Dad 'visited by debt collectors' after paying £12.50 clean air charge 'on wrong day'

Steven Bortone said it was 'little admin error', but more than a year later he is still battling

A dad-of-three says he was visited by debt collectors - after accidentally paying a ULEZ charge on the wrong day. Steven Bortone, 40, says he’s been having “sleepless nights” worrying about paying the fine.

His appeal requests have been denied by Transport for London (TfL) - and a warrant of control has been started, meaning his car or household goods could be repossessed. Steven, who has three children aged 15, 13 and 10, said it was a “weird little admin error” - and believes he shouldn’t be fined as he still paid the £12.50 charge.

Steven, a teacher from Southend-on-Sea, said: “It was just an error made on the day - and now, over a year later, I’m still battling the fine. I accidentally paid for the wrong day.

“They took payment for the day I called, rather than the day I went in - it was a one-day difference. I need TfL to know that I’m acting in good faith - I’ve never not paid.”

On July 1, 2023, Steven drove into Barking, London, to volunteer at a STEM club - but called to pay the £12.50 charge the previous day. He received a parking penalty charge notice on July 7 - stating he hadn’t paid the ULEZ charge for July 1. But after looking at his bank statements, he saw the money left his account on June 30.

“The woman at the helpdesk assured me that mistakes can happen,” he added. “I was told to submit an appeal online by July 31.”

Steven filed his appeal immediately - but in February 2024, he received two letters from debt collection agencies. He was told he was due to pay a charge of £364 - but informed the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) he was already in the process of an appeal.

“I called back-and-forth and my appeals kept being denied by TfL,” Steven added. “An agent suggested I might consider applying for a view by the district judge - but it’s costly.”

Steven said two debt collectors showed up at his house on August 14, 2024. He showed them receipt of payment, explaining the money had left his account the day before he travelled to London. The officers said this would be fine - and would relay the message to their supervisor.

Steven said: “They told me it looked like I’d made a genuine effort to resolve this - and they walked off with my receipt. I know I shouldn’t have relaxed at that point - but I genuinely believed it was all good.”

On September 11, Steven received a text to say the fine still hadn’t been paid - and had increased to £589. Three days later, he said, he received a letter from TfL rejecting the receipt submitted by the debt collectors. He claimed the letter warned he could be subject to repossession of his household goods or vehicle, as well as a county court judgement for “refusing” to pay the fine.

“I need TfL to review my case urgently,” he said. “The payment was taken down wrongly, but I did pay for a day of parking.

“I just need them to cancel the payment - I’ve been so ill and stressed about it. I’ve got three kids to pay for - I’m just trying to do the best I can.”

A TfL spokesperson said: “Mr Bortone did correctly receive a penalty charge notice (PCN) as he didn’t pay the ULEZ charge for the correct day or within the required period. We asked him to provide proof that he paid for the wrong day, but received no response to any of our notices, so the fine increased. As Mr Bortone did originally attempt to pay the charge, we are happy to settle the case on receipt of the original penalty charge.”