Epcplc Reviews 

A big SCAM. Just like others, we checked directly pagamentodeportagens.pt and found nothing outstanding.
They tried to bill us for a trip back in Aug 2021

The same thing happened to us as other reviews are saying. We got a letter for a fine and administrative fee for more than 100€ for supposedly unpaid toll on A22 Portugal. We checked pagamentodeportagens and no outstanding payments were found. You can check by entering registration plate number and toll date.

Another complaint about EPC demanding a fee of £20.36 for a toll of £2 on the A22 in Portugal. My hire car had a transponder on it which cost €20 anyway to pay all motorway tolls. Vialivre, the toll company, also need to take action to stop EPC from making these spurious demands

Anothrer one with a demand for a toll in Portugal. Initial request showed a picture of a piece of tarmac. When challenged I've been sent pictures with doctored registration plates! Not even smart enough to get that right! For those interested, their managing director's email is easy to find if you just google it. See how he likes being sent these demands!

BTW - "Epc Plc has no legal authority to enforce the payment of penalty notices in the UK, unless they obtain a court order from the country where the alleged offence took place"

I've had a similar experience to everyone else, letter from EPC relating to toll charges in 2019, but I did some googling before paying - the 'Watchdog' item on BBC's The One Show 10th January 2024 says it all - the expert advice from Simon Calder is: don't pay EPC anything! It's available on BBC i-Player until 9th January.
I'll be writing to my MP to say that EPC should be shut down.
I tried checking online at 'pagamentodeportagens' if I had toll charges outstanding, but keep getting an error message saying 'try later'. No joy either with the 'ViaLivre' site because it has a mandatory field to enter my Tax Number, but obviously I don't have a Portuguese tax number - some people posting online seem to have had success on these sites - am I doing something wrong? Thanks.

Received a penalty notice from this wierd and wonderful company just like everyone else here. Apparently it relates to being on the electronic toll lane and not having a transponder to pay the toll back in August 2019 when we were in Algarve. As far as we know all such tolls were included in the rental as per the rental car company who we had the contract with, and paid money to.

What can I say? Just flabbergasted.

Yesterday I received a "Penalty Charge Notice" from a company I had never heard of. EPC plc.

We were in the Algarve in June 2023, thought to myself strange, this has taken a while to filter through and even stranger as we paid for a Transponder so that the Hire company would bill us for toll usage.

But no, when I turn over I discover that this so called Penalty Charge Notice relates to an apparent toll infringement going back to our previous Algarve holiday in August 2019!

There is something unethical about taking over 4 years to bring this pupported toll infringement to my attention. I could have died or moved away in that time. My first instinct was just to pay it but now I am not so convinced.

I am not sure who is to blame for the delay here . Vialivre, EPC or the hire company, Hertz?

My gut instinct now is to ignore, ignore, ignore, because once you get into a conflab with these kind of organisations they will hound you, as they know they have "got a bite". This is my general response to unreasonable Parking Charge Notices in the UK. Not that I have received many. But I did have one in 2015 and I just kept the letters together in a clip until they stopped coming.

If you are reading this because you too have received a letter in the post from EPC plc relating to a toll infringement on the A22 please leave a review here on Trust Pilot and tick the copy to EPC box before submitting.

Thanks for reading my rant.

Alison - Wales

As the letter we received looked legitimate, we attempted to pay the fine via online banking however our bank warned us it looked like a scam account so we didn’t make the transaction. We immediately looked the company up on here which signposted us directly to the vialivre website and watchdog. The vialivre website allowed us to search the dates and registration plate which confirmed that we do not have any unpaid toll fines from our time in Portugal (in 2019). Therefore, we will not be paying this company but will expect more letters and an escalation in the price they are demanding like people have reported below.

I hope that everybody involved in this company or the sketchy fraud/scams they are doing is going to get jail time.

