A spokesman said: The first penalty charge notice issued for any vehicle for non-payment of the charge will offer the driver an extra 14 days to pay and pay for any crossings they have made since. How long does it usually take? lick on the underlined words Making a Representation You are not alone and as a whole batch of fines are going out at the moment, you wont be alone. I freekin hate that crossing system. However, a warning to you. then pay it. If so, you should be fine for both trips. Hi Sanef who operate the system should cancel these fines, but if not, the adjudicator should do so. I have used the crossing several times and remembered to pay later that day but forgot one time and remembered 3 days later. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. I will let you know how I get on with the car hire company, although they havent been to helpful so far! Only when the PCNs arrived (yes, two, though a month apart even though the southward/northward journeys were only 8 days apart) did we discover that Dart Charge was a brand name for the toll to cross the Thames. Husband will not be impressed with me getting a fine!! Having now read up on line it seems would shouldnt have been so honest and hasty in paying. Have you forgotten something? plus let us remember the toll/ charged was to repay to original builders as financed 100% by debt, with no equity contribution. We were not offered the 14 day grace period neither was any allowance made for the poor signage and her language difficulties. For more information about the Dart Charge, click here. You must pay it within 28 days. After all they have actually had the 5 for my crossing, even if my fat fingers caused me to mistype the number plate. Thanks for your post pcn and well done on taking your case forward successfully. The person I spoke to said that I can pay at the same price return 5 pounds. One place for strangers to pay would be helpful. Hi Well I doubt youll get the 14-day grace period again, but paying asap might be enough to confuse what sounds like a creaking and groaning penalty system! The chap then advised i had another 7.50 to pay which now clears everything up. Sufficient evidence that the vehicle was in a different location at the time of the fine. Additionally, the signage is extremely poor and seems almost designed to generate fines. If you think you have been fined unfairly, you can submit a dart charge appeal by either filling out the online form [2] or by filling out the form attached to the PCN and posting it to: You will also have the option of including any supporting evidence, for example: Any other evidence can also be submitted to assist the Dart Charge team in understanding your case. Looking at this site we are not alone, doesnt the fact so many people are failing to pay tell the operator something? I paid the Dart Charge online after the midnight dateline but before receiving the penalty notice. They have all our details, and can send out a fine snappy enough. No doubt I will miss a few and then get stung with PCNs! How much did they charge you on the credit card? He lives up in the north and doesnt have an internet connection, just like 30% of the population in the north. Get an extra 14 days to pay:Nearly 3.5million motorists have failed to pay the Dartford Crossing toll since the new system was introduced, however, first-time offenders will be given a 14-day grace period when the charge notice is sent out. The reasons are as follows: No prices, no method of payment, no official guidance. to inform me clearly I need to pay in advance or after, and please, NOTE as here in Italy they hadnt sent the penalty letter for the return journey or the other journey i made in July. Had exactly the same problem phoned and was told it was not possible to pay after midnight on the day after the crossing. And most importantly, dont worry be happy. British citizens are shocked, the foreigners visiting are dismayed by our practice. If you dont pay by midnight the day after the crossing you will face a penalty. Also please consider that the 14 day deadline for should commence on the date of the re-issue, if indeed it has already been issued. I will contact those responsible and clarify this one. I now had to wait 56 days to receive their response. 8. .. so Im delighted and offer to pay. (5) The handout sent through the post says you can pay by phone but doesnt give a phone number so if your computer is down or you dont use one you are stuffed. I have tried to pay toll charges from Saturday 18.07.2015 to be told this morning Monday 20.07.2015 They are not getting a penny more from meit might even be a scam. I doubt there is much you can do legally, but maybe a letter explaining the situation and pointing out the lack of customer service from the employee might help. I totally forgot to pay the charge until I heard an advert on the radio the following Tuesday 28 July. This is my first offence and i paid eventually. Then switch back to manual top-off and again fill out all my new creditcard data to deposit the money. Hi Im hoping you can help. They check the picture and accept the mistake immediately, blame the computer recognition system and say they will take steps to avoid repetition and then a few weeks later another PCN, and another set of costs for me to challenge them. Does anyone have any similar experience of this ? I can not understand how or why I should be liable for this mistake when I paid the amount requested online. I just got a fine for 105 for an offence 2 months a go. Just googled to find this and the new pay system. Now I shall enjoy wasting my night trying to contact an invisible parasite who was so much easier and slave