ULEZ: ‘I got £5k for scrapping my van – but would have made an extra £2k if I’d waited’

A sole trader has hit out at the ULEZ scrappage scheme after missing out on £2k - by cashing in his van promptly.

Anthony Fionda, 58, was given £5k for his non-compliant Vauxhall Combo. He traded it in in January after reading up on the incoming Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) rules, which will see drivers of old, polluting vehicles facing a daily charge from August 29.

But he now wishes he held on to the van - after the maximum payment for non-compliant vans was upped to £7k earlier this month by London mayor Sadiq Khan.

Anthony says Transport for London (TfL) should make up the difference, as he’s been stung for being efficient.

The carpet cleaning business owner, from Enfield, north London, said: “I scrapped my van in January thinking I was being good and caring about the environment.

“But if I was doing it now, I would get £7k - that doesn’t seem fair, it’s like changing the rules after the game is over.

“All the people that got £5k should be given £2k more because it’s just not fair. If I would have waited and kept my non-compliant van on the road for another six months, I would have been polluting more.

“How is it fair that someone polluting for another six months gets another £2k for the trouble?”

Dad-of-two Anthony decided to trade in his non-compliant 2014 Vauxhall Combo in January.

He says the van was in good condition with a full service history and 80,000 miles on the clock – believing it to be worth around £4k.

After receiving the £5k under the scrappage scheme, he invested a further £8k to buy a compliant 2021 plate Citroen Berlingo.

The new van – which is just 18 months old – allows Antony to travel freely within the ULEZ area.

However, he says he had to work and save hard to make the extra £8k, and says he would have invested the extra money from the scrap scheme back into his business.

Now, he believes he should be reimbursed the extra money – and says that while the new van was expensive, it was more affordable than spending £12.50 per day.

“I knew when Sadiq Khan announced the ULEZ expansion in November that my van was non-compliant so my idea was to save up some money and make the change,” said Anthony.

“It’s a big step to go from a non-compliant van to a compliant van because all the prices have gone up. It wasn’t easy. The van I bought was £13k so there was a £8k shortfall from the scrap value – but I did it early to get the van off the road and they gave me the money as promised.

“£2k is money I could have spent on equipment, but I’ve had to put everything the business is doing into the van - I’ve lost out and I don’t think that’s fair.”

TfL has been approached for comment.

The scrappage scheme fees were changed on August 4. The expanded ULEZ zone will be implemented on August 29.