UPDATE: 14-01-24

Some interesting information sourced from a Portuguese Car Rental Company. See also the Forum threads on MoneySavingExpert.

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"About responsibility of toll's payment.

Regarding some doubts and questions that our customers have asked us regarding the payment requests they are receiving for the use of tolls, we inform you of the following:

PAYMENT OF TOLLS

Since the first moment that legislation began on the introduction of tolls through electronic devices in toll roads, and aware of the seriousness of such a measure for car rental companies (rent-a-car), following the various legislation's changes, it was established that the person responsible for paying tolls is the lessee (who actually has possession of the vehicle at the time of circulation) and not the rental companies, which are limited to renting the vehicles and do not have control over them during the rental period.

After lessee (driver) identification, the process is suspended and new proceedings are initiated against the person identified as the offender (Renter/driver).

The rental company's responsibility for paying the toll fee and the respective fine ends at the exact moment at the driver is identified.

After this, Via Livre should notify the lessee(driver) for tolls' payment (no penalties) - 10 of Law no. 25/2006, of 30 June, which was republished by Law no. 51/2015 of June 8th. After being notified, the driver of the vehicle may, if he wishes, present his defense/contest, and it is recommended to be done with a lawyer support.

If the renter/driver demonstrates that he is not responsible for the payment, he must present his defense, under penalty of not doing so, which may give rise to coercive collection by the toll road management companies.

The statute of limitations for these offenses is five years.

This procedure is also enshrined in paragraphs 2 to 7 of article 171 of the Highway Code (Lei das Autoestradas Portuguesas).

All the legislation of tolls' payment, associated to rental cars, is already duly addressed in article 10 of Law no. 25/2006, of 30 June, which was republished by Law no. 51/2015 of June 8th.

If you don't agree with the administrations fees charged by EPC, if you're not notified for tolls' charges or if you have any evidences that you were not here in the date of the tolls in the letter, we recommend you to use EPC form to contest the charges they are requesting."

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From www. justanswer .co .uk/ law/ nauoo-received-penalty-charge-notice-epc-plc. html

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"Please note the following:

- Epc Plc is a UK-based company that collects unpaid tolls and fines from drivers who have used roads, bridges, tunnels and other infrastructures in various European countries.

- Epc Plc is a member of the British Parking Association (BPA) and has access to the DVLA database to obtain the details of vehicle owners.

- Epc Plc has been accused of sending penalty notices to drivers who have already paid their tolls or fines, or who have never used the infrastructures they claim.

- Epc Plc has also been criticised for charging excessive administrative fees and interest on top of the original tolls or fines.

- Epc Plc has no legal authority to enforce the payment of penalty notices in the UK, unless they obtain a court order from the country where the alleged offence took place

- Epc Plc has a low success rate in obtaining such court orders, as they often lack sufficient evidence or face legal challenges from the drivers

Based on this information, it seems that you have received a penalty notice from Epc Plc that is either fraudulent or erroneous. You have several options to deal with this situation:

You can contact Epc Plc and dispute the penalty notice. You can provide them with any evidence that you have paid the tolls or fines, such as receipts, bank statements or credit card bills. You can also ask them to provide you with more details about the alleged offence, such as date, time, place and direction of travel. You can also challenge their administrative fees and interest charges, as they may be unreasonable or unlawful. You can also ask them to prove that they obtain a court order from the country where the alleged offence took place.

You can also contact the car hire company or the toll management authorities in Portugal to verify if you owe any charges or if there was a system error in 2018"

Very interesting to see Watchdog report on their 10th of January programme about this company and that you are not obligated to pay them. This unfortunately came after I had paid a fine they issued!

Loads of letters received from them claiming fines for supposed unpaid tolls as far back as 2017. We have always paid our tolls in the payshop of the supermarket or the post office when visiting Portugal. What we have never done though is keep the receipts. In fact we used to give them to the car hire company so they knew we had paid! I have succumbed paid several of these through worries about repercussions of non payment. However I have successfully challenged one when we hadnt even landed! To balance that we have unsuccessfully challenged others where they have added a penalties for 'late payment' of notices that never arrived. Absolutely outrageous and no way to defend ourselves. Scammers and something needs to be done about it.

