Does the Congestion Charge apply to every same day booking in London?
No. It only applies to vehicles driving within the central London zone during charging hours. A job that stays in outer London, such as a Croydon to Kingston run, won't touch it at all.
A facilities manager at a print firm in Croydon called us in January needing four proof pallets moved to a client’s office in Islington by 2pm, and her first question wasn’t about the driving time. It was about the invoice. She’d been caught out before by a courier that quoted one price and added congestion and emissions charges once the van was already on the road. It’s a fair worry, because a same day job that starts in outer London and finishes near the centre can cross a congestion zone, a low emission zone, or both, and those charges are real costs that have to land somewhere on the bill.
What Actually Changes When a Job Crosses a Zone
Two separate schemes cover Greater London, and it helps to know which one applies where. The Congestion Charge applies only inside central London, roughly the area bounded by the inner ring road, and is charged by time of day rather than vehicle type. The Ultra Low Emission Zone, or ULEZ, is a different scheme entirely, based on a vehicle’s exhaust emissions standard rather than where or when it drives, and since August 2023 it has covered the whole of Greater London, from Heathrow in the west to Romford in the east. A van can be liable for one charge, both, or neither, depending on its route and its emissions standard, which is exactly why the two get confused so often.
The Congestion Charge, and What Changed in January 2026
Transport for London raised the daily Congestion Charge from £15 to £18 from 2 January 2026, the first increase since 2020, payable by any non-exempt vehicle driving within the central zone during charging hours. Electric vehicles lost their automatic 100% exemption on 25 December 2025 and now pay the charge too, though a 25% discount is available to electric vehicles registered on TfL’s Auto Pay scheme. None of that is a reason to avoid central London bookings. It’s simply a cost that has to be built into the price of any job that touches the zone, rather than discovered afterwards.
ULEZ Now Covers Every Borough We Serve
ULEZ compliance across Greater London reached 96.7% as of September 2024, according to Transport for London’s own monitoring, up from 91.6% in June 2023, in the run-up to the zone’s expansion to cover the whole of Greater London that August. That’s a high and rising compliance rate across inner London, outer London and the central zone alike, reflecting how much of the UK’s van fleet has moved to newer, compliant engines in recent years. That matters for a same day courier running jobs from Barnet to Bromley and Sutton to Enfield, because it means the overwhelming majority of bookings never trigger a ULEZ charge at all. The exceptions are managed the same way as everything else: checked against the vehicle before the driver sets off, not discovered at the roadside.
How Much of London’s Traffic These Zones Are Actually Managing
The scale of what these schemes are managing is worth putting in context. London’s roads carried around 19.4 billion vehicle miles of traffic in 2024 across roughly 9,200 miles of road, according to the Department for Transport’s regional road traffic statistics. Cars and taxis account for the largest share of that at 76%, but vans, the vehicle class most same day courier work relies on, make up 16% of all motor traffic in the capital, a bigger share than almost anywhere else in Great Britain. With that many vans on London’s roads every day, borough-level emissions and congestion policy isn’t a side issue for a courier business. It’s a core part of planning any route that crosses more than one part of the city.
Why It Never Shows Up as a Surprise on Your Invoice
Every quote we give is fixed and all-inclusive before the driver sets off, and that includes any Congestion Charge or ULEZ liability the route picks up along the way. Tell us the collection and delivery postcodes and we’ll check the route against both zones as part of working out the price, not as an afterthought once the job is already running. If an afternoon’s work takes a van from an outer borough straight through the centre and back out again, that’s factored into the quote you’re given at the point of booking, and it’s the price you’ll see on the invoice afterwards too.
One Job, Every Borough
Same day work in London rarely stays inside a single postcode, which is why we run jobs across every part of the capital rather than just the centre. That includes regular collections in Hackney and drops across the river in Greenwich, cross-city runs through Stratford and Newham, and outer London work in Ealing and Kingston, alongside City of London and Westminster deliveries that sit inside the Congestion Charge zone itself. Wherever a job starts, whether that’s Croydon, Islington or somewhere further out, the vehicle, the route and any zone charges are worked out together as one price, not treated as separate problems to solve later. Our full coverage across Greater London and the rest of the UK is listed on our locations page, alongside the dedicated page for same day courier services across London specifically.
Booking With Confidence
Tell us the collection and delivery postcodes, roughly what’s moving and by when, and we’ll confirm a fixed, all-inclusive price that already accounts for any Congestion Charge or ULEZ liability on the route, before the driver leaves. There’s nothing to work out afterwards and nothing added once the van is on the road. Get a fixed quote online or call our controllers direct, day or night, and tell them which boroughs the job needs to cross.
At a Glance
| Question | Short answer |
|---|---|
| Does the Congestion Charge apply to every same day booking in London? | No. It only applies to vehicles driving within the central London zone during charging hours. |
| What is ULEZ and does it cover the whole of London? | ULEZ is a charge based on a vehicle's emissions standard rather than its location within a set boundary. |
| Will I be charged extra if my delivery crosses a charging zone? | No. Any Congestion Charge or ULEZ liability on your route is worked out as part of your fixed quote before the driver sets off, not added… |
| How much is the Congestion Charge in 2026? | The Congestion Charge rose to £18 a day from 2 January 2026. |
| Do you cover boroughs outside central London? | Yes. We run same day jobs across every London borough and the wider UK, from outer areas such as Barnet, Sutton and Enfield to central boroughs… |
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Congestion Charge apply to every same day booking in London?
No. It only applies to vehicles driving within the central London zone during charging hours. A job that stays in outer London, such as a Croydon to Kingston run, won’t touch it at all.
What is ULEZ and does it cover the whole of London?
ULEZ is a charge based on a vehicle’s emissions standard rather than its location within a set boundary. Since August 2023 it has covered the whole of Greater London, though around 97% of vehicles on the road are already compliant and never trigger the charge.
Will I be charged extra if my delivery crosses a charging zone?
No. Any Congestion Charge or ULEZ liability on your route is worked out as part of your fixed quote before the driver sets off, not added to the invoice afterwards.
How much is the Congestion Charge in 2026?
The Congestion Charge rose to £18 a day from 2 January 2026. Electric vehicles registered on TfL’s Auto Pay scheme receive a 25% discount on that daily rate, having lost their previous 100% exemption at the end of 2025.
Do you cover boroughs outside central London?
Yes. We run same day jobs across every London borough and the wider UK, from outer areas such as Barnet, Sutton and Enfield to central boroughs such as Westminster and the City of London.
Not sure whether your route crosses a charging zone? Call our controllers on 020 4525 2039 and tell them where the job starts and finishes, or get a fixed quote online and we’ll tell you honestly what’s included.
Official guidance
The rules described above come from the official sources below. Regulations change, so check the current position before you rely on them.