I have read about the number of unpaid fees for the Dartford Crossing since the automated system was introduced. My experience may provide one explanation.

I crossed on my way home to France. I couldn’t pay the Dart Charge within the “midnight the day after” deadline because I didn’t have internet access en route.

I was told I could not pay the charge, or the late-payment fine, until I had received a penalty notice. I have written 10 times trying to pay the fine. The response is always that I can only pay against a penalty notice. Which has not been issued. When I escalated it to the Highways Department I was told there is no law saying how long there should be between an offence and a penalty notice being raised. At one point, I was advised to contact Euro Parking Collection, which collects fines from foreign-registered cars.

However, to make contact you need a case number, which you only get when a penalty notice is issued!

It’s like Yes Minister.

MS, Marthon, France

The Dartford Crossing, which spans the Thames between Kent and Essex, is the busiest stretch of road in the UK and one of only two major toll systems to be fully automated.

In 2017 it earned Highways England £207.4m, 45% of that in fines. The figure would have been higher but £42.4m in fines had to be written off as non recoverable.

It’s easy to see why those unfamiliar with the area would struggle to pay. Signs merely invite drivers to pay online without giving a website or phone number. That presupposes that every motorist has ready access to the internet. Since the route is a major link with the Continent that means many travellers, in the midst of lengthy journeys, would need a smartphone to pay before the deadline. There is the option to prepay but you’d have to know in advance that a charge was applicable, which many don’t.

MS’s experience shows the absurdity of the system and it’s a farce I’ve covered before.

Only when I contacted Highways England’s press office did common sense prevail. It says: “We aim to issue all penalty charge notices within a day or so of a contravention. This case was slightly more complicated as he drives a foreign-registered vehicle, but clearly the service he received fell below the standard we expect and we apologise for this.” It has now permitted you to pay the £2.50 crossing fee without the fine.

WB of Matlock, Derbyshire paid his Dart Charge on time while on a ferry to France, but still received a fine. “I was told that I should have paid £3 even though the system only charged me £2.50,” he writes. “I duly paid the extra 50p and was sent an apology assuring me I had paid the correct sum. I then received an email stating my request to cancel the penalty charge had been rejected. I replied and received another apology and assurance that a request had been made for the charge to be cancelled. Next came a ‘charge certificate’ to say that, as no representation had been received, the charge notice was increased to £105 plus a road user charge of £3.”

Again, only when the Observer waded in did Highways England acknowledge it had misclassified WB’s modified Transit van, apologised “unreservedly” and cancelled the PCN.

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