Dart Charge registration now available for go live 30 Nov
Discussion
jagracer said:
lowdrag said:
Sorry if this appears thick, but if a foreigner arrives at Dover and drives north, just what do I do? No phone, have credit cards etc., but can I pay at the bridge/tunnel or where? Or can I just drive through and say thank you for letting foreigners through for free?
They'll trace the number and send a fine/excess charge or whatever they call it directly and if not paid they'll try and get it via collection agencies in Johnny Foreigner's own country julian64 said:
motorcycles?
Having been through it the other day , they have many and I mean many anpr cameras both front and rear facing. Obviously on a bike you only have one plate so the chances are halved of getting recognised but the chances of a car so close behind you as to make it unreadable is pretty slim.ETA - currently free but not sure if it will stay that way ????
Edited by Far Cough on Tuesday 25th November 17:46
Far Cough said:
Yeah ... right ! Good luck with that for £2.50. I imagine it will soon become common knowledge that foreigners and foreign vehicles can easily get away with non payment for the occasional trip.
It's not £250 is it? Once the time limit for payment (midnight following day) it becomes something like £100 and then there'll be the added costs for the collection agencies. I expect it'll make millions in fines because people wont know about it and wont notice the signs, if there are any, so will just think they are getting a free crossing.
Also a thread running on Kent/Essex section.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Lots of confusion, especially ref having to still use tags.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Lots of confusion, especially ref having to still use tags.
I don't see where the tags come into it. The tags belong to Le Crossing co and the new company is totally different, Sanef, so I don't see why the need to keep them at all let alone in one car. My tag is in a car sitting in SE London which wont be used until next year at the earliest yet my wife uses the crossing in her car regularly.
I've just received my welcome pack from Dart Charge via email, seems that you still need the tag for pre-pay. Here it is - https://www.dropbox.com/s/iu9cm7yskialfzv/Dart_Cha...
jagracer said:
Far Cough said:
Yeah ... right ! Good luck with that for £2.50. I imagine it will soon become common knowledge that foreigners and foreign vehicles can easily get away with non payment for the occasional trip.
It's not £250 is it? Once the time limit for payment (midnight following day) it becomes something like £100 and then there'll be the added costs for the collection agencies. I expect it'll make millions in fines because people wont know about it and wont notice the signs, if there are any, so will just think they are getting a free crossing.
Magic919 said:
I expect they'll have a pay point at adjacent motorway services. You can pay after using the crossing, just like the congestion charge.
A clever way to get foreign drivers would be to have the crossing as an optional add on when booking a ferry or tunnel crossing. I doubt that would happen though as it is far too simple.lowdrag said:
Well, I've written to the .gov site for an answer but won't hold my breath. If I hear nothing I'll just become a criminal I guess. Hope they have internet in gaol.
One wonders how such a large undertaking as the change to the way toll fees are collected, could be so badly thought through. That said, if one remembers the crossing tolls were to have been completely removed in 2002, (it is after all just another section of the M25) all of this seems to be a ridiculous farce, but unfortunately, one that manages to fleece the UK motorist yet again.Gixer said:
Well they've replied to my email ref one of my tags being faulty.
Yes we still need to use tags.
No, they can't replace my broken one as they don't have any.
I should get proof of postage when I return the faulty one.
Clear as mud.
Full reply on the Kent/Essex thread.
And yet when I spoke to someone by phone about this earlier this week, he said (admittedly he was incredibly vague about it):Yes we still need to use tags.
No, they can't replace my broken one as they don't have any.
I should get proof of postage when I return the faulty one.
Clear as mud.
Full reply on the Kent/Essex thread.
- use of tags going forward is optional
- if I want extra tags just ask and they will send them out
I still can't get my head around this - there is no monetary benefit in using a tag, right? So I plan to simply ignore my tag account henceforth, and open a new Charge account, adding vehicles to it as I see fit?
You would think that the powers that be would make paying for the crossing available on the ferries or tunnel for all drivers coming to the UK. Or even charge them when they buy a ticket and if they don't use the crossing they can send them a refund when they go back to the mainland.
Also if it is Sanef who operate the charge scheme it should be easy for them to collect as they control toll plazas on a lot of the French autoroutes.
Also if it is Sanef who operate the charge scheme it should be easy for them to collect as they control toll plazas on a lot of the French autoroutes.
Quickly read the welcome pack and opened the files, looks like there will be 2 ways to charge, one via dart tag if you already have one and numberplate recognition if you dont. Its not clear if the charges are the same for each method.
It cant be the case that you need a new tag, millions dont have and wont have accounts as they will cross once a year maybe and pay like the congestion charge.
Guess it wont be long before you can do it on your phone before you set out, make sense to do that rather than drive to a shop!
It cant be the case that you need a new tag, millions dont have and wont have accounts as they will cross once a year maybe and pay like the congestion charge.
Guess it wont be long before you can do it on your phone before you set out, make sense to do that rather than drive to a shop!
Magic919 said:
Hopefully my Sanef tag will work there eventually.
I don't think we'll be using Sanef tags much longer. When I drove down to see friends near Le Mans in October I noticed several autoroutes now had exactly the same gantries over them as the ones they've put up at the crossing. I wonder if they are switching to an automated number plate recognition system at some point too. Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff