A DESPERATE mum says her son has been caught up in a bizarre legal situation after receiving dozens of Ulez fines – claiming the number plate on his van had been cloned.
Kay Russell, 64, says her son Joe, 28, who is also on the autism spectrum, has been left too worried to work and travel around London after being bombarded by penalties, sent to court, and even visited by bailiffs.
Kay says her son Joe’s van, a Peugeot Partner, had had its number plate cloned last year[/caption]
The family grew suspicious after receiving Ulez fines showing a slightly older model of the van with the same number plate[/caption]
But the family struggled to convey the issue to TfL – who sent dozens of additional fines[/caption]
Speaking to Sun Motors, Kay revealed the ordeal started back in April, when TfL first sent fines along with photographs supposedly of Joe’s Peugeot van driving through a low-emission zone.
However, Kay says her family soon realised the vehicle in the pictures was different from her son’s – but had the same number plate.
According to Kay, Joe’s van, a Peugeot Partner, is a newer model compared to the one that can be seen in the TfL photographs.
Kay explained: “It is similar to my son’s van; his is a Peugeot, but the one in the pictures was an older model, with the badge on the bonnet, whereas the Peugeot badge on my son’s van is on the grille.”
Despite providing photographic evidence to TfL, the family says they were asked for further proof, such as detailed records of Joe’s whereabouts on the dates of the alleged offences – something he found difficult to provide.
Kay added: “When I spoke to somebody at TfL, they said, ‘Well, anyone can stick a badge on anywhere.’
“I said, ‘But it is the Peugeot badge, it is clear where it is. And if my son had removed it, you’d see where it was.’”
Kay admits that some of the Ulez fines do belong to her son, which actually helped her and her husband realise that the van in some of the pictures wasn’t the one driven by Joe.
She said: “When you see two vehicles next to each other, you can clearly see that the front of the cloned van is completely different to my son’s – like where the badge is.”
Joe first realised something was wrong when money started disappearing from his TfL account, followed by a series of fines arriving from various authorities, including Southwark and Walthamstow councils.
He immediately reported the issue to the police and obtained a crime reference number.
The situation then escalated when the case went to court, although Kay and her family were not notified in time to defend themselves.
Kay said: “TfL responded to my email on 8 January, but the case had already gone to court before they even opened the email.
“We weren’t even advised about the court date.
“We didn’t get the chance to defend ourselves or explain anything. It just went to court, and they decided it was our fault.”
She also said the family have tried to appeal the fines, but this has simply added to their expenses.
“To appeal, we’d have to pay per fine, and we’ve got about ten fines here. Why should we pay for something that isn’t our fault?” she added.
Bailiffs have also visited their home, adding to their stress.
Kay said: “I don’t know where I stand. Every time I try to phone a solicitor, they tell me it’s going to cost me more money than the fines are.”
Joe, who works as a plumber but can only work on sites and not in people’s homes due to his autism, has even started to avoid driving into London due to the worry of picking up more fines.
Kay added: “He’s taken a job further away, earning less, but he just can’t deal with this stress.
“This shouldn’t be a battle for us as a family. We shouldn’t even be going through this.
“I’ve phoned hundreds of people, but no one wants to go into detail or help us. They just say, ‘Send everything in.’”
Sun Motors later got in contact with TfL, who said: “We are very sorry that Mr Russell has been a victim of vehicle cloning.
“In this case there were eight open penalty charge notices (PCNs), one of which had representations made against it.
“Having reviewed the images, five PCNs were incurred by Mr Russell’s vehicle and three by a cloned vehicle.
“We have cancelled any outstanding fines and the remaining balance.”
Kay also revealed TfL contacted her and her family to resolve the matter – much to her relief.
TfL have reminded drivers that vehicle cloning is a criminal matter, which the police enforce and prosecute.
They also state that every image is checked by two members of staff before any penalty charge notice is issued.
Any customer who believes their vehicle has been cloned can provide evidence demonstrating the PCN has been issued incorrectly.
This includes proof of a vehicle at a different location for the date and time of the contravention, such as a tracker report, statement from a colleague or neighbour.
They also accept a witness statement affirming vehicle was not at location but elsewhere, photos showing differences between their vehicle and the vehicle captured, and a crime reference number.
This comes Sun Motors recently spoke to a man who’d been issued with nearly £25,000 in Ulez fines for a vehicle he hadn’t owned for nearly a year.
Bilal Yousaf, 44, from Glasgow, Scotland, had his Renault Master repossessed in February 2024 after he was forced to give up work.
However, his details were seemingly still linked to the van.
Then, in March, Bilal – who says he hasn’t been to London in around 10 years – began receiving penalty notices from TfL, claiming he received on average “five fines a day” at their peak.
He says TfL even passed his details to a collection agency, which also began to send him letters.
