Dartford account - is it just me?

[Roryboys Dad]

Excuse my ignorance but how do I go any further with my application to start an account for the Dartford Crossing payment.

I filled in the form, see below with my details obscured, but can't see anywhere to click to complete the payment scheme.

Is it just me or is there something missing from the page?

Or could you point me in the direction of a thread on this topic?

 

[DABurleigh]

I had similar and had to do it a second time. The web site is creaky. Also if you prefer automatic top-ups, you have to pay them £20 up front, which is steep if you are only an occasional user. Having gone through the Dartford tunnel a couple of days ago, the whole think stinks. Took me 20 minutes and the only thing saved so far is winding the window down and throwing a couple of coins in the hopper. With traffic and/or queuing, the signs are severely lacking, and that's even when I was expecting it. They will make a mint out of the exorbitant penalties.

Check your motorhome class. My reg wasn't recognised, so at least I could enter it as car class, but many are automatically assigned a more expensive class.

There is no email acknowledgement indicating your payment and outstanding balance. There should be an email when you go below £10, but I didn't even get that. Crap system all round.

Dave

 

[wingman]

I would do two things Roryboys......

Firstly. Make sure that you are on the correct site. Know this may sound daft to you, but type the site into the URL box. Beware of some searches that may be a phishing site.

Secondly, just phone them! May be a wait, but they will advise/take details on the phone.

Hop this helps?
James

 

[iandsm]

I registered my motorhome and my car and paid the minimum £10 up front payment. Have used the crossing without problems and checked my account to ensure I had been charged the correct amount, which I had. So for me its ben fine. Theses the correct website. https://www.gov.uk/pay-dartford-crossing-charge

 

[DuxDeluxe]

I had similar and had to do it a second time. The web site is creaky. Also if you prefer automatic top-ups, you have to pay them £20 up front, which is steep if you are only an occasional user. Having gone through the Dartford tunnel a couple of days ago, the whole think stinks. Took me 20 minutes and the only thing saved so far is winding the window down and throwing a couple of coins in the hopper. With traffic and/or queuing, the signs are severely lacking, and that's even when I was expecting it. They will make a mint out of the exorbitant penalties.

Check your motorhome class. My reg wasn't recognised, so at least I could enter it as car class, but many are automatically assigned a more expensive class.

There is no email acknowledgement indicating your payment and outstanding balance. There should be an email when you go below £10, but I didn't even get that. Crap system all round.

Dave

I had no trouble but simply transferred the existing dart tag account across. It was in fact easier as I could register all of our vehicles on the single account. Whilst the roadworks are ongoing there are delays northbound as the toll lanes are still in use, but southbound with four lanes, no queues at all even southbound on a friday afternoon (last week)

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[Chris]

Its all a bloody con, this toll business.

Minimum £10 balance on the account?

Imagine how much income they generate from interest alone on millions of account holders' money

 

[iandsm]

Its all a bloody con, this toll business.

Minimum £10 balance on the account?

Imagine how much income they generate from interest alone on millions of account holders' money

I might have paid £10 up front but the crossing charge is only £1.67 a time for paying up front instead of £2 which it was previously, I won't worry too much about the interest they are getting out of my tenner which I would think is a lot less than the saving I am making.

 

[trophychap]

Quite agree Chris, and who is getting all the profits generated from that? The French I guess as its run by SANEF who operate a lot of the Peages in France.

So I would also assume the British Government don't get any tax revenues either.
So we the British tax paying motorists lose out again, no change there then!

I don't suppose for a minute that they will fund another crossing from the profits!!!

 

[Badknee]

So being from oop norf and wanting to escape this over taxed, over priced, over full island of ours do I have to register before I escape? I will at the moment cross it twice a year perhaps, how does that work please?

 

[Chris]

I might have paid £10 up front but the crossing charge is only £1.67 a time for paying up front instead of £2 which it was previously, I won't worry too much about the interest they are getting out of my tenner which I would think is a lot less than the saving I am making.

Its more than £10 up front though isn't it?

As I understand it you start with £10, but as soon as you cross once another £10 is taken from your account until you get below £10 and then another £10 is taken.

I might be wrong about that though.

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[Badknee]

Its more than £10 up front though isn't it?

As I understand it you start with £10, but as soon as you cross once another £10 is taken from your account until you get below £10 and then another £10 is taken.

I might be wrong about that though.

 

[iandsm]

Its more than £10 up front though isn't it?

As I understand it you start with £10, but as soon as you cross once another £10 is taken from your account until you get below £10 and then another £10 is taken.

I might be wrong about that though.

I haven't had another £10 taken, my account shows the top up method as manual, its only if you set top up to automatic that they take another £10, when you balance goes below£10. This is from the website=

"You must remember to add funds to your account yourself when your balance is low.

When your account goes below £10.00 email notification will be sent to remind you to topup. If account balance goes below zero, you will have 24 hours to add funds after that account will be closed and you may receive a penalty charge if you use the crossing and don't pay."

 

[iandsm]

Chris, just changed my post a bit having got more information, I seem to have altered to text size somehow and can't change it back but I am sure you will get the drift. Interestingly, I didn't get the email they say they would sent when you go below£10 but i am not bothered about that, I know how may times I cross so can just keep an eye on the account.

 

[Roryboys Dad]

Many thanks for your helpful replies.

I've rung them up and apparently, according to the pleasant young lady, the 'site' freezes sometimes and all details are not passed through correctly.