I have written twice to EPC plc in respect of notices received in respect of unpaid toll fines in Portugal. My letters were in respect of fines accrued in September 2018 on the A22 in Portugal. The communication from EPC was the first I ever heard of fines unpaid. I explained how difficult it was to pay using the system in place in portugal especially final trips - I paid the actual fines due but not the admin fees. I received another letter and responded as I did in the first. No response to the second letter - the original fine of 11.05 Euro is now billed to me at 111.85 Euro (administrative charges) I don't know how to resolve ...

Just seen Watchdog BBC1. How is this company allowed operate in the UK?. Advice was not to pay them. Why is this company not shut down????

Illegally sourcing data

I do not live in the UK, and EPC have illegally sourced my personal data from a non-UK car registration authority. There is no legal basis for them requesting the registered owner of a car outside the UK unless there is a reciprocal agreement. But all these were lost with Brexit.

So, they resort to breaking the law.

Then, when I ask them about this, they simply delete all of the appeals I have made, and when I make a data access request, as is my right under UK Data Protection legislation, they simply ignore the request.

So they are acting illegally on at least two counts.

We hired a car on the Algarve in September 2019. On returning it to Tavira, we missed the rural exit which obliged us to use the toll road until the next. I offered to leave some cash with the hire company to pay the toll on my behalf, but, they said they were unable to accept it.

On explaining what had happened, they doubted that such a small amount would be pursued in any case. Step forward EPC plc four years, three months and one week later to demand £16.59.

Sadly, companies such as this are what the world has now become.

Issued a toll notice of £48 on a €3 toll, against my dead fathers car, for time he would likely have been too ill drive.

Contact us on their website just runs in a loop, from the FAQ page to a login on the site, rather than actually allow you to contact them.

Never answer the phone, either, and only open when you would be working.

This sort of thing should criminal.

Sadly I must be the sucker, because I just paid to avoid the hassle. Late stage capitalism.

In 2018, from October 14 to 17, I rented a Fiat 500 from Centauro in Faro, Portugal. The rental agreement included all fees including road tolls. I still have this contract. In October 2022, I received a request from EPCpic to pay a penalty for the lack of tolls during the lease period. I sent a car rental document containing the toll to EPCpic and appealed against the fine. Unfortunately, EPCpic did not accept my complaint and did not cancel the fine. Such action calls into question the honest operation of such a company and faith in ordinary human justice. . In my opinion, this is just plain theft. And unfortunately, after this incident, I will always have bad associations with Portugal.

Still awaiting final outcome.
So these Portuguese Toll that everyone has been getting. I have lodged 6 complaints so far with EPC and each time they contact the hire company and have given a series of lies.
Some car hire organisations like Autorocha and Sixt have been dealing with their customers correctly and have either arranged to have incorrect surcharges refunded or actually repaid them themselves - well done to both and thank you.
Other outfits like Visacar are not playing fair - do not use Visacar !!!!!
I have sent EPC emails from both Autorocha and Sixt who have acknowledged the problem and EPC have agreed to investigate further.
I have also asked EPC what they intend to do when they finally acknowledge that many of these fines and charges are erroneous and our details have been shared illegally .......... watch this space.

Received a 'Penalty Charge Notice' from this company suggesting I had unpaid tolls from 2019. The toll charges were allegedly c7 euros - the admin fees pushed the total fine up to 97 euros! Highly unlikely as always ensure set up with car hire company to pay these automatically and never had any issues before. Helpful other review on Trustpilot advised checking with this website 'pagamentodeportagens' which can look at whether there are outstanding fines in the system. Did that and surprise surprise - no outstanding fines. Advise anyone else do the same and ignore these scammers.