Paying for road repairs

[myglaren]

Just seen this on The Beeb.

Surely the RFL is supposed to cover this - I'm well aware that it is just another tax now but that was it's original intention.

[CitroJim]

It has always been the case that if you were involved in an accident that damaged the infrastructure (say, bent the Armco or damaged a bridge) then you were always liable for the cost of repairs. This is not new and it's normally 'hidden' as your insurance picks it up...

If an ambulance is called to cart you off to hospital there's a fee that has to be paid for that too I understand.

I expect, as usual with the BEEB, they've picked up a couple of rare and isolated OTT examples and made it into a sensational story on a slow news day... Do we have the full facts presented to make a fair judgement? Often in these cases there's some other valid information missing - never let the facts get in the way of a good story...

Anyway, you damage the road infrastructure through your careless actions and you should pay. If it happened through no fault of your own then there should clearly be no fee due.

Steve, the RFL or VED was once, a long time ago, used for road maintenance and improvements but now I believe it's just thrown into the Treasury pot like any other tax revenue.

[Xaccers]

Ditch RFL and put it on fuel duty

[DickieG]

The worrying thing on that story is the excessive fee's for the obligatory "clean up oil" even when none was spilt, such dishonest charges are reminiscent of scumbag wheel clampers, shameful.

It's also another example of how some sections of society view road traffic collisions as an opportunity to make an outrageous amount of money out of others misfortune, disgraceful.

Ditch RFL and put it on fuel duty

Dream on

[CitroJim]

scumbag wheel clampers, shameful.

I believe they've now more or less been legislated out of existence and a good job too if they are...

Hopefully if unscrupulous types are charging for non-existent oil clean-ups and the like then that will soon be legislated against.

There does seem to be a culture developing all over the place of charging for anything and everything they think they can get away with and that's not just confined to motoring activities...

A good example is our local corner shop who charges 25p if you want to pay by plastic. Surely it costs nowhere near that for the bank to process. If it does, why? For an electronic transaction to cost that much is a rip-off of the highest order and is not helping the quest, which I'd love to see, of doing away with cash more or less completely. Ditto the outrageous charges for getting cash out of some third-party ATMs.

I always use cash in the particular establishment I mentioned.

[Xaccers]

The AA had a team that would investigate vehicle recoveries made by 3rd party agencies.
What would often happen is an agency flat bed would turn up, do a recovery then claim from the AA for a patrol visit then an extra recovery visit even though there was only one visit.
They'd also monitor the locations of all patrol vehicles to check for employees parking up in areas where they were unlikely to be called out meaning their colleagues had higher work loads, and for anyone who'd meander out of their area near the end of their shifts to get home quicker, again costing colleagues or the AA more as others would have to cover for them if they were too far from the breakdown.

[spider]

Was the name of the 'tax' not changed many many years ago as it was legally challenged for its description as the money was not exclusively spent on roads / highway maintenance ? Rather it ended up (as Jim said) in the big 'pot' with everything else ?

I do remember being told that years ago it may of happened well before I was around though.

[Gibbo2286]

scumbag wheel clampers, shameful.

A good example is our local corner shop who charges 25p if you want to pay by plastic. Surely it costs nowhere near that for the bank to process. If it does, why? For an electronic transaction to cost that much is a rip-off of the highest order and is not helping the quest, which I'd love to see, of doing away with cash more or less completely. Ditto the outrageous charges for getting cash out of some third-party ATMs.

I always use cash in the particular establishment I mentioned.

The shopkeeper is trying to recover some of the large lump of dosh he had to spend on the electronic point of sale gadgetry he had to buy so that he could accept cards, it all hurts when you're running a small business in competition to the big boys.

I'm glad I'm out of all that now and I'm not sure what the banks charge for handling the actual transactions, I know I used to have to pay Barclays 68p for every cheque I deposited regardless of the value so you can understand why most shops won't take cheques for small amounts now.

[CitroJim]

I know I used to have to pay Barclays 68p for every cheque I deposited regardless of the value so you can understand why most shops won't take cheques for small amounts now.

Gosh, that's outrageous Little wonder the bankers have such a bad name...