What Happens If You Ignore a Dart Charge or Mersey Gateway PCN?

If a Dart Charge or Merseyflow PCN goes unpaid and unappealed, here's what follows, based on how the Traffic Penalty Tribunal describes the process:

If the PCN isn't paid or challenged in time, a Charge Certificate can be issued — this increases the amount owed by 50%. If that's not paid either, the debt can be registered at the Traffic Enforcement Centre (Northampton County Court), and an Order for Recovery is sent, adding a further £8 registration fee. At that point you can still submit a Witness Statement explaining why the debt shouldn't have been registered — for example, if you never actually received the original notice.

If none of that happens, the case can be passed to a bailiff (civil enforcement agent) to recover the money, which can add significant further costs.

None of this is inevitable — the whole point of appealing early, while the discount is still available and before a Charge Certificate is issued, is to avoid this path entirely. If you're already further down it than you'd like, it's still worth getting the case looked at properly rather than assuming it's too late.