Stung on courtesy car agreement...

zudecke

I recently posted here about asking TfL for a refund on 2 PCNs that were issued to the rental company, on the basis that I had mistakenly paid the charge against the wrong vehicle.

For each PCN, the company add an admin fee of £55 (this IS in their rental agreement T&Cs), so:

PCN - 2x £60 = £120
Admin fees - 2x £55 = £110

TfL agreed to give a refund in full.

However, now the rental company is saying that their leasing company only refunds 50% of the admin fee, which means in turn I only receive 50% of this admin fee, so I've been charged with 50% of £110 = £55.

This business about them retaining the 50% of admin fees is NOT in the rental agreement T&Cs and not only do I find the charge of £55 per PCN unreasonable, I'm sure it;s unlawful for them to retain half even when they've been refunded 100% of their charge?

I've written to my bank who will investigate a dispute of the charges and I hope for a refund.

What do you guys think?

Z

Premier_2

zudecke wrote: »

I recently posted here about asking TfL for a refund on 2 PCNs that were issued to the rental company, on the basis that I had mistakenly paid the charge against the wrong vehicle.

For each PCN, the company add an admin fee of £55 (this IS in their rental agreement T&Cs), so:

PCN - 2x £60 = £120
Admin fees - 2x £55 = £110

TfL agreed to give a refund in full.

However, now the rental company is saying that their leasing company only refunds 50% of the admin fee, which means in turn I only receive 50% of this admin fee, so I've been charged with 50% of £110 = £55.

This business about them retaining the 50% of admin fees is NOT in the rental agreement T&Cs and not only do I find the charge of £55 per PCN unreasonable, I'm sure it;s unlawful for them to retain half even when they've been refunded 100% of their charge?

I've written to my bank who will investigate a dispute of the charges and I hope for a refund.

What do you guys think?

Z

The rental company cannot make up terms as they go along.

Rental companies know this so I would suggest you double check the terms are not included in the contract you agreed to.

If you are certain you did not contractually agree to the terms the rental company are now insisting on, then dispute these formally with the company.

Ultimately you may have to go to court to prove your case, but I suspect the rental company will either advise you of where you agreed to their fees or otherwise drop them

Edit: I suspect your bank will not wish to become involved in this third party dispute

Tilt

You could argue that the 'admin fee' is disproportional to any admin work required and thus regard the fee as a penalty. Again you may have to go to court to test this but a penalty cannot be recovered by a private concern through the legal process. It would mean you issuing proceedings against the hire co. Forget the leasing co, that has nothing to do with you. Your contract is with the hire co.

AlexisV

If the penalty was incorrectly issued, you may be able to show that an 'admin fee' for ANY alleged penalty, whether accurate or otherwise, would be a breach of the The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

Imp

From your post it looks like you made a mistake by paying a charge against a incorrect vehicle. As a result of this, the PCNs were issued and the rental company carried out the administration necessary to notify you of this etc. etc.

The PCNs were subsequently revoked, no doubt an unusual occurance which would have resulted in additional administration for the rental company.

I think the rental company has carried out administration as a result of your mistake, and therefore you are lucky to receive a 50% refund.

zudecke

Imp wrote: »

From your post it looks like you made a mistake by paying a charge against a incorrect vehicle. As a result of this, the PCNs were issued and the rental company carried out the administration necessary to notify you of this etc. etc.

The PCNs were subsequently revoked, no doubt an unusual occurance which would have resulted in additional administration for the rental company.

I think the rental company has carried out administration as a result of your mistake, and therefore you are lucky to receive a 50% refund.

are you serious? I can't tell..

they received a full refund.

Surely they should state in their T&Cs that they will only refund half?

Not to mention the questionable amount of these "admin fees". £55 to make a debit card payment and send an invoice? That's 10-15 minutes worth max in total, including the refund. What admin do you know gets £55 per 15 mins??

vax2002

Hire car companies are on a tightrope, admin charges are penalties, no way on earth they could claim it costs them £55.

Imp

zudecke wrote: »

are you serious? I can't tell..

Yes
..........

plane_boy2000

zudecke wrote: »

are you serious? I can't tell..

they received a full refund.

Surely they should state in their T&Cs that they will only refund half?

Not to mention the questionable amount of these "admin fees". £55 to make a debit card payment and send an invoice? That's 10-15 minutes worth max in total, including the refund. What admin do you know gets £55 per 15 mins??

They received a refund of the PCN - they still had to cover the admin. Who do you think should pick up the admin charge?

If their terms do not state they will give a 50% refund then they are already going above and beyond the Ts and Cs

Pay it, and move on

zudecke

plane_boy2000 wrote: »

They received a refund of the PCN - they still had to cover the admin. Who do you think should pick up the admin charge?

If their terms do not state they will give a 50% refund then they are already going above and beyond the Ts and Cs

Pay it, and move on

But no one asked them to pay it.. They could have just emailed me and notified me to pay it??

Then there'd have been no drama right? No justification for an admin fee...

plane_boy2000

zudecke wrote: »

But no one asked them to pay it.. They could have just emailed me and notified me to pay it??

Then there'd have been no drama right? No justification for an admin fee...

They are the registered keeper of the vehicle so they have to deal with it. If they ask you to pay and you don't then they would be prosecuted