Drivers in England 'told not to pay' but still slapped with £2,230 fine

Dartford Crossing motorists are being told by charge firm not to pay, but still fined £2,230. Writing out to the Guardian newspaper, the motorist fumed to the newspaper's consumer affairs section, saying despite being told there was "no crossing to be paid", they were slapped with 23 penalty notices.

The motorist fumed: "In November I had to start using my boss’s car for work. After making my first journey across the Dartford crossing on the M25, I tried to pay the Dart charge. I typed in the car’s details but the website clearly stated there was “no crossing to be paid”.

"I presumed that this meant my boss had the car on his own Dart account. As a result, I did not add it to my own account. Skip forward three months, and the penalty charge notices (PCNs) started to land. I now have 23, issued between November 2023 and February 2024, at a total cost of £2,230. I have appealed but each one has been refused.

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"Had they sent me the first PCN within a week or two, I would have accepted that it was my mistake and paid the charges. I don’t mind paying the first week or two’s worth, but I object to the rest, and appear to be paying for its administrative failings. I have since heard of other people that are going through the same battle. Can you help?"

It comes after Fleet New revealed FOI (freedom of information) figures which show the number of PCNs issued for non-payment had increased by 50 per cent. National Highways told the newspaper: "We apologise for the inconvenience, and have reviewed our process so this doesn’t happen to other customers in the future."

In reply to the story, a reader fumed: "Government outsources charges for unavoidable aspects of everyday life to licensed bandits then acts surprised when important and progressive steps like congestion charging meet public opposition."

"It is especially annoying that, under the original agreement when the crossing was built, the toll was supposed to stop once it had paid for itself; it was announced in February, 1999 that the crossing would be free of toll charges by the end of 2003. Instead, of course, it has become a means of raising annual revenues of somewhere around £70 million," a second said.