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This week on Watchdog, we investigate Transport for London penalty charge notices being sent to the wrong addresses — and the serious consequences for those wrongly fined.

In November last year, Jenny from Halesowen began receiving letters from TfL, despite living over 100 miles from London and not having driven in the capital for years. By January, more letters arrived with a penalty charge notice (PCN) for a vehicle that wasn’t hers. She contacted the DVLA, who confirmed the vehicle had never been registered at her address. Jenny passed this on to TfL, but the letters continued. Weeks later, bailiffs turned up at her door to collect payment for a fine she had already proven she didn’t owe.

Emily from London committed a driving offence in December 2023, but didn’t find out until almost a year later — by which time TfL had already passed the fine to bailiffs. Emily leases her car, so she checked with the hire company whether it had received the original notice. It hadn’t. Instead, TfL had sent it to an old address. Emily appealed, but her PCN was rejected, leaving her liable for a charge that had ballooned. She ended up paying £324 — for a fine that would have been £40 had she known about it earlier.

We wrote to Transport for London, which said it is sorry that Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) were sent to Jenny’s address. It stated that it has cancelled all warrants and contacted her to apologise for the distress this has caused. It went on to say that, unlike the resident of an address or the recipient of a PCN, Transport for London does not have the authority to amend the vehicle keeper details with the DVLA.

It also apologised for sending a PCN to Emily’s previous address, and for any distress caused. It explained that, as the notices went unanswered, a warrant was issued to its contracted Enforcement Agents to collect the money. It said it has cancelled the PCN and is in touch with Emily to issue a full refund.

Transport for London told us that all PCNs are sent to the registered keeper of the vehicle unless it is made aware that a vehicle is on long-term hire or lease. In such cases, it updates its records meaning that any further PCNs incurred by the vehicle over the period of the lease are sent to the lessee rather than the registered keeper.

You can watch the full piece here for 28 days - /iplayer/episode/m002c55j/the-one-show-14052025