Most details when I set up the account went through – but not my Credit card details.

Now after talking to her an initial credit of £10 is in my account and I can cross for £1.67 each time until the ten pounds is used up and then the system will automatically add another £10 to my account.

Wot a bl**dy palaver but at least it's cheaper than it was!

 

[Chris]

Its great that you get a 33% discount for opening an account.

It would have been even better had they not hiked the fee up by 50p at the same time

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[Jaws]

Yup, a tenner deposited.. and auto top up .. registered all the vehicles on the same account so its all really quite easy so far

 

[Jaws]

Forgot.. I will proly use it a total of four times a year.. Two outward journeys and two coming back..
Quite happy about the tenner deposit to be honest as it probably costs me a gallon in diesel every time I have had to queue for an hour to get across, and as mentioned, already the south bound side is free flowing so all good

 

[Badknee]

So being from oop norf and wanting to escape this over taxed, over priced, over full island of ours do I have to register before I escape? I will at the moment cross it twice a year perhaps, how does that work please?

Bump.

So before I cross I have to register?

 

[DABurleigh]

Many thanks for your helpful replies.

I've rung them up and apparently, according to the pleasant young lady, the 'site' freezes sometimes and all details are not passed through correctly.

Most details when I set up the account went through – but not my Credit card details.

Now after talking to her an initial credit of £10 is in my account and I can cross for £1.67 each time until the ten pounds is used up and then the system will automatically add another £10 to my account.

Wot a bl**dy palaver but at least it's cheaper than it was!

No, if you have selected automatic top-up it adds a minimum of £10 as soon as you go below a minimum of £10, so if I'd done that they would be sitting on £18.33 of my money for months.

Dave

 

[Puddleduck]

Bump.

So before I cross I have to register?

Not sure being from the frozen north myself..... I think you can pay by phone or in one of the "numerous" retail outlets that will take your money. Not sure how you pay by phone when you have a basic PAYG as I do.... I know I can't pay car park fees with my phone.

As I will use the crossing about once each way every three years I might just time it for when there are no charges.

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[chaser]

Bump.

So before I cross I have to register?

Well I was a bit apprehensive about all this but if you are not going to use it very often it's simple , just go to their website , don't know it off hand but put dart ford in Google and it's there, put your reg number in , it then tells you how much you are charged for each crossing , put the right amount of money in and bobs your uncle , either pay before you go or within a day of useing it.

 

[Badknee]

Well I was a bit apprehensive about all this but if you are not going to use it very often it's simple , just go to their website , don't know it off hand but put dart ford in Google and it's there, put your reg number in , it then tells you how much you are charged for each crossing , put the right amount of money in and bobs your uncle , either pay before you go or within a day of useing it.

Still seems like a lot of messing about but hey that's progress for you ................ or not

 

[chaser]

Still seems like a lot of messing about but hey that's progress for you ................ or not

Not really , far quicker than queuing up, and the site is simplicty itself at taking your money

 

[cpease]

I am putting the registration number ( on retention) into my account and up comes the vehicle details of my old car before it went on retention in August 2014.

How up to date is there system

 

[gus-lopez]

and the site is simplicty itself at taking your money

That's always the idea.

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[gus-lopez]

Its great that you get a 33% discount for opening an account.

It would have been even better had they not hiked the fee up by 50p at the same time

They were talking of selling it to reduce the budget deficit,which wasn't going down well. Osborne increased the charge by 50p to help with the deficit. I assume this 50p is the same.

Quite agree Chris, and who is getting all the profits generated from that? The French I guess as its run by SANEF who operate a lot of the Peages in France.

So I would also assume the British Government don't get any tax revenues either.
So we the British tax paying motorists lose out again, no change there then!

I don't suppose for a minute that they will fund another crossing from the profits!!!

The government through the highways agency gets the profit as whoever is running it does so under a management contract with the highways agency. They also had to widen various parts of the M25 as part of the contract.

 

[Puddleduck]

Well I was a bit apprehensive about all this but if you are not going to use it very often it's simple , just go to their website , don't know it off hand but put dart ford in Google and it's there, put your reg number in , it then tells you how much you are charged for each crossing , put the right amount of money in and bobs your uncle , either pay before you go or within a day of useing it.

If it wasn't for my sister it would have been fun for my Mum and Dad then - no computer and no mobile phone!

Dad said they would have to whistle for their money as he had no means of paying it. He stopped at services (goodness knows where) and they couldn't do it for him he said. He was willing to go to court about it on disability and age discrimination grounds

My sister has paid it for them on the QT.

 

[dippingatoe]

Okay - I know nothing about the Dartford Tunnel/Crossing. Set my sat nav (which is supposed to warn me of tolls) set out and it took me to Dartford Crossing - expected to have to pay, but the barrier just lifted when I got there. Whats going on?

 

[Puddleduck]

Okay - I know nothing about the Dartford Tunnel/Crossing. Set my sat nav (which is supposed to warn me of tolls) set out and it took me to Dartford Crossing - expected to have to pay, but the barrier just lifted when I got there. Whats going on?

I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong - but if you went through during the times when charges apply you will have to go on line and pay or you will get a penalty notice.

 

[chaser]

I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong - but if you went through during the times when charges apply you will have to go on line and pay or you will get a penalty notice.

That's what I said , when we came through how do foreign drivers go on, if they know nothing about it , the signs are only in English, so presumably they get away without paying

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