M6 Toll fees 2026
All the fees attached to using the M6 Toll in 2026. The standard barrier fee is the one you see advertised, but Breeze accounts, business accounts and the penalty regime have their own moving parts. None are hidden, but they are scattered across the operator's site.
£11.60 standard car fee at the barrier. £9.80 on a Breeze account. £70 penalty fee if you drive through and do not settle within the grace window. Everything else is a derivative of one of these three.
The standard barrier fee
What gets debited from your contactless card or chip-and-PIN transaction at the toll plaza. There are two plazas: southbound between T3 (Lichfield south) and T4 (Lichfield north), and northbound between T6 (Norton Canes) and T7 (Churchbridge).
| Vehicle | Full route fee (3 zones) | Per zone average |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 Motorbike | £5.70 | £1.90 |
| Class 2 Car | £11.60 | £3.87 |
| Class 3 Car with trailer / large van | £16.50 | £5.50 |
| Class 4 HGV / coach | £19.50 | £6.50 |
| Class 5 Large HGV | £20.20 | £6.73 |
The "per zone average" column is not a published rate. It is the full-route fee divided by three, useful only for spotting how big the savings get on partial journeys.
Breeze account discount fees
Breeze account holders see a different fee on every transaction: the discounted ANPR rate. The discount varies by vehicle class and by zone count. The biggest single discount is on a one-zone car trip, where £6.70 becomes £4.00 (a 40% reduction).
| Trip | Standard fee | Breeze fee | Discount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Car, 1 zone | £6.70 | £4.00 | 40% |
| Car, 2 zones | £9.10 | £8.00 | 12% |
| Car, full route | £11.60 | £9.80 | 16% |
| Motorbike, full route | £5.70 | £4.80 | 16% |
| HGV, full route | £19.50 | £16.90 | 13% |
For the per-class break-even on whether Breeze pays back its top-up commitment, see the Breeze discount page.
Account fees that do not exist
Worth listing the things people often assume cost money but do not.
£0 to open a Breeze or Lite account
Account setup is free. Breeze requires an opening top-up (currently £20 minimum) which sits as your pre-paid balance and is refundable on closure.
£0 monthly account fee
Neither Breeze nor Lite charges a monthly maintenance fee. Lite is post-pay, so your linked card is only debited when you travel.
£0 cancellation fee
You can close either account at any time and a Breeze balance is refunded to your linked card within a few working days. No exit fee, no minimum term.
£0 VAT receipt fee
Receipts are free. Breeze users get them in the portal automatically. Pay-as-you-go users can request one via the operator's online receipt request page.
The penalty fee
The penalty regime is what trips up first-time users who drive through without paying, perhaps because they thought cash was still accepted (it was abolished in May 2024). The mechanics matter, because settling the original toll quickly is much cheaper than waiting for a PCN.
1. Pay the toll online
Use the operator's online payment portal within the grace window after travel. Cost: just the original toll (£11.60 for a car), no penalty.
2. Reduced PCN
If a PCN arrives and you pay within 14 days, the penalty is typically reduced to £35. Cost: £35 plus you have used the road.
3. Full PCN
If you wait beyond the 14-day window, £70 is due. Cost: £70 plus the original toll if it has not been paid.
4. Debt-recovery
If unpaid and unappealed, the matter escalates to a third-party debt collector with additional collection fees on top. Always worth dealing with the PCN before this stage.
See missed toll payment for the step-by-step recovery process, or penalties for the full appeals route.
Business fees, fuel card surcharges and edge cases
A few minor fee paths only some users will see.
Fuel-card handling fees
Allstar, Shell, BP, Esso and other fuel cards accept tolls as authorised non-fuel transactions. Some providers add a small handling fee (typically pence per transaction) to non-fuel purchases. Check your fuel-card contract.
Foreign card surcharges
The operator accepts international contactless cards, but your card issuer may add a foreign-currency conversion fee or a non-sterling transaction fee. Not the operator's fee, but worth knowing.
Abnormal-load fees
Special-category vehicles (escort cars, oversize loads, agricultural movements) attract bespoke fees set on application. Typical range: £39 to several hundred pounds per movement.
Account-blocked retry
If a Breeze top-up payment fails (insufficient funds, expired card) the operator may suspend ANPR processing on subsequent journeys, causing them to fall through to PCN. Keep payment details current.