The Dartford Crossing: how to pay the Dart Charge toll and appeal a fine

The Dartford Crossing is one of the busiest stretches of road in Britain, spanning the River Thames between Kent and Essex. It is a major bypass of Greater London - sitting along the eastern section of the M25. A toll system known as the Dart Charge is in place, which must be paid by vehicles making the crossing in both directions. So it’s vital to understand how the Dart Charge works, how much it costs and what happens when you forget to pay.

The Dartford Crossing is a necessary piece of the UK road network that helps connect Britain to Continental Europe, so is vital for business and holidaymakers alike. Over the years, there have been plenty of changes to the Dartford Crossing, one of the biggest being the removal of the toll booths and switching to a cashless payment for the Dart Charge in November 2014, and in October 2019 the government announced that the Dart Charge would remain a permanent feature in a bid to reduce congestion and manage traffic.

Whether you're heading northbound through the tunnels, or southbound over the Queen Elizabeth II bridge, automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras are used to register every vehicle which uses the Dartford Crossing. So making sure you understand and pay the Dart Charge on time is key to avoiding a fine.

This guide explains how and when to pay the Dartford Crossing toll, how much it costs, what happens if you get a fine and how to appeal it – we have even included a little Dart Charge history lesson at the bottom of the page.

How to pay the Dart Charge

As you approach the Dartford Crossing from either direction, there are plenty of road signs which inform of the different ways you can pay the Dart Charge – either online, over the phone or in person at a shop with a Payzone terminal. You can even make advance Dart Charge payments by post.

Don’t worry about accidentally using the Dartford Crossing, because signs notifying you of the upcoming toll road appear well before the previous junctions, and if you're in a lane approaching the crossing with a large 'C' painted in the road, then that means you're in a charge area.

Paying the Dart Charge online

The Dart Charge website is the easiest way to pay. Simply enter your vehicle's registration number, then pay for the number of crossings you have made. You have until 12 midnight the following day to pay an outstanding Dart Charge.

One benefit of paying for the Dart Charge online is that you can pay for crossings in advance, as any crossing payments you make are valid for up to 12 months if they remain unused. 

For example, if you are planning a round trip that will use the Dartford Crossing twice, then you can pay for two crossings for your vehicle. But if you don't use any of the crossings for whatever reason, they are then credited against your car's registration for 12 months.

If you want to check whether a crossing has been paid for, you can check for paid crossings, by cross-referencing your payment receipt against your car's registration on the website. 

Here you’ll be given a breakdown of dates and times when crossings have been recorded, so you can see if you need to pay for any additional crossings.

Paying the Dart Charge with a pre-pay account

If you plan on making multiple trips via the Dartford Crossing, you can sign up for a pre-pay account and also save a little bit of money in the process.

To set up a pre-pay account, all you need to do is register your personal and vehicle details on the Government website and then top up your account with £10, and you're on your way. 

There are benefits to having a pre-pay account as it can provide you with a full breakdown of your crossing history, your payments and a monthly statement. Here you can either opt to top up manually or set an auto top-up that credits your account when it dips below a certain amount. 

If you opt to top up manually, you will receive an email once your account balance has dipped below £10.

Pre-pay accounts also benefit from a slight reduction in the cost of using the Dartford Crossing.

With a pre-pay account, you can add up to 20 vehicles, making it perfect for fleet operators, although it's so simple to use it's worth just setting up an account for the savings, even if you only have one car. 

Paying the Dart Charge over the phone

You can pay over the phone using the automated payment system at 0300 300 0120. This works in the same way as paying over the phone for parking, and you can manage your account in the same way as you can online. Dart Charge payments must be made by midnight the following day after making a crossing.

For the hard of hearing, the Textphone service is available at 18001 0300 300 0120.

Paying the Dart Charge by post

While it is possible to pay the Dart Charge by post, you can only pay for crossings in advance and you must already have an existing account. 

To pay by post, you need to fill out this form and post to the following address: 

Dart Charge Customer Services, 

PO Box 842, 

Leeds 

LS1 9QF

Payments made by post must be by cheque or postal order.

Paying the Dart Charge in person

If you can’t pay online, feel uncomfortable paying over the phone or don’t have a debit or credit card then you need to visit a Payzone outlet. 

To pay the Dart Charge at a Payzone terminal, you'll just need your car's registration. You can pay in advance, or you have until midnight the following day to pay.

Payzone terminals are usually located in newsagents and are identifiable by the Payzone logo. You can find your nearest Payzone location at payzone.co.uk. 

If you want to pay as soon as you have crossed, there is no easy way of doing so, because the nearest Payzone outlets are off the M25. The nearest Payzone locations are as follows:

• Northbound (after crossing): Sr Services, 712 London Rd, Grays RM20 3JT
• Southbound (after crossing): Temple Hill Wines, 50 Temple Hill Square, Dartford DA1 5HZ

Dart Charge: crossing times and deadline to pay

You are charged to use the Dartford Crossing between 6am and 10pm every day, including weekends and bank holidays. If you cross the Dartford Crossing outside of these times, it is free.

You can either pay the Dart Charge in advance or after you have made the crossing. If you decide to pay after using the Dartford Crossing, you have until midnight the following day. Failing to do so will result in a fine.

How much is the Dart Charge?

Compared to other toll roads and bridges, the Dart Charge is fairly inexpensive, especially if you already have a pre-pay account.

Take a look at the table below for all the Dart Charge prices for motorbikes, cars, trailers, minibuses and motorhomes...