friendly to locate when paying the charge. I do not know if I have paid or not but will go to my local payment point tomorrow and pay in cash as well, then claim my money back from my credit card if they take both the payments. This should be covered under the 14-day grace period for first offences. Hi If the penalty was your first offence you should still be offered the opportunity to pay the original 2.50 (if in a car) charge. I then thought that was done and I have learnt from not paying. Lets just hope the Dart scheme is found to be illegal like the York Lendal Bridge was but of course that just means the Council will have to pay a fortune to refund all the illegally-taken fines, which means the local council-tax payers will have to make up for this idiotic scheme. Hi John did you ever get a PCN ? Any driver hoping to make a note is therefore forced to do so whilst driving, which must surely amount to the commission of a motoring offence (driving without due care and attention). Today my other half recieved a bailiffs notice at our previous address wanting to remove goods as apparently we now owe in excess of 400. Charges apply every day Received a letter today(27 Nov 2015)but have proof of payment from Feb 2015. Surely there must be a limit as there would be for a speeding fine by the police. I didnt noticed that I have to pay for crossing. Have a question about anything related to London, England? This measured approach strikes the right balance between being clear to drivers they need to pay Dart Charge and giving them every opportunity to do so.. I crossed the bridge on 10th August in rented car. I crossed the tunnel on 10th April, and only got a chance to pay online 2.50 now (11th April 2.45am). Signing up will also extend the time you have to pay from midnight the following day to seven days after using the crossing. Sorry to hear that. Find your local Trading Standards office here. I could put in any number plate and pay, even if the vehicle has not crossed. However, when I check online that the payment was credited to that crossing, it does not show the crossing I made and therefore shows I am in credit by 2.50! , but my credit card has been debited. The sanef Operations customer service number is 0300 300 0120. Thanks first of all for your very helpful website! They will not deal with you either by email or phone snail mail is the only communication In this day & age I despair!!!! This whole set up is a total farce and I feel sorry for any visiting tourists who get caught out by this. Hello Yes, there is a 14-day grace period when you get the penalty notice when you can simply pay the single crossing fee. The people using taxes for military use, to go to war and kill innocent civilians, men, women and children they are the criminals. I paid a couple of days later for a one way, as I forgot coming back off holiday, unpacking etc.. but before the first Warning Letter and Fine arrived both in the same envelope!. I have seen photographs of the sign which seems quite confusing. There is some kind of fraud going on this Dartford crossing. Have a good visit. Local residents put up with enough and should not be put out further by the crossing. my account balance which I was forced to have because DART force you to put a minimum of 10 as soon as there is less than 10 in. Its a f** up system riding on the notion that many people will forget or not know about the charge and they make a tonne of money off of them. Civil servants, such as mps get expenses for everything to do with travel and yet they serve the public? The Xmas opening times will be published above. What do you think, how flexible are they if I still pay today (1 day delay) will i still be issued a penalty charge? Fail to do pay for a second time and the fine will rocket once more. If you dont pay, they send you a Toll Payment Notice, which costs you 5 NZD. I just received the Dart Charge PCN forwarded from the car rental company(with administration fee). How will they collect the fees from foreign drivers. 1) I stopped at the motorway service station near to the crossing, and I was amazed that there was no facility to pay for crossing Why no Pay zone on the M25,close to the crossing ?. Unfortunately, on 11st February I have received but their response will be within 40 and 50 days so I really dont know what to do now. We all should back up if anyone files a case against them. Have I any chance of appealing against this unreasonable charge? I am extremely upset as I thought it was all sorted back in January, I cannot understand how they can fine me this amount 12 months after my crossing. Find out how you can pay the Dart Charge PCN quickly to reduce the cost of the fine as well as contact details for the Dart Charge customer service. I crossed the dart ford crossing On the 24th June 2019 I went to pay the following day in my phone but the page wouldnt fully load I tryed several times to pay the fee that day and the page still wasnt loading the following day i manage to pay online using a pc i also have a receipt for this I have now received a fine for 2 amounts recent one being 102 I dont not find this fair or reasonable as I made several attempts to make the payment the next day before midnight is there anyway I can appeal this. The 14-day grace period doesnt start until yo uget the PCN. I called them up and they said to write to them explaining my circumstances which I did. I havent received any kind of notice through the post yet regarding the fine and it has been 12 days if I get a letter, does anyone know if I will still have to pay the fine, or will I then have 14 days to pay the toll as its a first offence? I also would like to know if this