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Original poster

HELP!!! Being charged £230 for my husband using the Dartford Tunnel!!!

190 replies

Happyland8 · 20/08/2018 19:18

Please help.

I'm not a driver & have never driven on the dartford tunnel so none of this is making much sense to me.

DH is in the Army and is deployed just now. We moved house at the end of last year but today I accidentally had a parcel delivered to my old address, when I went to collect it, they had some mail for us.

Anyway, there were 2 letters saying that DH must pay £115 immediately as he has been charged for not paying to use the dartford tunnel. The incident happened back in April (just as our mail redirection stopped unfortunately) and now it's 2 fines of £115 which we really can't afford.

I can't believe a £2.50 toll road could escalate to this. It has also been reviewed in court without our knowledge so that's also a black mark against DH's name unless I can appeal this.

Has anyone been through this? I'm feeling so upset and stressed by this. We aren't home owners yet and I don't want this to affect us getting a mortgage and I just don't know what I'll do if they don't let us off with it Sad

OP posts:
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6
Clairetree1 · 20/08/2018 20:33

This must all be a nasty shock, OP.

Ginorchoc · 20/08/2018 20:33

Have you emailed them or private Facebook message them, twice I missed paying and they were really great about it, they have a warning system, explain what has happened and see what they say.

JumblieGirl · 20/08/2018 20:33

If your husband is deployed, don’t you have a designated welfare officer that you could ask for support and advice?

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Driving & parking
Bombardier25966 · 20/08/2018 20:35

Lease cars are registered with the DVLA by the finance company. Have you updated your address with them?

He would need to update his licence address with the DVLA.

meadowmeow · 20/08/2018 20:36

Unless the leasing company have it and update the details of the registered keeper at their end?

Has your husband informed them?

Helga55 · 20/08/2018 20:38

I had this, you can appeal the dart charge online on the website, they 'hold' it for 54 days I think, then give you a final decision of how much to pay. You do need to give as much info & evidence as possible. In my case I rang to pay & the person only took one payment not two, so this triggered a large fine, they advised me to appeal & I got a letter a few weeks later telling me to pay the £2.50 and that would be the end of the matter, so definitely worth trying

Bombardier25966 · 20/08/2018 20:40

If your husband is deployed, don’t you have a designated welfare officer that you could ask for support and advice?

If a CCJ has been issued I would suggest holding off until she can get independent advice. A CCJ can result in disciplinary proceedings in the army.

JumblieGirl · 20/08/2018 20:44

Oh. Army life can be very different to civilian.
I just remember my dad being Welfare Officer, and many distressed wives needing his support from lightbulbs to paperwork to running out of money. It seemed to be a universal problem-solving post.

Mary1935 · 20/08/2018 20:44

Yes the first time I used it and didn’t pay the charge they let me off as it was a first offence. I would call them fully explain the situation and see what they say and appeal. It’s a lot of money to find.
You can put money on an account with them - ie credit your account with £20 say and they take the monies from there.
Good luck

AQuestionofIntent · 20/08/2018 20:44

Just ring them. I got a penalty charge from them once and I phoned them and they just made me pay the £2.50

Original poster
Happyland8 · 20/08/2018 20:46

Sorry it's the wrong way round. Does this mean a county court judgement has been issued?

HELP!!! Being charged £230 for my husband using the Dartford Tunnel!!!
OP posts:
bubbles108 · 20/08/2018 20:46

It sounds like your DH now has a CCJ. No point contacting Dart charge

Original poster
Happyland8 · 20/08/2018 20:46

Oh no Sad

OP posts:
Original poster
Happyland8 · 20/08/2018 20:47

What does that mean for us and how can I resolve it? Does anyone know?

OP posts:
Bombardier25966 · 20/08/2018 20:48

You need to tell us what you mean by it has also been reviewed in court, and also whether he updated his address with the finance company.

