Dartford Crossing Dart Charge: National Highways apologises

National Highways has released a statement after countless Dartford Crossing users slammed the Dart Charge website as they faced issues paying their fees.

Dartford Crossing users have had numerous issues from difficulties re-validating their cards to being stuck in a “blue circle of death” when trying to pay the fee.

National Highways has recognised the “unforeseen issues” that have affected the Dart Charge service and apologised for disruption to customers.

It says it is committed to “addressing these issues” as soon as it can.

According to National Highways, from yesterday (August 16), recent crossings will have begun to appear on people’s accounts and auto payments would have begun to be taken.

Customers are being reassured that the crossing information has been captured and accounts will be fully up to day by August 31.

For any journeys on the Dartford Crossing made between July 27 and August 14 that have not yet been paid for, National Highways is giving people a final opportunity to pay at the Road User Crossing rate for a period of 14 days.

In the full statement, a National Highways spokesperson said: “We recently announced updates to the Dart Charge service.

“Whilst the new service is now live, we recognise that there have been some unforeseen issues that have affected the level of service provided.

“We sincerely apologise for any disruptions customers may have encountered and want customers to be assured that they are committed to addressing these issues as quickly as possible. 

“From 16 August recent crossings will begin to appear on accounts and auto payments will begin to be taken but this may take some time as the system catches up.

“We would like to reassure customers that we have captured crossing information and your account will be fully up to date by 31 August 2023.

“We would like to remind their account holders who have not done so yet, to re-validate their payment card information to ensure uninterrupted access to the Dart Charge service.

“The easiest way to do this is to log into your account online.                             

“For any crossings made between 27 July and 14 August but not paid for, there will be a final opportunity to pay at the Road User Crossing rate for a period of 14 days.

“This will be explained in a letter to the registered keeper, attached to the PCN, where they will offer an opportunity to only pay the standard road user charge.

“The aim is to provide a fair and reasonable resolution for any inadvertent delays that might occur during this transition phase.”