Dartford Crossing (Dart Charge)

How much is the Dart Charge for each vehicle?

Which Dart Charge class is my vehicle in?

How do I pay the Dart Charge, and what is the deadline?

• Pay in advance or by midnight the day after crossing. If you pay for a future crossing, your payment is valid for 12 months and is used automatically when you next cross.
• Online at GOV.UK (one-off), pay-as-you-go account, pre-pay account (auto top-up, up to 20% discount), cash at Payzone stores, by post, by phone 0300 300 0120 (8am to 8pm every day). Free-flow: no barriers or booths; cameras read the number plate.

Open the operator payment page

Which way of paying the Dart Charge suits how often I cross?

1. 1Start the Dart Charge service on GOV.UK and choose to pay without an account.
2. 2Enter the number plate of the vehicle that crossed and check the class the service shows against the table above.
3. 3Choose the crossings you are paying for: ones already made, up to midnight the day after, or future ones, which stay valid for 12 months.
4. 4Pay by card and keep the payment reference. It is your evidence if a penalty notice ever arrives for a crossing you paid.

Is a Dart Charge pre-pay account worth it for a van or a daily commute?

What is the Dart Charge fine if I forget to pay?

What happens after a Dart Charge penalty notice arrives?

1. 1The vehicle crosses between 6am and 10pm and nobody pays by midnight the next day.
2. 2A PCN is issued and posted to the registered keeper. It counts as served on the second working day after its issue date.
3. 3Within 14 days of service: pay £35 plus the crossing charge, or make a representation.
4. 4Within 28 days of service: pay £70 plus the crossing charge, or challenge it online or on the tear-off slip sent to Dart Charge Enforcement, PO Box 842, Leeds LS1 9QF. Challenges are not taken by phone.
5. 5If Dart Charge rejects the challenge it sends a Notice of Rejection, which the Traffic Penalty Tribunal says can take up to 56 days. From then you have 28 days to pay the full £70 or appeal to the Tribunal.
6. 6If nothing is paid or challenged in time, a charge certificate raises the penalty to £105, due within 14 days of its own date of service.
7. 7After that Dart Charge can register the debt at the County Court, which adds a further charge, obtain a court order, which is not a County Court Judgment, and pass it to enforcement agents who can take control of your vehicle or goods.

On what grounds can I challenge a Dart Charge PCN?

• You were not the registered keeper: the name and address of the keeper at the time, and proof of sale if you had sold the car.
• The vehicle was used without your consent: a police crime reference number if it was stolen. Lending it to a friend or leaving it with a garage does not count.
• It was on hire: a copy of the hire agreement and the statement of liability the hirer signed accepting road charges.
• You paid on time: the receipt or payment reference, and if you cross often, the details of the crossing in question.
• No charge was payable: the V5C showing the class, or for an emergency service or military vehicle a letter from an appropriate officer.
• The penalty was more than the scheme allows: what you were charged and what should have applied.
• Procedural impropriety: evidence that Dart Charge broke the rules, such as a notice missing required information or no reply, or a late one, to your challenge.

Can I get a Dart Charge discount?

• Pre-pay account: cars £2.80 instead of £3.50, 2-axle £3.60 instead of £4.20, vehicles with more than 2 axles £7.20 instead of £8.40 (up to 20% off).
• Local Resident Discount Scheme for council tax payers in Dartford Borough or Thurrock: £25 a year unlimited crossings, or £12.50 a year for 50 crossings plus £6.25 per extra 25 crossings, never more than £25 in a year; residency re-verified every 2 years with V5C and two proofs of address; apply via GOV.UK not the councils.

How do I join the Dartford and Thurrock local resident discount?

1. 1Check which council you pay council tax to: only Dartford and Thurrock qualify.
2. 2Apply online through the Dart Charge service, or post the Local Resident Discount Scheme form to Dart Charge, PO Box 309, Leeds LS11 1HJ.
3. 3Choose the £25 unlimited plan or the £12.50 plan for 50 one-way crossings, and pay the fee.
4. 4Send a copy of the V5C and two proofs of address: a bank or credit card statement, or a gas, electricity or water bill, from the last 3 months; your latest council tax bill; a Universal Credit, tenancy or housing association document; or a photocard driving licence. Send copies, because nothing is returned.
5. 5Keep paying the normal charge until the account confirms you are on the scheme. A postal application needs 10 working days.
6. 6Send fresh proof when asked every 2 years. If the number plate changes, update the account and send the new V5C within 6 weeks, or the discount stops.

Who is exempt from the Dart Charge?

• Motorcycles, mopeds and quad bikes (Class A) are free.
• Vehicles with free UK vehicle tax because of disability (disabled taxation class), checked automatically.
• No charge for any vehicle between 10pm and 6am.

Does a blue badge get you across Dartford free?

