DART charge time limit
Discussion
I've just received 2 x penalty notices for paying the DART charge late. I used the crossing each way on a Friday, forgot and paid on the Monday which is too late. I live aboard and was using a rental car whilst visiting family in the UK.
The offence was on 21st April and I have just received the fines at my overseas address today (29th July) dated 10th July.
1. The 14 day time limit for the 50% discount (£35 instead of £70 per offense) had already expired by the time the notices arrived. Can I appeal this and still get the discount?
2. I thought there was a time limit for issuing these fines? Something like 2 months form the offense? Is there one and has it been exceeded?
3. This is only the second time I have have used the crossing. The last time was in 2015. I thought there was some leniency for occasional of first offenders?
4. The car rental agreement has the UK address but they sent the fines to my overseas address (probably form the flight reservation I booked the car with). Is this grounds for appeal.
5. The notice looks official but is actually from Euro Parking Collection plc. How much authority do they have to collect the fine and what action can they take against me abroad. I assume this would be purely civil and there would be no endorsements on my licence?
The rental car company has already charged me 2 x £68 admin fee for processing the fines which I think is extortionate. I'll take the 2 x £35 on the chin but will be gutted if I have to pay 2 x £70 because the letter got delayed in the post.
The offence was on 21st April and I have just received the fines at my overseas address today (29th July) dated 10th July.
1. The 14 day time limit for the 50% discount (£35 instead of £70 per offense) had already expired by the time the notices arrived. Can I appeal this and still get the discount?
2. I thought there was a time limit for issuing these fines? Something like 2 months form the offense? Is there one and has it been exceeded?
3. This is only the second time I have have used the crossing. The last time was in 2015. I thought there was some leniency for occasional of first offenders?
4. The car rental agreement has the UK address but they sent the fines to my overseas address (probably form the flight reservation I booked the car with). Is this grounds for appeal.
5. The notice looks official but is actually from Euro Parking Collection plc. How much authority do they have to collect the fine and what action can they take against me abroad. I assume this would be purely civil and there would be no endorsements on my licence?
The rental car company has already charged me 2 x £68 admin fee for processing the fines which I think is extortionate. I'll take the 2 x £35 on the chin but will be gutted if I have to pay 2 x £70 because the letter got delayed in the post.
Just to follow up on this. I appealed the charges and I only have to pay the actual toll of £2.50 each way and not the fine.
I suspect this was the case all along as, when I went to the payment site before appealing, the amount defaulted to £2.50 not the £70 Euro Parking Collections were trying to scam me out of in their letters/demands.
I already paid the toll once, albeit 48 hours late, so I have effectively double paid but, it's cheaper than a 2 x £70 fine. I think I can claim back the original late payment once the penalty payment has gone through, if I can be bothered with the admin.
If you google "Euro Parking Collections scam" there is a lot of bad press on this company and they appear to have very little legal authority to collect fines. They seem to work on the basis that if they intimidate enough people with official looking letters, a small number will be frightened into paying up.
I suspect this was the case all along as, when I went to the payment site before appealing, the amount defaulted to £2.50 not the £70 Euro Parking Collections were trying to scam me out of in their letters/demands.
I already paid the toll once, albeit 48 hours late, so I have effectively double paid but, it's cheaper than a 2 x £70 fine. I think I can claim back the original late payment once the penalty payment has gone through, if I can be bothered with the admin.
If you google "Euro Parking Collections scam" there is a lot of bad press on this company and they appear to have very little legal authority to collect fines. They seem to work on the basis that if they intimidate enough people with official looking letters, a small number will be frightened into paying up.
Chasing you for a fine for which you are liable due to late payment is not a scam. In fact you were lucky as the Dart charge collectors are about the most generous there are and very often waive the penalty for late payment when contacted.
So you don’t need to be angry about an attempted “scam”, just be grateful they didn’t persue the penalty.
So you don’t need to be angry about an attempted “scam”, just be grateful they didn’t persue the penalty.
t1grm said:
Amazing insight you have to my private correspondence that you have never seen. Either you work for DART or Euro Parking Collections and have access to the case info in which case you are in breach of GDPR or you are talking BS.
Well, someone's talking BS and it ain't Philbo.You didn’t pay the charge on time.
The crossing operators passed it to their third party penalty charge collection company, who contacted you.
You appealed to Dart Charge who generously rescinded the penalty on payment of the crossing charge.
That’s it.
If you hadn’t appealed the penalty, or if the crossing operators hadn’t rescinded the penalty charge, you would still have been liable for the penalty through the third party company.
I can explain it to you but I can’t understand it for you.
The crossing operators passed it to their third party penalty charge collection company, who contacted you.
You appealed to Dart Charge who generously rescinded the penalty on payment of the crossing charge.
That’s it.
If you hadn’t appealed the penalty, or if the crossing operators hadn’t rescinded the penalty charge, you would still have been liable for the penalty through the third party company.
I can explain it to you but I can’t understand it for you.
Oh you're a real keyboard warrior aren't you?
The operator had already waived the penalty and was only charging the toll as confirmed by the fact that the online paysite was only asking for the toll to be paid. This is standard practice for first offenders. The collection company was trying to charge me the full £70 fine so they could pocket the other £67.50 themselves. They have a track record of doing this.
Anyway, since I had no feedback on the original question, I posted this information for the benefit other PH'ers who may encounter the same issue. Not so I could get in an argument with sanctimonious keyboard warriors who think they know the contents of my private correspondence better than me. Next time I won't bother.
The operator had already waived the penalty and was only charging the toll as confirmed by the fact that the online paysite was only asking for the toll to be paid. This is standard practice for first offenders. The collection company was trying to charge me the full £70 fine so they could pocket the other £67.50 themselves. They have a track record of doing this.
Anyway, since I had no feedback on the original question, I posted this information for the benefit other PH'ers who may encounter the same issue. Not so I could get in an argument with sanctimonious keyboard warriors who think they know the contents of my private correspondence better than me. Next time I won't bother.
Wake up PhilboSE, of course it's a bit of a scam! Why not give you 7 days to pay the dart charge or something like that. Many people go away for the weekend and forget to pay the charge until they get home and then want to pay it on Sunday or Monday, there's no need for such a tight deadline, its just to catch people out. If you live abroad then it's not easy for them to make you pay, especially for such a small amount so that's why they rely on threats and intimidation to scare you into paying and basically extort the money out of you. I'd just write not known at this address on the letters and return them to sender. I had a parking fine from Portugal and they sent letters to me for about 3 years demanding 300 euros. I never paid it and once I started returning the letters they stopped sending them and I never heard anything about more about it
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff