Changes to Dartford Crossing Dart Charge payments revealed

Changes to the payment system for journeys across the Dartford Crossing will come into force next month – and drivers will need to take action on their account or risk being issued with PCNs.

A new service provider named Conduent has been appointed for the responsibility of vehicle identification, payment processing and account management.

These changes and new banking requirements mean that Dart Charge account holders will need to re-validate their payment cards from July 28, 2023, including Pay as You Go customers.

National Highways says that it has contacted customers that will be affected and that there will be “easy to follow instructions” when customers log into their accounts.

If no action is taken and the account is not revalidated, crossings will not be automatically paid due to invalid card payment details, which may result in a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) being issued.

National Highways said that “whilst they recognise that this may be an inconvenience to existing customers, their communication campaigns and easy to follow online instructions aim to reduce the impact”.

National Highways says it has “undertaken customer research to ensure customer needs have been incorporated into the new design” and that these changes hope to make it a more accessible service.

Emovis will continue to issue and handle enquiries for Penalty Charge Notices.

Helen Watkinson, Head of Road User Charging, Dart Charge, said: “We are really excited about the changes to Dart Charge.

“We have worked hard to design a customer centric service with the new suppliers, really putting the customer at the heart of our design.

“Whilst there are improvements from day one, we have further exciting improvements in the pipeline to further enhance the service offer and offer customers more flexibility.

“We will announce further changes as they come online. We thank our customers for their feedback which has helped to design the new service and look forward to continuing that customer relationship to further improve the service.

“Customers can leave feedback and comments on the website: https://pay-dartford-crossing-charge.service.gov.uk/Home”