Almost one million motorists who use the Dartford Crossing could be at risk of being fined for not updating their Dart Charge accounts. 

In July 2023, National Highways changed its service provider for the Dart Charge and motorists were told to update their account details.

However, only 770,000 out of 1.7 million account holders “successfully” updated their details as requested.

Many users have automatic payments taken out of their accounts to cover the £2.50 fee to use the QEII bridge.

Motorists have started to claim that they have received fines for journeys after their accounts were shut without them knowing.

Sarah Day, from Colchester, was left surprised after she got a “whole bunch of fines” in the post during January and February.

She told BBC Essex: “It wasn’t a pleasant thing to get through the post. I was confused initially and then quite annoyed. It was hundreds of pounds. 

“They changed system last summer and everyone was supposed to renew their account, which I did, but luckily I had an email saying I had set up my bank card.

“I was able to get them to cancel some of the fines but I lost money.

“I know lots of people who were given no notification and just had their account shut down.”

“I spent an hour on the phone, the system has one job and it’s not doing it, it’s ridiculous.” 

Around 4.5 million crossings are made between Essex and Kent every month and the majority of crossings are paid without issue, according to National Highways.

Stuart Randall told the BBC that he was issued seven fines worth £332.50 in total after the same error happened to him.

Another person revealed bailiffs were sent to their house over missed payments - transactions they thought had been automatically paid.

A spokesperson for National Highways told the Evening Standard that all account holders were contacted in advance.

It added that inactivity or invalid payment details could cause a Dart Charge account to close.

The spokesperson explained: “In these instances several notifications are sent to advise the customer of the account status and detailed actions needed. 

“However, we would encourage all account holders, particularly infrequent users to ensure their account details are up to date and there is a valid payment method on their account.”