French télépéage system

[ChasB]

Can I ask for advise please on the French telepeage system. Normally when I travel on French motorways I pay with cash or credit card at the toll booths; but now after a medical condition I am going to find it difficult getting out from the RH drive cab and running round to the pay machine.

Questions:-

Can I purchase in the UK, a transponder (or tag) for the telepeage system?

What is the cost, i.e. is the a monthly or annual charge?

Can a UK credit card be linked to the tag?

What are your experiences with the French telepeage system tag?

All your help would be much appreciated.

[Den]

Yes you can purchase the tag on line. 
works superb 

[Den]

Telepeage Tags for Vehicles - Emovis Tag UK
 

[TeamRienza]

I use bip and go as you can opt to have Spain, Portugal and Italy added to your account.

there is an upfront cost of €20 for the tag, which is refundable on closure of your account.

There are no running costs as such, but you do get charged approx €1.70 each month you actually use the tag on a motorway. Plus of course the actual toll charge of your specific journey.

A useful feature is that some lanes on motorways have a 30kph approach without having to stop, otherwise you simply drive up to the barrier and your tag registers your passage and the barrier lifts.

Broadly speaking if your vehicle is under 3 metres high you will be registered as class 2. Technically if you are over 3500kg, or a tag axle you might find they allocate a much more expensive class.

my van is 3850kg, 2.9m high and gets treated as class 2.

When traveling in France and Spain I use a Starling bank current account. It has 2 sections, one in Sterling and one in euros. This means I am billed in euros which is deducted from the euro account in which I hold a stock of Euros. The benefit is that I am not ripped off by my main uk bank for exchange charges and mediocre rates. The other advantage is that it is easy to supply an IBAN number when opening the account. I have read of people having issues with some UK banks and some tag companies because they cannot link their account to the toll company by IBAN, there is another term used which escapes my memory at present. If I recall it I will add to my post.

By the way, Starling Bank is my first choice when abroad for payments on fuel, food and all. You can preload the euro account when rates are good and that is locked into your account ready for use. Their exchange rate is almost perfect and they only charge 40p for each £100 transfer from the Sterling account to the Euro account.

Davy

UPDATE.  The term I was looking for with regard to international banking was SEPA. Starling complies with this requirement.

[ChasB]

Thank you for your replies. I was about to ask another question. I understand that I can get a French telepeage system tag from various company's. But which company is best; i.e. re monthly charges and yearly costs. I feel sure that these questions are also on others minds so your help to your experiences would be appreciated.

[rooster63]

I go along with TeamRienza and used BipnGo when in Spain and Portugal, worked perfectly. The beauty of Bipngo is that after the initial set up charge is that you only get charged for the months you actually use it, whereas Emovis I think have an annual fee. Like above poster I have a Starling bank account, I bank with Nationwide but although they can provide an IBAN Bipngo wouldn’t let me link the accounts, not compatible. My wife really appreciated not having to contort herself out the van window to reach the toll machines.

[rooster63]

Just looked at Emovis site and where they differ from Bipngo is that Emovis have an annual charge of 8€ and 5€ a month but will only charge for any 2 months, so a max of 10€. So 2 months use would be 18€ pa with Emovis but only 3.4€  with Bipngo, but if you went abroad frequently Bipngo do have a subscription plan

[ChasB]

Thanks for your replies I have open a Starling Bank account and my new Bip&Go account is linked. Just waiting for the post!

[GandJP]

Personally we use the Emovis Tag and what ever the cost its the best thing we could have fitted. The stress put on my wife to use the toll booths when it  rejected our payment card (and sometimes cash) was huge and now we just drive through effortlessly! The tolls are just part of the expence of traveling in France and for us is now a non event. I am not a wealthy man but this is an area where saving a few euros is really just not worth the effort and even if the Emovis system is a bit more expensive who cares, not us, it works perfectly and theirs is a bill we are very happy to pay and I can only highly recomend. 

[TeamRienza]

This morning, I got a notification from Starling of an upcoming payment demand for my Bipandgo usage on our recent French trip. We don’t use the toll motorways much, but do make a point of using one at least once per holiday, just to check it is in order.

i feel that the refundable €20 for the tag is a worthwhile investment simply to have the option of easy use of tolled motorways available.

The bipandgo app is simple and straightforward. Be aware that it can be a few days before a trip shows up on it, and like credit cards, it can be a while before you start to get monthly invoices when appropriate as the billing period may not be a calendar month. My date seems to be 6th of month with payment 17th. 

Davy