may be a valid complaint to include in a represention, as well as my other issue with the PCN: And that is, I have received the Notice sometime after 17th of Sept., while absent from my address for 9 days. Im also very annoyed with, given all the revenue that this system is making the proprietors of the bridge, why cant an automated email be sent to vehicle owners that are registered with Dart Charge? (Didnt know as nobody showed me what they wrote in the system and I also did not signed any document confirming my address). This system seems crazy. I used the crossing twice for the first time in 2 years yesterday evening, with my pound coins ready. When I asked why would I pay 5.00 for a return trip instead of just 3.00 for a single trip the operator told me that she thought I had just paid them extra!!!!!! Its worth calling dart charge, they answer the phone I have two pieces of paper are un envelope one with pcn dated 24/09/15 with charges but other explains pcn charges but says you can just pay 2.50 within 14days from issue date and all pcn charges will be cancelled. You can't. She did not understand the toll charge system. I find it unbelievable that I have paid for the crossing on 28 July, in respect of which you are issuing a fine for non-payment, but you are holding that money in respect of a crossing I have not made and have no plans to make, and there is no means of getting that money returned to me. See my post above. Two months after the incidents. Its very good of you Pete to put up this blog site, so that people can at least share their experience. Its a French company so all that money being ripped off honest people who are just trying to get from A-B, happy to pay a charge, is going abroad. Hope it helps Barring in mind I had the money ready to pay on the day of the journey . It is not setup and an honest way, more like a cowboy clampers style. I would love to see how much interest that generates and how they get around the book-keeping for such an outrageous practice. You can get a 70 fine if you do not pay the charge. Set an identical reminder for your homebound trip using your home postcode7. 6 weeks later I received a PCN for 72.50 and a warning letter saying that as it was my first offence I could pay the 2.50 charge. I have just received a late payment bill for 38.50 which it seems the hire company has paid from my credit card on my behalf. I think this system is a real scam because it penalize honnest and innocent people. Anyway, I was informed that a PCN will be sent to hire company and then they have to make a representation to DC so they can issue a PCN to meso far so good.but I have found out that hire company incorrectly noted my address from my ID CARD! Doh! Here are the main Dartford Crossing payment methods. You have no alternative to spending time having these charges cancelled, otherwise you could end up with a CCJ that would be hard to clear even though you are not at fault. How to appeal: Challenge the penalty by contacting the issuing authority within 28 days of the notice being served. On the day in question I was at work and my car was in my work car park in Franborough, Hampshire all day! If this is the first time you have forgotten to pay, then you will get a chance to pay within 14 days of a notice being sent to you. How to appeal a penalty Charge Let me know how you get on.Thanks. Hi Thanks for your post. The bridges are situated between Runcorn and Widnes in Cheshire, and span the river Mersey and the Theres just one more week to go until one of the worlds largest electronic music festivals returns to the UK! Just been wheel clamped even though I have an active dart tag account in credit ! Hope youre feeling better now. feedback (7) I just forgot. Hope it helped. Figures show 300,000 drivers failed to do this in one month alone. This is the sort of initiative that makes people feel that authorities are working against them rather than providing them with a service and supporting them. vorrei essere ricontattato per mail I am so angry at myself, I want to pay it online, but it will make no difference now. Are these extenuating circumstances? This will give you plenty of time to pay before you fly. This is 16 months after I crossed the bridge. But on 20 July they posted me penalty charge notice, with no mention of a 14-day period! I have now received 2 x pcn for these crossings !!!! I am not aware there is any such Advance Payment Agreement in place between Dart Charge and in the form of a properly opened account. Thats right, THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND VEHICLES IN ONE MONTH! Another confusing element is the use of Londons Congestion Charge logo- the C in a red circle. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. We should have waited until they fined us so we had an IA number then paid using this number. As we have very often in our country the toll booths are open when the traffic is to dense, which we believed was here the case too. You will then be asked to pay the PCN. Why I need to pay for some one else? Write on the PCN NO CONTRACT and send it back, as soon as you pay you have agreed to contract. The appeal system does not allow for attachments so we cannot attach the receipts. How can this be? We paid both fines and we have receipts. I have cross the bridge couple of times before but paid them in time so this is my first time that I forgot to pay. Your email address will not be published. By removing the direct pay isnt it a way of making more money by charging driver peneltey charges because they know people will forget specially if you are a visitor . If the PCN is not paid, additional fines may be imposed and enforcement action may be taken, such as court summons or vehicle clamping. I crossed the bridge (for the first time ever being in this region) on April 6th driving down to the south of Italy for work. On reading I can see if you dont pay you get a notice, Is there anyway I can find out if I was fined and how long will it be before I get a notice? Removal of toll-booths means that payment is now by means of credit, and most consumer credit is for 30 days. Do you guys have any idea what kind of fine I'm looking at? The time given for payment is way too short and the fines are out of all proportion. 