i was over in the UK with my German van in December and had to use the Dartford Crossing twice…

now despite there being next to zero info on the approach as to how to pay, we did try paying online, but it wouldn’t accept a foreign plate. having read about the number of cars foreign cars that haven’t paid over the years i thought “sod them… i’ll chance it”.

now yesterday i received a letter with three sheets of paper… a cover letter and two sides with photographic evidence of us using the crossing. i had a bit of a shock when i looked at the amount they want…. 101.57€ per crossing!

i was somewhat relieved to read on the cover letter that (roughly tarnslated) “you may not be aware of the Dart CHarge System. Therefore, if you pay within 14 days the chartge will be reduced to 4,17€. If you pay after 14 days the Fine of 97,40€ will have to be paid”.

so, fir enough… i pay now and it’ll only cost me 4,17€ per crossing….

however, i look at the pages with the photos and it says “if you pay within 14 days the fine of 70GBP will be reduced to 35GBP.”

obviously there is no one there right now to phone….

i do remember reading somewhere that the fine doesn’t need to be paid as it comes under civil and not law… or something like that.

the paperwork has the Dart Charge logo nd Dept. for Transport logo… but the comapny asking for the fine is Euro Parking Collection PLC (ironic, as we didn’t stop)…

anyone had any dealing with the Dart Charge fine?

[url=https://flic.kr/p/DebaXw]DSC_0061[/url] by sod_the_taxman, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/DCYjGG]DSC_0062[1][/url] by sod_the_taxman, on Flickr

I had hundreds of pounds worth of fines to deal with at work when our account ran out of funds. I found them really helpful on the phone and only had the crossing charges to pay for every occurrence. I didn’t have to ask for the fines to be overturned either, it just seems they ask for the crossing fair first. The paperwork looked like they wanted big money for each contravention though!

I’m now waiting nervously for a letter in the post having crossed twice in August in a Spanish plated van 😯

i was sent a similar letter, there was an automated phone payment system where I swiftly paid only the toll fee and not the penalty.

Alpin, we had one sent to us at home in Germany. We ignored it, did nothing, didn’t contact anyone. We’re still here.

Strange as I paid for the crossing online but it flagged up we hadn’t paid for one of those crossings.

Since we were fined and the letter being sent I have been across many times before the letter arrived.

You can pay per crossing or set up an account for a vehicle wither an plates. It’s easy and not much per crossing… But don’t worry about that fine.

Rickmeister….. Are you saying just ignore it and don’t bother paying anything….?

We didn’t pay anything at the time of crossing.

I’m happy to pay the 4.17€ but am reluctant to cough up over 100€….!

Call them. We are registered, but the auto top-up didn’t work correctly, and we received a penalty charge. All sorted on the phone with no fuss.

I’ve received a similar letter in the UK after forgetting to pay for a pair of crossings. I paid just the crossing amount due, with no penalty. Like others, no fuss.