What the ULEZ means for Surrey drivers

TfL says the ULEZ operates across all London boroughs and the City of London, but the M25 isn’t in the zone. It runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year except Christmas Day (25 December).

Each daily charge runs from midnight to midnight. So if you drive in the zone both before and after midnight, TfL says you need to pay two daily charges. On a day when the car is parked in the zone and you don’t drive it, there’s no charge.

Surrey isn’t a London borough, so it isn’t in the zone. But some Surrey areas share a border with London, including Epsom and Ewell, Banstead, Staines-upon-Thames and Sunbury, Esher and Molesey, and Caterham and Warlingham. From these areas, even a short trip across the border can take you into the ULEZ.

An address with ‘Surrey’ in it isn’t always outside the zone, so go by the postcode. TfL notes that a small number of postcodes cross the zone’s boundary. Before you set off, check your route and where you’re going with the map and postcode search on TfL’s ULEZ where and when page, and look out for the ULEZ boundary signs on the street. Our Surrey page has a short section on driving into London from Surrey.

TfL enforces the ULEZ on a vehicle’s declared emissions rather than its age, so the year a car was made doesn’t settle it. Put the registration into TfL’s vehicle checker, which tells you whether you need to pay. For cars, TfL’s standards are:

• Euro 4 (NOx) for petrol
• Euro 6 (NOx and PM) for diesel

If TfL says you need to pay and you don’t think that’s right, you can register the car with TfL. It asks for a letter from the manufacturer showing the car’s Euro standard, or a Certificate of Conformity, plus a copy of the log book (V5C).

Thinking of buying a car you’ll drive into London? TfL points out that you can run it through the vehicle checker before you buy. Our guide to checks before you buy a used car covers the rest.

You can pay the £12.50 daily charge up to 90 days ahead, or by midnight on the third day after the journey. TfL takes payment:

• online, through Pay to drive in London
• in the TfL Pay to drive in London app
• by phone
• through Auto Pay, which bills you each month for the charges you owe, with no registration or renewal fee

If you don’t pay

If a car that doesn’t meet the standards is driven in the zone and the charge isn’t paid by midnight on the third day after, TfL may issue a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). It’s £180, or £90 if you pay within 14 days. You can pay a PCN or challenge it.

The Congestion Charge is a different daily charge, for driving in the Congestion Charge zone during its hours: 7am to 6pm Monday to Friday, and noon to 6pm at weekends and on bank holidays, with no charge from Christmas Day to the New Year’s Day bank holiday, inclusive. TfL puts it at £18 a day if you pay in advance or on the day, or £21 if you pay by midnight on the third day after.

If your car doesn’t meet the ULEZ standards, TfL says you must pay the ULEZ charge as well.

TfL lists these options if your car doesn’t meet the standards:

• use public transport, walk or cycle where you can
• join a car club
• see whether you qualify for a discount or exemption
• go electric, or change to a second-hand car that meets the standards
• pay the daily charge

TfL’s discounts and exemptions include some for disabled people’s vehicles and for historic vehicles. Some are temporary, so check the dates. TfL’s ULEZ scrappage scheme closed to new applicants on 8 September 2024.

TfL’s checker goes by a car’s declared emissions. The MOT is different: it includes an inspection of the exhaust system, and on a diesel that covers the diesel particulate filter (DPF). GOV.UK describes a DPF as a device that filters particulate matter (PM) out of a diesel’s exhaust gases. The soot it traps is burned off at a very high temperature, which is called regeneration.

GOV.UK sets out the rules:

• Since February 2014, the MOT’s exhaust check has included looking for the DPF. If the car was built with one and it has gone, the car fails.
• Since 20 May 2018, stricter rules have applied to diesel cars with a DPF. Smoke of any colour that the tester can see coming from the exhaust, or evidence the DPF has been tampered with, is a major fault, and a major fault is a fail.
• Taking out a DPF will nearly always make a car illegal to use on the road, with fines of up to £1,000 for a car.

If the DPF warning light is on, the exhaust is smoking or the car failed its MOT on emissions, you can post ‘DPF cleaning’, ‘Forced DPF regeneration’ or ‘Emissions test’ on Matchanic. Not sure of the cause? ‘Smoke from exhaust diagnosis’ and ‘DPF warning light’ are under diagnostics. Garages on Matchanic can see your job and choose whether to quote. There’s more on these jobs on our exhaust and emissions page.