4 days after Christmas I remembered and paid the charge trough the net but I wonder if Ill get a penalty or not. We all share your frustration on this one. How do I contact the Dart Charge Customer Service? Anyone got 2 separate letters for separate crossings on the same day then? I had similar, although I do have an account, I was in a hire car and totally forgot to pay as Im so used to it happening automatically. It is not right that I have to pay more because of mail delay. I paid the 5 anyway and when the PCN arrives will try to appeal it citing that I paid, albeit just after the deadline. Not received any fine notices since crossing 28th march and 13th April but potentially liable to 140 fine despite being ready to pay. The new system puts the onus on drivers to logon, or call a payment line, to settle their bill by midnight the following day or face a fine of up to 105.00 for each crossing. This will be sent to the address your vehicle is registered to. Second you have to pay a fine. hi! In view of this, on Thu 06/08/2015 at 18:21, I paid 5 online, to cover the crossing made on 28 July and in advance of an anticipated crossing on 8 August. This year I paid up for three passages for the two trips I have done this year as you can pay in advance. I was moving home start of Jan and like an idiot I forgot to pay the charge for 3 trips, this was over two weeks ago and I still haven't got a letter. Its worth calling up customer services giving them your number plate and seeing what charges are outstanding. Set a reminder by location on your phone: Have you got an iPhone? I am getting Penalty notices against my car which has a registration ending U when the pictured vehicle clearly ends in L. Each time I get a notice I have to spend my time and money calling to challenge it. Is this a tax on the english again. I have just today received the warning noticea day after my fine which I posted about yest.Ridiculous! Amazingly this certificate related to a contravention on the 3/06/15, had detailed the fact that I hadnt responded to previous letters etc. Do you think now I have paid that I should not expect a fine? I feel like some sort of criminal now. Two months later, they want 105 each way with a court demand with no warning (even though they still took the toll charge when I paid online), I am trying to fight it as I contested it but I feel helpless. As a foreigner who occasionally visits the UK i wasnt even aware of the new toll system until i was coincidentally tipped off right before my next visit. The arbitrary 35 fine is proof of that. Will also be taking a screen shot of this page to give an idea when I paid and when. They also damaged the vehicle. Would be possible pay it now, or I have to pay the penalty? Maybe Ive just been lucky but worth trying! Sorry to hear that. Hoping that I can appeal this. Need more signs as to cost of fee and how to pay. Not giving you the option to pay the normal fare when its your first time? I haven received my PCN yet and i just went on-line and paid 5 as it was a return journey. Editor, Marcus Herbert. crossed last Friday. An incorrect fine is certainly among the grounds for appeal. I was away 1/2 weeks ago, should I pay now or await the letter, saying car not found on system? Enter postcode of the tunnel or your destination where you can pay. Please take a few seconds to take this poll and tell us how youd improve the new charging system.. The fastest way to get in touch with the Dart Charge Customer service is by contacting them via telephone using the details below: From outside the UK: +44 (0) 300 300 0120, Their contact hours are Monday to Sunday, 8am to 10pm (excluding public holidays/bank holidays). Siccome sono una persona onesta, ho preferito pagare, con quei soldi sarei salito volentieri sulla london eye con tutta la famiglia e mia figlia e ho rinunciato perch londra per unitaliano cara, mi scoccia veramente tanto avervi regalato quei soldi per un tunnel, adesso lo so la prossima volta piuttosto di passare per il tunnel spendo il doppio di carburante. According to the chap on the phone the process of escalation is halted when you make a representation so the most Ill have to pay is 250 for both crossings even if its rejected but its a hell of a lot of money for a young family! Yes the chances are you will be as long as it was the first time youve forgotten to pay while driving that particular vehicle. In spite of the fact that I am personally involved in the situation and feel aggrieved, these reasons have been carefully considered and I hope you will find that they are moderate and focused. Although my number plate seemed to have been correctly detected. However, having completed the whole of the online form, the process suddenly ended just as before, as I tried to pay the 10 advance payment. I went to Dover and back in one daylong voluntary work day away on sat of first bank holiday. Go online click on one off trips etc. The lack of transparency on fines and the timing of payment is designed to maximise revenue. Your stock number is shown on the top left of the birth certificate, common