How long do I have to appeal a Dart Charge PCN?

You have 28 days from the date of issue to make an informal representation to Conduent, which keeps the discounted £35 rate available while they consider it. If they reject the informal challenge, they issue a Notice to Owner and you then have a further 28 days to make formal representations. If those are rejected you have 28 days to appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. Miss any of these windows and the PCN can escalate to a charge certificate at £105 plus enforcement.

Can I appeal a Dart Charge PCN if I genuinely forgot to pay?

Forgetting is not itself a statutory ground for cancellation, but it does not mean you have no options. If this is your first PCN and you pay the underlying crossing charge promptly, Conduent has discretion to cancel as a goodwill gesture. Phrase your representation around the absence of any prior contraventions, the fact you have now paid, and any mitigating factor such as a hospital visit, recent bereavement or system outage. Always send it in writing so there is a paper trail if you need to escalate.

What happens if I ignore a Dart Charge PCN?

After 28 days the £35 discount disappears and the PCN rises to £70. After a further 28 days without payment or representations, Conduent issues a Charge Certificate raising the amount to £105. If still unpaid, the case is registered as an order for recovery at the Traffic Enforcement Centre in Northampton and bailiffs can be instructed. You can still challenge by filing a TE9 witness statement if you never received the original PCN, or a TE7 application for more time, both available free from gov.uk.

Is the Dart Charge PCN a criminal fine?

No. The Dart Charge is a civil penalty under Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 and the Dartford-Thurrock Crossing Charging Scheme 2013. It does not generate points, does not appear on a DBS check and does not need to be declared to insurers as a conviction. It is enforced through the civil county court process if it escalates, not through the magistrates' court. That said, you should still take it seriously because unpaid civil debts can affect credit files and lead to bailiff action.

Can a foreign-registered vehicle be issued a Dart Charge PCN?

Yes. National Highways uses Euro Parking Collection to trace foreign-registered keepers in the EU and Switzerland and pursue unpaid charges. Several other countries are now also covered under bilateral arrangements. If you are a foreign keeper and believe you paid, your grounds are the same as for a UK keeper. If you never received the PCN because of a forwarding failure, you can ask for the time limit to be extended on the grounds that service was defective.

Does the Dart Charge apply at night?

No. The Dart Charge only applies between 06:00 and 22:00 every day, including weekends and bank holidays. If your ANPR record shows a crossing outside those hours, the PCN cannot stand and you have an absolute ground to challenge under the Dartford-Thurrock Crossing Charging Scheme 2013. Pull the time-stamped image from your representation portal and quote it directly. If Conduent still refuses, the Traffic Penalty Tribunal will cancel without hesitation.

Dart Charge PCN Appeal: Grounds + Letter | AppealAFine

The Dart Charge is the road user charge for the Dartford-Thurrock river crossing on the M25 between Kent and Essex. The crossing has not had cash booths since November 2014, so every vehicle is logged by ANPR and the keeper must pay by midnight the day after the crossing. If you miss that window or the system fails to match your payment, Conduent issues a Penalty Charge Notice on behalf of National Highways. The PCN is £70 and drops to £35 if paid in 14 days. It is a civil charge under Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004, enforced through the Dartford-Thurrock Crossing Charging Scheme 2013. That means you have a statutory right to challenge it, first informally to Conduent, then formally through the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. Most successful appeals come down to evidence of payment, a hire or lease vehicle transfer, or a procedural slip by the operator.

Grounds that work for Dart Charge pcns

The crossing charge was actually paid in time

Under the Dartford-Thurrock Crossing Charging Scheme 2013 the charge is due by midnight the day after the crossing. If your bank statement, account auto top-up email or pre-pay receipt shows the payment cleared inside that window, the PCN must be cancelled. Conduent sometimes fails to match a payment when the registration was typed incorrectly or the vehicle was added to an account after the crossing. Send a written representation to Conduent with the transaction reference, the date and time stamp from your bank or PayPal, and the registration mark exactly as it appears on the V5C. Ask them to reconcile against the ANPR record. If they refuse you can take the same evidence to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

The vehicle was on hire or lease at the time

If you were not the registered keeper when the crossing happened, you are not liable. Regulation 14 of the Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (England) General Regulations 2022 lets a hire firm transfer liability to the named hirer by serving a copy of the hire agreement and statement of liability. A leasing company will normally do this automatically and forward the PCN to you, but the chain of paperwork must be complete. If you are the hirer, check the agreement covers the date and time of the crossing and that the company has issued the statement of liability. If the hire firm has paid and then re-billed you with an admin charge, the original PCN should already be closed and the dispute becomes a contractual one with the hire company, not with National Highways.

The PCN was not served within the statutory window

Schedule 1 of the 2022 Regulations requires the enforcement authority to serve the Penalty Charge Notice within six months of the contravention, and the Notice to Owner within six months of the PCN. The Dart Charge system is fast, but delays do happen when ANPR reads are queued or postal addresses are incorrect. If the PCN is dated more than six months after the crossing, write to Conduent stating that service is out of time under the 2022 Regulations and request cancellation. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal regularly cancels late-served PCNs, see decisions in the adjudicator's published register if you need a precedent to quote.

The vehicle is exempt from the charge

Exempt vehicles include two-wheeled motorcycles, mopeds and quad bikes, vehicles displaying a valid disabled tax class, and certain emergency vehicles. The exemption is set out in the Dartford-Thurrock Crossing Charging Scheme 2013 and its amendments. If your vehicle is taxed in the disabled class on the date of the crossing, request a DVLA V5C copy showing the tax class and send it with your representation. Conduent must also exempt vehicles where the keeper has registered for a recognised local resident discount scheme, although this is narrow and only covers a small number of Dartford and Thurrock postcodes.

Procedural defect in the PCN itself

Regulation 9 of the 2022 Regulations sets out the information that must appear on a PCN: the date, time and location of the contravention, the amount of the penalty, the discount and full-penalty amounts, and how to make representations. If any of that is missing, wrong or inconsistent, the PCN is defective. Look closely at the date and time of the contravention against your own diary, check the registration is correct character by character, and confirm the photographic evidence shows your vehicle. Even small errors such as a wrong make or colour can support a representation. Request the operator's photo evidence under the PCN appeal process if you are not sure.

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Local detail: Dart Charge

The Dartford Crossing carries roughly 180,000 vehicles per day and is the busiest estuarial crossing in the UK.
Cash booths were removed in November 2014 when free-flow ANPR charging began.
The standard charge is £2.50 for a car, £3 for a two-axle goods vehicle and £6 for multi-axle HGVs.
Payment is free at the time of crossing but a £35 to £70 PCN follows non-payment by midnight the next day.
Conduent took over the contract from Sanef in 2020 and runs the customer service site dartford-crossing-charge.service.gov.uk.
PCN representations go to Conduent at PO Box 842, Leeds, LS1 9QF or via the online account portal.
Adjudication is handled by the Traffic Penalty Tribunal in Manchester, not London Tribunals.

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How to appeal a Dart Charge PCN at the Dartford Crossing

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