ULEZ Scrappage Scheme 2019

ULEZ Car and Motorbike scrappage scheme 2019

The Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL) have announced the new Car and Motorcycle scrappage scheme to help Londoners like myself get rid of their old non ULEZ compliant cars or motorbikes.  In return for scrapping their old vehicles, TfL will give £2000 if you scrap a car or if you scrap your non ULEZ compliant Motorcycle or Moped, you will get a £1000 grant payment to go towards buying a new vehicle.

Time to buy a Tesla, maybe?

I currently own a 58 plate Citroen Picasso, I really love my car but the value of it is certainly way under the £2000 mark.  So, I’m very tempted to go for this scheme, although I don’t know what ULEZ compliant car I will go for next, the only 7 seater ULEZ compliant car that tempts me is a Tesla Model X, but I’d have rough short fall of £74,000 on my budget to get one of those…unless Tesla wanna hook me up.  I’d quite happily and shamelessly plug Tesla all over the site for that.  <
Anyways, back to reality; I had a good read of the scrappage scheme and here’s what I’d have to do to get my hands on this grant.  

Do I qualify for the ULEZ Scrappage Scheme?

1. My current car must not meet the ULEZ requirement, which it doesn’t and obviously I must use the grant to purchase a new vehicle which is ULEZ compliant.  Don’t forget you can check if your vehicle is ULEZ compliant on this site. 
2. I must live within one of the 32 boroughs in London.  Check, I have lived my whole life in London! Below is a lovely image of all 32 Boroughs, thank you londonmap360.com
   
3. I must be claiming benefits.  I got a little stuck at this point, because I wasn’t quite sure of what benefits I claim.  Luckily I have children and get Child Tax Credits, which is on the list. See the list below. 
   1. Universal Credit
   2. Armed Forces Independence Payment
   3. Attendance Allowance
   4. Carer’s Allowance
   5. Child Tax Credit
   6. Constant Attendance Allowance
   7. Disability Living Allowance
   8. Employment and Support Allowance
   9. Housing Benefit
   10. Income Support
   11. Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
   12. Jobseeker’s Allowance
   13. Pension Credit
   14. Personal Independence Payment
   15. Severe Disablement Allowance
   16. War Pensions Mobility Supplement
   17. Working Tax Credit
       
4. My vehicle must be registered to the benefit claimant or someone who lives in the same address, in my case the other half.  
5. I must have owned the car for more than 12 months, so from 23 October 2019.  I think my love story with my car has gone on for much longer than that. 
6. I must have valid insurance, hopefully that’s all in check. 
7. I must have up to date MOT, all good!

 

NOTE: Lastly a potential caveat for people on benefits, the money they give goes towards the calculation of any means tested benefits you may claim.  They will class the grant payment as savings, this may affect your benefits and you should check if it’s worth while because you can’t blame TfL later if things go wrong. 

Show me the money!

1. I must register my vehicle on the TfL website and make an application here – I’m certain I have an account as I’ve had to pay the ULEZ charge on one occasion. 
2. I will need to upload my vehicle documents, so log book (V5C), MOT Certificate and Insurance documents along with my proof of benefits I receive (remember these must be in your name or the name of someone who lives with you, if this is the case for you, then you  will need to provide additional proof of address, for example your bank statement).
3. Also, your benefits document must not be older than 12 months or you can send a current screenshot of your Universal Credit service statement. 
4. I would then need to fill out the online application on TfL’s website, then go off and have a cry while I come to the realisation of what I am about to do to my car. 
5. I would then have to take my vehicle to an Authorised Treatment Facility, sounds so wrong!
6. Then once my tears have dried, I must go back on to TfL’s website and upload my
   

   Certificate of Destruction, oh no what have I done!

7. After some more tears have come and gone, I’d wait in glee staring at my door for my cheque to come through the post.  Then off I will go to Tesla and put down the first month instalment for that brand new Tesla X.
8. Or what will most likely happen is that I will go for this option “If you’ve applied but changed your mind, please tell us that you’d like to withdraw your application.”

I’m still not 100% sure if I will go for this scheme, especially as I’m not content on what car I will buy as a replacement.  I hope something more affordable than the dream of a Tesla X comes up and if it does, be sure that I will share my last journeys with my Picasso with you all. 

All the information is available on the TfL website, so do have a look at all their conditions and fine prints. 

 

Update 30/06/2020: So I managed to pluck up the courage and say goodbye to my trust old diesel.  I went through the ULEZ scrappage scheme.  I made the application on 16/05/2020, I got a response from TfL on 20/05/2020 confirming my eligibility, I was given 30 days from that email to get my car scrapped at an ATF (Authorised Treatment Facility).  Due to the current pandemic situation, it was slightly difficult to get a date at one of the ATF’s near me, but eventually on the 10/06/2020 I got the go ahead from Argall Metal Recycling in Leyton, I managed to get a another £140 for the scrap metal on my car which was a nice little bonus.  Argall Metal issued my certificate of destruction on the spot, I emailed it to TfL on the same day.  TfL responded 7 days later and then sent out a cheque for £2000 which I received on 26/06/2020.  So the whole process from start to end has taken me just over a month to sort out.

I was kind of surprised to see TfL are still using cheques.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final farewell to my old car, I couldn’t bare hanging around to see it get crushed.