stock or preferred asset, either way you will have something they can draw from. Will I be ok? Theres a great feature that will let you specify a location for a reminder to be triggered. We are still being pursued by dart Charge for ever increasing amounts. I remembered to pay at 2 minutes past midnight Aaagh! Maybe you forgot to pay or deliberately didnt pay the toll. Thanks for your help, it wouldn't have occurred to me phone them I'd have just spent the next however many weeks worrying! WebIf you forget to pay on time, youll get a 70 fine, which reduces to 35 if paid within a fortnight although if you fail to pay within 28 days, it goes up to 105. This is the second time Ive gone through it, but I paid on my first journey many months ago . Its three weeks ago now and Im still dealing with it, and I dont expect it to go away any time soon. While on holiday in France, I read that first time users of the crossing were being given 14 days to pay in view of the unsatisfactory arrangements for collecting payments (source http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-30633955): 1. it would be helpful to know exactly where the number plate recognition positions are, as if you are crossing very close to the 6am / 10pm cut-offs you may or may not have to pay and the website doesnt tell you whether any money is due. We will continue to press for a change to the information and signage informing motorists how to pay. What is a Dart penalty charge notice (PCN)? After this I completely forgot about not paying, I have just remembered. The fourteen days allowance for first-time crossings is an improvement, but that should be standard for all crossings. This will result in many tourists being hit by charges through no fault of their own. He called me to ask me to pay, I put his registration in and it was confirmed the make, model and colour of his vehicle. Did not pay on our 1st crossing. I also attempted to use the Pay a penalty charge notice facility on your website but it would not accept any information from me without a PCN number. My memory is rubbish. this is an unfair practice. Worth trying your luck. Yet another part of UK democracy where they will take your money as quickly as they can and with penalty clauses but, give it back? The 14-day grace period is also referenced on the Gov.uk website, so can certainly be taken as official see quote taken from page below. Forgot to pay the Dart charge? I therefore find that the decision to issue PCN was not a properly exercised discretionary power as allowed for by the Regulations, and therefore procedural impropriety has occurred. How can we complain? Hope that helps. Hopefully matter is now closed. I am really frustrated by the fact that I want to pay the crossing charges but am unable to do so either by phone or online as it is after the midnight deadline for both. However, I did not pay in the 14 day period for the bridge crossing as I have been on holiday for 3 and a half weeks. Hi you should be ok on at least one crossing (under the first offence ruling), but you may get a fine for the return. Do you know if they have abandoned that practice? You can then do the same for your home address to cover the homeward trip. The hire car company should have payed the 2.50 and charge you 38 (a steep 36 service charge). 2) Went to the local shop which had a Dart pay zone machine as per the website Not working . As it is I am now apparently liable for a fine of 2 x 105 pounds. Come on England, surely they are other decent ways of collecting money, not an overnight or midnight practice!!! This is never made clear. There is no stopping place near any signs relating to payment, where a driver can safely stop and write down whatever information is given about means of payment. There is very little information around the toll area itself and by putting the onus on the road user to pay, rather than them to collect, they ensure that many people will innocently forget to pay the toll or simply not know. It would be possible for you to provide a dual system where regular users bypass the toll booth, but occasional users pull over and pay. Worth a look. My husband forgot to pay the charge until 2 hrs after the midnight deadline its his first time. This is the cheapest way to pay, with registered cars costing 2 per crossing compared with the new price of 2.50 for those who pay in other ways.Set up a new pre-pay account here Change an existing Dart Tag account. really poor direction to the general public on what to do. Yes, unfortunately the hire companies and leasing companies are also using this money making system to scam you. Glad I stumbled across this, I was very confused with the set up, and thought the sign was to do with congestion charges. No downside to it. Received a response within minutes saying they would reconcile the late payment towards the crossing and cancel the PCN. The registration number of the vehicle that is referred to in the Penalty Charge Notice. Has the charge notice included the offer to pay 2.50 within 14 days? Relieved to read your message! WebSimply pay the charge online at www.gov.uk/dart-charge, over the phone by calling 0300 300 0120or via a Payzone retail outlet such as a Post Office. Read our full guide to Dartford Crossing changes here. Find out what you can do to beat the Dartford fines right here. All to no avail. I have just received a fine notice almost three months since using the crossing. At least one field is required. But I am still waiting for the balance to appear. Of course, should you choose, a further requirement from EPCPLC of Eur 151.73 to pay within 27th February Dear all, Really worrying that they tried to charge you this amount.