August 12, 2024
Sara Davies
Articles
Clean air zones may seem like just another headache for fleet managers to negotiate but they’re important to understand. Our article provides all the information you need in one place, as well as helping you to reassess the changes in the light of the business benefits a fleet re-evaluation could bring.
What is a Clean Air Zone?
A clean air zone (CAZ) encourages the use of lower emission vehicles in specific locations across the UK by placing restrictions on the highest polluting vehicles. These areas are sometimes also referred to as Low Emission Zones (LEZ) and vehicles that fail to meet minimum emission standards must pay a charge to enter them. Those who fail to pay the charges will be issued with fines. Road signs are in place to alert drivers that they are about to enter a clean air zone.
There are 4 types of clean air zones, Class A to D, with each catagory incorporating an increasing array of vehicle types. For example, A includes buses, coaches, taxis and private hire vehicles, whereas D includes those in A, with the addition of heavy goods vehicles, vans, minibuses, cars, and the local authority has the option to include motorcycles.
Where Are Clean Air Zones Located?
An increasing number of towns have either already introduced or are considering introducing their own clean air zones, including Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Bradford, Portsmouth, Sheffield and Tyneside, with Greater Manchester among others currently under review as future clean air zones.
What Are the Charges for Driving in Clean Air Zones?
Larger vehicles such as lorries, coaches and buses that fall foul of emissions requirements are charged around £100, although the exact figure varies between cities.
Private hire cars, taxis and regular passenger vehicles that aren’t compliant pay less but still incur a charge of roughly £10 a day, again varying from city to city.
The charge period runs from midnight to midnight. You must pay the charge by 11:59pm on the sixth day after driving into the zone. You can pay up to 6 days before you travel.
The maximum payment that can be made in a single transaction is £5,000. Payments that exceed this limit will need to be split into separate transactions.
What Are the Penalties for Failing to Pay a Clean Air Zone Charge?
If a vehicle which fails to meet the emission standards is caught on camera driving in the clean air zone, and does not make payment by 11:59pm on the sixth day after the date the vehicle was used in the zone, a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) will be sent to the registered keeper of the vehicle.
The standard penalty charge is £120 and you have up to 28 days to pay the standard charge from the date of issue of the PCN, reduced to £60 if paid within two weeks.
What Cars Comply with Clean Air Zones?
Drivers of vehicles with zero tailpipe emissions, such as electric cars, will comply with the emissions limits. However, drivers of vehicles that emit pollutants may be liable for charges.
The general rule is that to travel within a CAZ emission limits, a petrol vehicle has to meet at least the Euro 4 emission standard (mandatory from January 2006) and a diesel vehicle has to meet at least Euro 6 standards (mandatory from September 2015). If your vehicle meets these standards, you will avoid the charge.
For some zones, such as the London ULEZ, your vehicle simply has to meet the NOx and PM standards set by Euro 4 (for petrol vehicles) or Euro 6 (for diesels).
Certain vehicles will be compliant with the ULEZ despite predating the Euro 6 standard because they happen to emit fewer than 0.08g/km of NOx and 0.0045g/km of PM. However, in such cases you will need to obtain a certificate of compliance (CoC) from its manufacturer to register it as ULEZ- or CAZ-compliant.
Is There Always a Charge for Non-Compliant Cars?
No, even if your vehicle does fall outside of Euro 4 or Euro 6, you might still be able to avoid a charge, depending on what kind of vehicle it is and the type of CAZ that you wish to drive through, due to the four types of CAZ.
While most of the CAZs that are scheduled to be introduced in the UK are Class D, which targets buses, coaches, taxis, PHVs, HGVs, LGVs and cars, cities such as Bath and Portsmouth will be Class C, so regular car drivers won’t have to pay, regardless of the emissions of the car they drive.
However, if you’re in the process of updating your fleet with new vehicles, it makes better business and financial sense to choose low emission vehicles that will not pose your drivers with potential route changes to negotiate, nor charges and fines.
Do Wessex Fleet Supply Low Emission Vehicles?
Yes. We facilitate a salary sacrifice arrangement which is an agreement between you and your employee to reduce their entitlement to cash pay in return for a non-cash benefit. Under our salary sacrifice scheme, the driver will receive a fully insured and maintained leased electric vehicle in return for giving up a portion of their pay, equal to the cost of the lease and associated services. The employee will receive a lower salary but save on income tax and national insurance contributions resulting in the difference in take-home pay being significantly less than the original amount of salary sacrificed.
As an employer, you can set up a salary sacrifice arrangement by changing the terms of your employee’s employment contract for a fixed period covering the length of the EV lease that your employee will need to agree to prior to any change.
You can find out more about Salary Sacrifice here
What Are the Business Benefits of Low Emission Vehicles?
There are numerous business benefits to low emissions and electric cars, in addition to saving you money on CAZ charges and fines. These include:
1. Ability to attract and retain top talent by providing perks and financial incentives.
2. Reduces your salary and National Insurance contribution costs as an employer.
3. Increases employee satisfaction, morale and loyalty.
4. Lowers business mileage reimbursement costs.
5. Improves your compliance with health and safety, and duty of care legislation.
6. Reduces employee travel carbon footprint.
Clean Air Zone FAQs
What Are the Four Types of CAZ?
Class A, which targets buses, coaches, taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs).
Class B, which targets buses, coaches, taxis, PHVs and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).
Class C, which targets buses, coaches, taxis, PHVs, HGVs and light goods vehicles (LGVs).
Class D, which targets buses, coaches, taxis, PHVs, HGVs, LGVs and cars.
When Do the CAZ Zones Operate?
The zones operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year.
Are Any Cars Exempt From Clean Air Compliance?
Vehicles with a disabled passenger tax class are permanently exempt from the CAZ, as are historic vehicles over 40 years old, motorcycles and school buses. You will still need to apply for exemption well in advance of entering the CAZ.
Are Our Company Vehicles Compliant?
You can check here on the government website to find out if your fleet vehicles are compliant, or if you lease your fleet through us, get in touch and we can help you assess your fleet.
Enjoyed this article? Read more of our latest blogs below:
- How Often Should You Be Inspecting Your Fleet
- 5 Checks When You Get a Company Car
- How Fleet Driver Training Saves Money
- 8 Things To Know About Car Sharing
For all our latest news and blogs click HERE.
Or are you looking to understand the company car, fleet management or any other aspect of fleet vehicles? If so, then check out our Guide Pages.