Sadiq Khan expanded the ULEZ to Outer London last year (Image: Getty)
Cancer patients have been hit with London ULEZ fines despite promising that they would be exempt from the charge.
The £12.50 fee to drive a non-compliant vehicle was extended in August 2023 to include Outer London.
The Mayor’s decision has sparked opposition, including so-called ‘Blade Runners’ vandalising and cutting down ULEZ cameras.
But now, has reported that cancer patients are struggling to get refunds since spring of this year.
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This is after TfL agreed the ULEZ charge would not apply to some of those attending hospital appointments.
People travelling by car can apply for a refund if necessary.
But as many as three in five do not know that they are exempt, it is reported, while a cancer charity has warned that others are finding it hard to get their money back.
A spokesperson for King’s College Hospital in South East London told The Telegraph: “We have continued to submit monthly claims to Transport for London (TfL) for patients eligible for ULEZ reimbursement.
“However, since the spring 2024, we have experienced difficulty in getting some claims processed. We have raised this with the TfL complaints team.”
Kings College Hospital says it has ‘experienced difficulty in getting some claims processed’ (Image: Getty)
Jasmin Sarll, 30, who is a mother of three, told the paper that she has spent hundreds of pounds on ULEZ charges during her son’s cancer treatment and liver transplant.
Hugo was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2022, when he was two years old, and was referred to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). He was also treated at King’s College Hospital.
Ms Sarll said: “If you could plan in your head that this was going to happen, you’d get an ULEZ-exempt car. But it is ridiculous.”
Hugo, who is now four, has been in remission for more than a year.
His mother added: “We were never once told we could claim back ULEZ, or obviously we would have.”
The ULEZ was expanded in 2023 (Image: Getty)
A spokesperson for TfL said: “We are very sorry for the distress that Ms Sarll has experienced. We had already accepted the representation she made and cancelled the penalty charges she incurred during these challenging circumstances.”
The spokesman added: “We are also in contact with Ms Sarll about the ULEZ charges she paid during visits to the hospital, and will refund these as a gesture of goodwill.”