Media release
16 July 2019

Halton residents urged to renew their merseyflow annual pass to get another twelve months of discounted travel

Over 20,000 Halton residents are being urged to act now to renew their annual merseyflow plans, so they can continue to take advantage of discounted travel across the Mersey Gateway Bridge.

Each eligible resident gets an annual plan, but renewals peak in October, when there are around 26,000 residents whose plans expire. There are a further 20,000 Halton residents whose plans expire on a rolling basis throughout the year.

To ensure everyone has the opportunity to renew their plans in plenty of time, merseyflow is starting the renewal period early, for the Halton residents whose plan expires between now and the end of October.

That means eligible Halton residents whose plan expires in October can renew now and beat any last-minute rush.

Since it opened in October 2017 the Mersey Gateway Bridge has meant drivers from across the country have benefited from two million quicker, easier and more reliable journeys every month.

Over 99% of Halton residents benefit from Halton Resident scheme set up by Halton Borough Council, where they can pay just £10 for a year and then make as many personal journeys across the river as they like for no further cost.

The local resident scheme is funded annually by Halton Borough Council, which has invested its share of the savings made during the procurement phase of the project to maximize the discount package for eligible local residents.

The merseyflow team is contacting all Halton residents whose plan expires before the end of October to encourage them to renew in plenty of time to ensure they continue to get discounted travel.

Any Halton resident whose Halton Resident plan is due to expire before the end of October can renew online at www.merseyflow.co.uk now, following merseyflow’s simple five-step renewal guide.

  • Step 1 – scan or take photographs of your valid driving licence, current council tax bill and V5C vehicle registration certificate ready to upload
  • Step 2 – log into your merseyflow account at www.merseyflow.co.uk and click ‘renew my plan’
  • Step 3 – pay your £10 annual fee
  • Step 4 – upload your documents
  • Step 5 – you will receive an email confirming your payment has been received. Merseyflow will then be in touch within the following five days to confirm the documents are all valid and have been accepted, or to tell people there is an issue with one or more of the documents that need validating.

All renewals will take effect from the expiry date of the existing pass, so no-one will lose out by renewing early.

It is also possible for people to renew in person at Merseyflow’s walk-in centre in Runcorn if they don’t have access to the internet.

However, they renew, eligible Halton residents will need to provide three current documents to confirm they still qualify for the Halton resident discount. These are:

  1. 2019/20 Halton Borough Council tax bill showing their home is in property bands A-F
  2. A full valid UK driving licence showing their Halton address (Please check the expiry date on the licence)
  3. Their vehicle’s V5C certificate showing their name and Halton address.

The documents need to be up to date to be accepted – so merseyflow is asking customers to check they provide the right documents to make the whole process as simple and easy as possible.

The Halton Resident scheme is only open to eligible Halton residents who drive cars and small vans for personal use. A range of other discount packages are available for people who live outside Halton or who live in the borough but don’t qualify.

Neil Conway, Managing Director of merseyflow, said: “If you renew now your new 12-month plan will run from your current plan’s expiry date, so it makes sense for people to renew early and get their documents approved. The early renewal scheme worked really well last year and the process is very easy and very similar so a lot of Halton residents will be very familiar with it.”

Mike Bennett, Managing Director of the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board, said: “We want everyone who qualifies for discounted trips to make sure they re-apply in good time. We need to see up to date documents every year just to make sure that people continue to qualify, but everyone who renewed their plan last year will find the process is very familiar and straightforward.”

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