When did Dart Charge replace the Dartford toll booths?

Why is the Dartford Crossing still charged?

When did the Dartford tunnels and the QEII Bridge open?

When does the QEII Bridge close for wind, and where does the traffic go?

Is there a way across the Thames that avoids the Dart Charge?

What mistakes lead to Dart Charge penalties?

• Expecting to pay at the crossing: there has been nowhere to pay on site since the booths went in November 2014. Pay online, by phone, in cash at a Payzone shop or by post.
• Trusting an empty account: the Dart Charge terms say an account does not stop a PCN when the balance cannot cover a crossing, and an account that cannot pay is suspended.
• Thinking the deadline is a few days: it is midnight the day after crossing, so a Sunday afternoon trip must be paid by midnight on Monday.
• Assuming a caravan moves you up a class: a car with any trailer is still Class B at £3.50.
• Forgetting the new car: accounts work by number plate, so add a replacement or courtesy car before it crosses. Resident scheme members must also send the new V5C within 6 weeks.
• Treating a round trip as one crossing: each direction is charged, northbound through the tunnels and southbound over the bridge.

Common questions

Can I pay the Dart Charge two days after crossing?

The deadline is midnight the day after you cross, so a crossing at 3pm on a Tuesday has to be paid by midnight on Wednesday. Miss it and GOV.UK warns that a fine may follow: a Penalty Charge Notice posted to the registered keeper, with a £70 penalty on top of the £3.50 car charge, reduced to £35 if paid within 14 days of service. The notice shows whether it is the vehicle's first unpaid crossing; the specimen notice National Highways publishes cancels the penalty in that case if the charge alone is paid within 14 days.

Is the Dartford Crossing free at night and on bank holidays?

Every vehicle crosses free between 10pm and 6am, with nothing to register or pay. Between 6am and 10pm the charge applies on every day of the year, and GOV.UK says that includes weekends and bank holidays, so Christmas Day and Easter Monday are charged like any other day within those hours. Bear in mind that planned maintenance also happens in the free period, usually between 10pm and 6am, so a late crossing can mean a closed tunnel or bridge and a signed diversion.

Do I pay the Dart Charge going both ways?

Yes. Each crossing is a separate charge, so a car that goes south over the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge and comes back north through the tunnels on the same day pays £3.50 twice, or £2.80 twice on a pre-pay account. There is no return ticket and no daily cap. You can pay for both at once, and a payment made in advance for a crossing you have not made yet stays valid for 12 months and is used automatically the next time the vehicle crosses.

Can I put more than one vehicle on a Dart Charge account?

Yes. The postal pre-pay form takes your first vehicle and up to 3 more, and every vehicle on a pre-pay account pays the pre-pay rate from the shared balance, so a car and a two-axle van pay £2.80 and £3.60 per crossing. On the local resident scheme only one vehicle per person gets the resident plan, and any other vehicle on the same account is charged at the pre-pay rate. Set the auto top-up level with a busy week in mind, because the account must hold at least £5.60.

Who pays the Dart Charge on a hire car?

Ideally the driver, before midnight the day after crossing. A one-off payment only needs the number plate, so you can pay for a hire car without opening an account. If nobody pays, the PCN goes to the hire company as the registered keeper. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal says the company can pass liability to the hirer only under a qualifying hire agreement in which the hirer accepted responsibility for penalty charges, and it has to provide the hirer's name, address and a copy of the agreement.

Do foreign-registered vehicles have to pay the Dart Charge?

GOV.UK's rule is about the crossing, not the plate: you must pay if you use the Dartford Crossing between 6am and 10pm, and the only groups it lists as not paying are motorcycles, mopeds and quad bikes and vehicles with free UK vehicle tax because of a disability. The account application forms ask for the country of registration of any vehicle that is not UK registered, so a visitor can open a pre-pay account or make a one-off payment in the same way as a UK driver.

Why did I get a Dart Charge PCN when I have an account?

Usually because of money or number plates. The Dart Charge terms say an account does not prevent a PCN if the balance is too low to cover a crossing, and an account that cannot pay is suspended until you top up. A vehicle that is not on the account is not covered either, so a new car or a courtesy car crosses unpaid. Check the crossing history in your online account, and if the payment was taken, challenge on the ground that you paid on time, quoting the payment reference.

How long does a Dart Charge challenge take?

Make the representation within 28 days of the date of service, online or on the slip by post, because phone challenges are not accepted. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal says a Notice of Rejection can take up to 56 days to arrive. Once you have it you get 28 days to pay the full £70 or appeal to the Tribunal. A charge certificate, a court order or an enforcement agent's letter ends your right to make representations to Dart Charge, although an appeal may still be open if you hold a Notice of Rejection.

Related pages

• All UK road tolls and crossings