It is worth noting that the current crop of pick-up trucks are classified as two-axle goods vehicles, so pay the higher £3.00/£2.63 charge. There are also discounts for local residents and disabled drivers who get free UK car tax can cross for free, more on both below. 

How to avoid paying the Dart Charge

There is only one legal way to avoid paying the Dart Charge, and that is by making the crossing from 10pm-6am, when the charge does not apply.

The next closest crossing to the Dartford Crossing is the Blackwall and Silvertown tunnels, however, if you think using this crossing will save you money then you might want to think again. In April 2025, charges were introduced to traffic in both directions, with the toll fees being considerably higher in most cases when compared to the Dart Charge. 

Alternatively, if you are planning a longer journey, you could use the western side of the M25, although you could face heavy congestion around Heathrow. There are very few alternate routes when travelling via the eastern side of the M25. 

Dartford Crossing fines

Should you forget to pay for your crossing before the deadline, you will be fined £70 and given 28 days to pay. If you pay your fine within 14 days, the amount you pay is reduced to £35. However if you don’t pay, the fine will be increased to £105, and you will still have to cough up the cost of the crossing as well.

In some instances, drivers may be given the benefit of the doubt for a first offence, and have their fine waived. To apply for this, drivers must visit the Dart Charge website, following the instructions provided.

How to appeal a Dart Charge fine

Similar to other penalty charge notices (PCN), if you wish to appeal the fine, you can do so online, but you only have 28 days to appeal once your fine has been issued. 

You will be given the chance to submit any evidence to show why you were wrongly charged, such as your vehicle being in a different place at the time, or a receipt of the transaction proving you paid. 

Should your appeal fail, the only other option (besides paying) is to go to an independent tribunal.

Dart Charge exemptions and discounts

There is just the one exemption for paying the Dart Charge, and that is if you are driving a vehicle which is excluded from vehicle tax due to you being disabled. Should this be the case, you do not need to do anything as your vehicle will be checked automatically when making the crossing.

Residents of Dartford or Thurrock qualify for a Dart Charge discount. If you are a resident and plan on using the crossing frequently, you can pay £20 for unlimited crossings for a year. Or, alternatively, if you will only be using it occasionally, you can pay £10 for 50 crossings, plus 20p for each additional crossing. Residents can apply online or by post.

Eligible drivers will need to provide proof of residency, as well as providing copies of your vehicle's V5C log book, a copy of your driving licence and a recent utility bill. You will need to set up an account in order to qualify for the discounts and pay for crossings in advance. The offer is limited to one vehicle per application, and goods vehicles are only eligible if they are privately owned.

If you are neither a resident nor disabled, by setting up a Dart Charge account and pre-paying in advance of crossings, you can get discounts of up to 20 per cent, depending upon your vehicle.

Why do we still pay the Dart Charge?

The reason for charging still being in place is to do with traffic levels, the Government says. The Dartford Crossing was designed and built to carry 136,000 vehicles a day. Today, though, it sees as many as 160,000 vehicles a day, despite charging still being in place. The Government estimates that lifting charges would cause a 17 per cent spike in traffic levels on the crossing. In October 2019 the government announced that the Dart Charge would remain a permanent feature as a way to manage traffic levels.

Originally, the Dartford Crossing was supposed to become free to use once the cost of building it had been paid off. In 1999, the Government announced charging would be stopped by the end of 2003. In 2001, however, the Government backtracked on this promise. The cost of building the crossing was fully recovered in 2002, but charges continued and were actually increased in 2014.

The history of the Dartford Crossing

The Dartford Crossing is part of the M25 orbital motorway around London, although it predates the motorway by over 30 years. The first tunnel under the River Thames (which today is the most westerly bore) was started in the 1930s, but the outbreak of World War II postponed construction and it wasn't opened until 1960. By then, Essex and Kent County Councils had managed to successfully lobby the Ministry of Transport to establish a toll for using the crossing – this has remained in place ever since, although today it's referred to as a charge rather than a toll.

The second tunnel was announced in 1970, but construction wasn't completed until 1980, after funding from the EEC guaranteed its completion. When it was opened, the combined capacity of both tunnels was 65,000 vehicles per day. The M25 was linked to the Dartford Crossing in Essex in 1982, with the Kent side joined up four years later, by which time 79,000 vehicles per day were using the two tunnels.

It took less time for the Queen Elizabeth II bridge to be constructed. Work started in 1988, and it opened in 1991. The bridge was built by a private consortium, and at one time the tolls from the crossing were supposed to be in place until the construction of the bridge had been paid for. But a Transport Act in 2000 changed the toll to a charge that could continue to be levied, and from 2003 users have been paying a crossing charge rather than a toll.

The last major update for the Dartford Crossing was the removal of the toll booths, which were located on the Kent side of the Thames. These were removed in 2014 in an effort to reduce congestion at peak hours. The effectiveness of this change is open to question, especially as soon after the toll booths were removed, work started on improving Junction 30/31 of the M25, resulting in queues back through the Dartford Tunnel, and cancelling out the effect of removing the booths.

Also, the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras that are now used to log drivers' journeys have come under fire. Complaints about the ANPR system have included allegations that it has incorrectly charged vehicles registered for a Dart Charge account, has not been able to read foreign number plates, and various errors within the accounts system.

While the Dartford Crossing has been amalgamated into the M25, it's actually classified as the A282, which means traffic that isn't permitted on motorways is allowed to use it. Either way it's a major route for traffic heading from the UK to Europe via the Channel Tunnel and the busy ports of Dover and Felixstowe, and the average number of vehicles using it each day is 130,000, more than double the number of 1980.

Going into London? Find out about the London congestion charge or the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) here...