Reader says TfL bailiffs pursuing them over stranger's unpaid Ulez fines

A London resident has described how bailiffs arrived at their home seeking to seize goods over four unpaid Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) fines connected to a vehicle they say they have never owned.

According to the account, the situation began around two months earlier when the individual received four enforcement notices from CDER Group, a debt enforcement company, relating to a vehicle with no connection to them. Despite this, Transport for London (TfL) has continued efforts to recover the penalties, with bailiffs subsequently attempting to seize property to cover the four fines.

Ulez fines are issued to vehicles that do not meet emissions standards when driven within London's Ultra Low Emission Zone, with TfL responsible for enforcement of the scheme. Enforcement typically escalates through a series of notices before referral to bailiffs or debt collection agencies when penalties remain unpaid, a process that in this case the resident says was mistakenly directed at them.

Cases involving mistaken identity or incorrect vehicle registration records are not unheard of in the enforcement of London's Ulez and other traffic-related penalty schemes, and can result in prolonged disputes between residents and enforcement bodies before errors are identified and corrected.

It was not immediately clear from the available account whether TfL or CDER Group had responded directly to the resident's dispute of the fines, or what steps, if any, had been taken to resolve the matter and halt the bailiff action. Individuals facing similar enforcement issues are generally advised to formally dispute penalty notices with the issuing authority as soon as possible to avoid escalation to bailiff action.