WoWsers16 · 20/08/2018 20:48

We had this a few years back- Being Northern we drove through and didn't really think until we got a letter saying we owed £2.50- so I went online and paid it. However a few months later got another letter saying I owed £120 because I had not paid it- when I rang up they were rude and extremely unhelpful- saying I had paid for an upcoming journey- not the journey I had made- even though I have never been on it again- I explained this and he said we would have to take it to court- and that I owed another £120 for the return journey- I explained we had not received a letter for that and he said because they have not sent that one yet- so I was astonished they would charge without actually sending the letters- so that was a joke!
Phone calls did nothing- they were useless- so in the end I messaged them on Twitter- within 48 hours they had cancelled both fines as they could see the common sense of not charging us for the fine they had not even told us about, and the fact that I had paid £2.50 but for the wrong thing :)

So I would contact them by twitter (or facebook) explaining the situation- I remember researching at the time and many fines do get written off- especially if first time.
Good luck!! xx

Marmight · 20/08/2018 20:48

If you lease the car, your DH will probably not be the registered keeper or owner.

The finance company will hold the V5.

Normally they are notified in the first instance about the 'offence' and either inform the company interested in finding you, or pass the correspondence on.

Did your DH not inform the finance company that you had moved?

Nothing to do with your driving licence details.

Original poster
Happyland8 · 20/08/2018 20:51

As I said, I can't contact DH so no idea if he changed the address with the finance company but I wouldn't be shocked if he didn't because it was an extremely hectic time for him when we moved and judging by the fact the correspondence went to our old address I'm assuming he mustn't have.

OP posts:
Pimmsypimms · 20/08/2018 20:52

We had such a drama with the dart charge!!!
DH went through the tunnel for the first time and forgot to pay within 24 hours, he then remembered and paid within 48 hours.
We received a letter saying that as we hadn’t been through the tunnel before that they would waiver the fine as long as we went online and paid the fee. Well as we had already paid it, I did nothing else.
A month later we received another letter saying that as we still hadn’t paid the charge, we had to pay an additional fine and the amount was now £114!!! I checked our bank account and called them up to confirm that we had in fact paid them before the first letter had been issued. They said that as we made the payment online as a charge and not a penalty charge then we would still have to pay the fine!!! I explained that as I had paid before we received the first letter, I had no idea that I had to pay this as a penalty charge and not a charge!! So effectively penalising me for something that I was completely unaware of, Absolutely ridiculous!!
Anyway, I got on to social media and had a rant in their page and they then said they’d waiver the fine as a “gesture of good will” Hmm

niceupthedance · 20/08/2018 20:52

I had this and a few weeks later two guys in stab proof vests turned up to take my car away unless I paid £500. I'd just pay it now it's not going to get any better!

Racecardriver · 20/08/2018 20:53

Right. First things first the car registration documents are never kept in the car. Your DH would have put them elsewhere. They are pink in colour and will have all the cars details printed on them. Do you have a box for important documents somewhere? Has there been a court order? Did they file a claim against you? Do you have any other documents from the court? You can appeal on the grounds that you were never served documents. I think you need some proper advice. Do you know anyone who can sit down and read the documents for you?

Motherhood101Fail · 20/08/2018 20:54

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limitedscreentime · 20/08/2018 20:56

The dart charge people seem really reasonable to be fair - if you pay up they don’t normally fine you on first offences etc. My husband seems to collect letters from them but has never paid a fine. I honestly think if you write and explain the circs, deployment, old address etc they will only hold you to the initial charge (£2 or something).

Elephant14 · 20/08/2018 20:57

Try the CAB first I reckon you can get this over-turned its just them being heavy handed they are generally reviled in the area and they have lost everyone's respect because of the way they behave. I wouldn't let this go OP, I think you should be taking action against them not the other way round!

Definitely e-mail them set it all out and lay it at their door that they are harassing a serviceman oh and tell them you will refer the case to the local MP Gareth Johnson who is a big supporter of the armed forces and is used to doing battle with Dart Tag.

Original poster
Happyland8 · 20/08/2018 20:57

I'm just really worried about this CCJ now Sad

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