Dart Charge debt collection
Case reference FOI2024/01076
Received 16 September 2024
Published 5 December 2024
Request
I am sending this request under the Freedom of Information Act to ask for the following information:
1. For each of the following years (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 - as much as is available) please provide:
* The total number of crossings made in charging hours
* The total number of penalty charges issued
* The total number of cases sent to enforcement agents
2. For each of the following years (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 - as much as is available) please provide:
* The total amount of money collected by enforcement firms in relation to Dart Charge debts
Response
|
Year |
Number of crossings made during charging hours* |
Number of PCNs issued |
Number of cases passed to enforcement agents * |
% of PCNs passed to enforcement agent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2024 |
37,453,021 |
2,738,802 |
422,535 |
15% |
|
2023 |
50,102,766 |
1,958,011 |
386,028 |
20% |
|
2022 |
48,580,270 |
2,512,671 |
416,748 |
17% |
|
2021 |
44,457,471 |
2,031,663 |
379,936 |
19% |
|
2020 |
39,457,542 |
1,908,347 |
341,383 |
18% |
|
2019 |
49,653,519 |
2,362,713 |
368,601 |
16% |
Amount collected by enforcement agents *
|
Year |
CDER |
Marston |
Bristow & Sutor |
Total amount collected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2024 |
£8,466,126.94 |
£8,160,926.57 |
£3,979,092.22 |
£20,606,145.73 |
|
2023 |
£8,228,695.00 |
£8,440,664.74 |
£245,422.05 |
£16,914,781.79 |
|
2022 |
£9,487,536.00 |
£9,915,240.84 |
£19,402,776.84 |
|
|
2021 |
£9,535,508.00 |
£9,256,583.37 |
£18,792,091.37 |
|
|
2020 |
£7,548,404.00 |
£6,489,517.72 |
£14,037,921.72 |
|
|
2019 |
£11,121,341.00 |
£11,029,854.16 |
£22,151,195.16 |
* 2024 data is up to and including 30 September 2024
Fifty-five million journeys are made on the Dartford Crossing each year. Where crossings are not paid on time, Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) are issued and this equates to approximately five per cent of all crossings made.
Enforcement agents are only ever used as a last resort to chase up non-payment. Before being passed to an enforcement agent, multiple notices, including PCN’s are sent about unpaid charges to the registered keeper of the vehicle using DVLA records.
We encourage customers to contact us early, so we can resolve any issues openly and fairly without the need for additional fees.
The amount collected by enforcement agents includes outstanding penalty charges due to Dart Charge and enforcement agent fees. All enforcement agent fees are in line with The Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014.
Each penalty charge notice has a maximum value of £115 plus the road user charge. All money collected from the road user charge and associated penalty charges is passed directly to the UK Government and invested back in to transport improvements.
Documents
This is National Highways' response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
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