A family from Essex attending a funeral in Kent were among those caught up in Dart Charge account issues linked to a change in operator last year. Data obtained via a Freedom of Information request revealed an increase in crossing payments not made on time since the switchover last July, resulting in more than two million people receiving fines. Many of those who contacted the BBC after receiving a penalty did have a pre-paid account but found a payment for their journeys had not been made. National Highways stated that over 94.6% of journeys using the Dartford Crossing are paid correctly and on time.
Stuart Randall, from Wickford in Essex, received seven fines totalling £332.50 in January 2024, related to August and September 2023, during a very difficult period for the family when his wife’s parents both died. Mr Randall appealed the fines in February but received a rejection response in April via recorded delivery, stating that his hire company opted to settle the penalty charges in full. National Highways confirmed his account was revalidated, but his bank rejected a later payment, leading to his account becoming dormant. As a result, fines were issued and deducted from his salary.
Sarah Lawrence of Great Baddow found herself with a collection of 58 penalty charge notices (PCNs) totalling £2,030 after her son made a “keying error” when he created his Dart Charge account in 2023, entering the wrong license plate number. The PCNs had not been issued until more than four months after the first crossing, resulting in them not realizing the mistake and failing to rectify it. National Highways stated that there are reasons why a number plate may not match existing DVLA records, including newly registered vehicles, non-UK plates or wrongly inputted details. It added that in such cases, “the option to ‘self-declare’ is presented, followed by a further prompt to double check vehicle details have been entered correctly.”
Craig Nairn, from Colchester received court papers relating to a penalty despite an email from Dart Charge confirming the fine had been dropped. In March 2024, he had received a crossing charge for a vehicle he never owned and was advised by Dart Charge to ignore it. However, a month later, he received a £70 fine. On calling Dart Charge, he was told to prove he did not own the vehicle, and that the information had come from the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). National Highways said that it can only obtain registered keeper details from DVLA as part of the enforcement process when a crossing hasn’t been paid for.
In 2021, National Highways awarded two new operating contracts for the Dartford Crossing, live from July 2023. Conduent Public Sector UK Limited won a £150m contract for running the charging system and a contract worth £120m was awarded to Emovis Operations Leeds Limited for enforcement, including issuing fines and collecting debt. National Highways said Dart Charge account holders were sent emails asking them to update their details before the switchover date. However, the BBC previously revealed that only 770,000 out of 1.7 million users had done so
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