Dartford Crossing Charges

[DRD]

Expletives cannot express my rage at this.

Living in Nottinghamshire, I have nothing to do with the London congestion charge. I don't drive there, but thought that at some times of the day it was free

This year I have had the misfortune of crossing the Dartford bridge on two return journeys. In October I received a penalty notice for a journey across the Dartford Crossing in September, demanding £2.50 or I would face increasing fines of £35 and then £70

So I logged in and paid it. This was all the website stated I owed at that time

I get back from holiday today to find two more penalty notices relating to a return trip made in June. When I log into the system, there are actually three outstanding penalty notices now totalling £140 (return journey in June and the other leg of my September trip), giving a new demand of £147.50. Naturally this was the first time i had been asked for any money

So beware if you are not from the area and are crossing this sodding toll bridge.

I am now advised that i must write in to try to get this sorted

 

[johnwhitfield]

C charge is free after 18:30 (maybe 18:00) and at weekends. Loads of people still don't realise that you can drive on the white C roads but not on the ones with the red signs

Not trying to wind you up but doesn't the Dartford Crossing have big signs up warning that it's a toll bridge? I'm guessing registering on their site triggers some kind of number plate search for previous crossings.

Going to the Pinball party in the summer made me realise how bloody expensive the bridge into Wales was . Also what happens if you get to the other side and don't have any money on you? the one out of Cornwall also is a pain to remember to take cash for

 

[mark9]

Didn't think the Dartford Crossing had anything to do with the congestion charge? There was always a toll charge, only last year they removed the pay stations to speed up the flow.

I was warned last year by my mother-in-law about the new system just before I used it. Must admit it would have been a PITA if she hadn't as I think you only get one week to pay the charge, not ideal when on the first day of a two week holiday abroad.

 

[DRD]

The dart charge has a red c logo, like the congestion charge. The first one i paid, when i was asked for money was a weekday leg. I just assumed i would get a bill for any amounts i owed. Or at least when i first logged on to pay my £2.50 the internet based system have told me about any unpaid amounts i owed on earlier journeys. And as i travelled at the weekend i assumed i was probably not facing any charges anyway

I received nil correspondence about the other three legs until the fines this week. I only actually received penalty notices for two legs, even though the internet system had three unpaid penalties on it

My penalty for the september crossing is higher than for the june ones, which makes no sense either

I will appeal it as the cost of doing so is low. When you are a country bumpkin who only uses the damed bridge to get to the channel, and when you don't receive written demands to pay for something, it seems off applying penalties, hopefully this might save the day for me

 

[Wiredworm]

The system isn't very clear in my view. I only knew about it because we have an office in Dover so a few of our guys travel down there pretty regularly.

I believe under the new setup you have to pay either in advance or within 24 hours of using the bridge/tunnel. It's all now done automatically via LPR in a bid to ease congestion, although in my experience it didn't seem to help much.

Ironically I suspect there will be a large slab of revenue they won't be able to collect because it'll be people with foreign plates arriving into the UK via Dover.

 

[Spandangler]

I don't often travel that way but I set up an account with £10 in it. It costs £1.50 a crossing I think (cheaper than before) and when my account drops below £10 it auto tops up another £10.
Never have to worry about it again.

 

[mark9]

I don't often travel that way but I set up an account with £10 in it. It costs £1.50 a crossing I think (cheaper than before) and when my account drops below £10 it auto tops up another £10.
Never have to worry about it again.

Same here. I'm always going to be at least a tenner down, maybe I should charge them interest

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

I don't often travel that way but I set up an account with £10 in it. It costs £1.50 a crossing I think (cheaper than before) and when my account drops below £10 it auto tops up another £10.
Never have to worry about it again.

Ooooh didnt know about that. Will investigate. We use the crossing every few months. To be honest I do think since the removal of the pay booths the signage on approach has been cr*p , I suspect its very easy for anyone unfamiliar to come a cropper with payment. The payment site itself is also a steaming crock which doesn't help.

 

[aaronhicksuk]

Unfortunately as I live only 10 miles away from the crossing and the majority of my customers the other side of the water I have to use the crossing very frequently and have done so for the past 10 years. Believe me when I say that removing the toll booths is the best thing that has ever happened to that stretch of road. Its no exaggeration to say that I have spend hundreds if not thousands of hours waiting in traffic to make the crossing because of the tolls. Whilst still a very busy stretch of road, it actually flows 90% of the time now, previously you'd be lucky if it was 10%. I had a dart tag before and so for the regular user other than the time saved it hasn't made much difference.

I do agree that the signage is crap though and their IT systems are worse. Although I have an account I prefer to top up manually (I top up £200 at a time which lasts a few months depending on how much I'm using it) and there have been issues with the low credit emails not being sent etc. My brothers account run out and he received 2 letters in one envelope, one a warning to pay or face a fine, the second an actual fine. If you call them up I've found the people on the other end to be quite understanding though as they know the system is crap! I believe their main focus is simply collecting the toll money rather than fining motorists although I'll admit that it may now appear that way based on how its being run.

 

[Jay Walker]

Going to the Pinball party in the summer made me realise how bloody expensive the bridge into Wales was . Also what happens if you get to the other side and don't have any money on you? the one out of Cornwall also is a pain to remember to take cash for

One of my cousins drove down from London (when there was just the one bridge) with just a pound, thinking that was still the charge. It had gone up, but she really did just have a pound in cash. The tollbooths on the old bridge were/are on the English side, but they let her cross after signing an undertaking to pay later, plus an admin fee.

 

[carl lawrence]

yep , went on hoilday,this year just out side of Dover ,was looking for the tollbooths but thay had gone!
just thought thay where old pay signs ......... Not !

rang up had a fine for £35 + the crossing fees S##t happens !