PCN I ignored- was it a bad move help?

hatty95

Hi
We received a PCN from Car Parking Management (Cumbria) on behalf of PCN Parking Services for £45, I had read various forums and decided to ignore it because it was very unlikely they could take us to court and they didn't have proof who the actual driver was anyway.

The problem was that the car was a courtesy car as ours was in an accident and in the garage, the hire company the car belongs to is Driveassist.

Got home the other day with an invoice from drive assist for £30 for processing the charge and attached an invoice from debt collectors Roxburghe for £100!!! The letter was dated the 7th June and is giving 14 days to pay, I didn't receive letter until the 20th.

I have checked my credit card statement and drive assist have already taken the £30 as per the t&c's of the hire agreement which I'm not happy about but i be checked the terms and it's correct...

I'm not sure what to do nxt, I certainly don't want to pay £30 every time drive assist receive a reminder from this company but I don't want to fork out £100 which means I have paid £130 for a fine that was originally £45!!

Any suggestions or experiences of my issue??

Many thanks

Coupon-mad

You checked the hire terms and you reckon it's correct?!

Highly unusual. Are you sure those hire t&cs don't actually only refer to penalties and fines from authorities?

This isn't a fine and isn't a penalty. It's a scam and you need to read this thread & reclaim that £30:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=62531

Read it carefully and follow what that person did. This was never any business of the hire company, never their liability and almost certainly NOT covered by the hire T&Cs. Do not take no for an answer, use the same emails and letters that poster did.

[Deleted User]

We are writing to you in regards to the parking charge that you incurred whilst renting our vehicle.

Don't they mean "allegedly incurred"?

If vehicle hire companies are paying out on invoices without question, what is to stop a PPC from sending random invoices to vehicle hire companies, based on the registration marks of hire vehicles driving past their offices?

Stephen_Leak

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Don't they mean "allegedly incurred"?

If vehicle hire companies are paying out on invoices without question, what is to stop a PPC from sending random invoices to vehicle hire companies, based on the registration marks of hire vehicles driving past their offices?

Nothing. Don't give them ideas.

Now, for the car hire/leasing company ...

There are days, when I wonder who are the bigger crooks. These “administration charges” must be a nice little earner for them.

Their contract T&Cs usually have a clause about the driver being responsible for fines or penalties. Now, that's fair enough, for legally enforceable fines or penalties from councils, police, train operators and Transport for London.

But this is a "speculative invoice" from a private company. If they’ve paid it, that's up to them.

Also advise them of this ...

http://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/2009...s-urged/30698/

... and the guidelines on private parking tickets from the British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association (BVRLA) ...

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=bvrla+private+parking .

If they owe you any money, ask for it back, or else you’ll sue them for breach of their own contract.

vax2002

Contact your Credit card company and Demand a charge back stating it is a unauthorised transaction bordering on fraud.
That none of the contract terms were broken and the hire company have just helped them selves to your money.
ask them to block them from stealing anything else from your card.

For the record YES ppc's do target hire cars on sight, they are usually block registrations and easy to work out and many have stickers in the car.
they ticket them on sight its a guaranteed payment.
they just make the "contravention " up.

Kite2010

Sue the hire company for the £30 back, if the bank won't refund you.

ManxRed

It would help if we could see the exact wording of the hire terms and conditions relating to parking tickets and admin charges first.

Could the OP let us know?

hatty95

Thanks everyone for your replies!

The wording on the hire agreement in relation to paying fines reads:

I agree that I shall be liable for all fines, penalties, charges and damages arising out of the use of the vehicle during the period of hire and will indemnify the lessor against such

Do they cover themselves???

I have my card statement and they have only charged me the £30 admin fee and not the £100 fine, I'm not quite sure what to do next...

ManxRed

Hmmmm.... they might argue that this is a 'charge' although the clause probably didn't intend to include PPC tickets when it was written that way.

It certainly isn't a fine or a penalty, neither does it relate to damages.

A tricky one. Maybe await others' opinions on this.

Stephen_Leak

A £30 administration charge for what? Not paying the ... whatever they call it?

Coupon-mad

hatty95 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your replies!

The wording on the hire agreement in relation to paying fines reads:

I agree that I shall be liable for all fines, penalties, charges and damages arising out of the use of the vehicle during the period of hire and will indemnify the lessor against such

Do they cover themselves???

I have my card statement and they have only charged me the £30 admin fee and not the £100 fine, I'm not quite sure what to do next...

What exactly does the section say about the circumstances under which they can charge that £30 admin fee?