ULEZ scrappage would supply me solely a tenth of my £20,000 basic BMW’s worth

The Extremely Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) scrappage scheme in London is heading for failure — with a £160 million bribe to get automobiles off the highway solely attracting simply over 1 per cent of eligible motorists.

Solely round 14,000 of the estimated a million drivers in London with automobiles that fail the ULEZ gas emissions check have accepted the £2,000 grant to have their automobile towed away and destroyed in a scrap yard.

There are 2.6 million motorists in London.

The principle cause the scheme is being shunned is as a result of it provides such a poor deal. The common non-ULEZ compliant automobile is price £5,200, in line with the automobile buying and selling web site Carwow.

So scrapping a automobile leaves drivers out of pocket. Others are thwarted by the crimson tape and complicated provides.

Traditional: Shahzad Shiekh’s cherished 1989 BMW is non-ULEZ compliant – however he can be provided simply £2,000 scrappage

London drivers — most of these dwelling throughout the M25 with an deal with in one of many 32 boroughs or the Metropolis of London — with ‘non-compliant’ automobiles can apply for the £2,000 grant.

When you’ve got a bike it’s £1,000. For petrol-driven motors it sometimes means automobiles constructed round or earlier than 2005 and for diesel these made earlier than 2015.

The cash doesn’t need to be spent on a brand new eco-friendly automobile — it might probably merely be pocketed.

Nonetheless, TfL is encouraging motorists to not solely ditch previous automobiles however to take public transport as a substitute.

It’s providing homeowners of older automobiles £1,600 plus a single 12-month bus and tram move for the capital price as a lot as £900 as a substitute for the £2,000 — or £1,200 if you’re prepared to take two passes.

Small companies or charities with lower than 50 employees can declare extra — £7,000 to scrap a van, £9,000 to scrap a minibus.

If scrapping a wheelchair-accessible automobile the grant could be price £10,000.

I might solely get a tenth of the worth of basic 1989 BMW price £20,000 Traditional: Shahzad Shiekh’s 1989 BMW is non-ULEZ compliant Shahzad Shiekh has a 1989 BMW that’s non-ULEZ compliant. His high-performance basic is price £20,000 and definitely not prepared for the scrapyard — the place TfL would give him only a tenth of its true worth. The web automobile journalist, who works underneath the title Brown Automotive Man, lives in Kingsbury, North-West London. He says: ‘This scrappage scheme is nothing however a foul joke. When automobile homeowners realise they need to scrap their automobile first — having already spent cash to make sure it has legitimate insurance coverage, highway tax and a full MoT — earlier than they’ll obtain any cash, they quickly realise what a awful deal the entire concept is.’ He provides: ‘After all, the overwhelming majority of automobiles are price excess of the quantity provided — which is little greater than an insulting gimmick. Scrapping a wonderfully useable automobile can also be extraordinarily wasteful and dangerous to the surroundings — because the automobile is changed by a brand new one. It’s a tragic waste of cash doing extra hurt than good.’

The way it works

All functions are made via the TfL web site. You’ll want to create a ‘highway person charging’ account — placing in private particulars together with automobile registration quantity, financial institution or card cost data and a password.

TfL says it goals to course of this stage of the appliance inside ten days. Subsequent you should drive your automobile to an ‘authorised therapy facility’ — council-speak for a scrap yard.

The scrap yard points a ‘certificates of destruction’ to ensure the automobile is stripped of all its elements and crushed.

You possibly can ask the scrap service provider if they may provide you with more money for it. The common scrap worth of a automobile is £300 and could be pocketed on high of the £2,000 grant.

Fines: TFL is encouraging motorists to not solely ditch previous automobiles however to take public transport as a substitute

Solely after you may have despatched a replica of the certificates of destruction to the TfL will you receives a commission — a cheque for £2,000 shall be despatched by publish. In accordance with TfL it sometimes takes 20 days for the scrappage course of to be accomplished.

Any scrapped automobile have to be registered with the Driver and Car Licensing Company (DVLA) underneath your title at a London deal with the place you may have been dwelling since January 30 final yr.

On high of this it will need to have an up-to-date MOT, highway tax and be absolutely insured. To make sure opportunists don’t simply purchase any previous banger to attempt to make £2,000, solely automobiles registered in London earlier than January 30 final yr can declare the money — so some new homeowners may miss out.

These dwelling outdoors the ULEZ zone — even when they drive into London every single day — can not declare the £2,000 grant.

A TfL spokesperson says: ‘Greater than 14,000 functions to the scrappage scheme have been authorized. They’re being processed in a matter of days.’

Jeremy Palliser, of Oxshott in Surrey, lives simply contained in the M25, however a couple of hundred yards out of the ULEZ zone.

The retired fund supervisor, 63, says the congestion zone enlargement will solely add to his gas invoice as he should now drive additional to keep away from the £12.50 each day cost.

He says: ‘Sadiq Khan has an obsession with the congestion cost attributable to his personal well being issues as an bronchial asthma sufferer— however as somebody who additionally suffers from this situation I don’t imagine charging motorists to drive round London will make a jot of a distinction. It’s simply one other solution to squeeze more cash out of us.’

toby.walne@dailymail.co.uk.