you can protest there but to be honest the court really won't be on your side.
All you'll achieve by waiting to pay it is to increase the fine. Everyone else manages to pay it.
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