Lease car - "parking charge" invoice

jiggy2

taffy056 wrote: »

Why stop at a LBA? their own terms and conditions doesn't allow for this, they are breaking their own agreement, and trust me they know they are, these companies just want the admin charge. Tell them that you will issue against them, you will get your money back if you are determined to do so. Also I surge you to read the pepipoo thread I linked to for you.

Thanks for this.

I will have a read of the thread on pepipoo.

The_Slithy_Tove

bazster wrote: »

I fear it's your employer you are going to have to fight over this, and if you are willing to do that then best start before they make the deduction from your salary.

Check carefully your contract of employment, and also whatever agreement you signed/agreed to when you took on the company car. Do they allow for such salary deductions? If not, your employer will be in breech of your employment contract, and could be looking at an industrial tribunal.

jiggy2

bazster wrote: »

Thanks for clarifying.

My concern is this: it is not Hitachi who will take your money, it's your employer. The lease company can't make a deduction from your salary.

I fear it's your employer you are going to have to fight over this, and if you are willing to do that then best start before they make the deduction from your salary.

Agree re the lease company can't make a deduction from my salary - but they administer the car scheme (and the carflex policy says that I should refer any queries to the lease company).

And it sounds like the lease company have spoken to the car scheme manager at my company - who allegedly agreed with the lease company.The company I work for employs 10,000 people in the UK (so probably won't be willing to listen - but I have asked the lease company for the details of the person the claim they spoke to). Intend to send them the details mentioned in Taffy's reply.

taffy056

I think there is no need to actually involve your employer in this, the argument is with the lease company and the deduction they are making beyond the scope of their T&Cs. Though being pro-active with them would be a good thing, that is why showing them that this is not legal, and getting them onside will help put pressure on the lease company. Them paying the fake invoice is their problem, they know the advice from BVRLA as its been issued to all of them.

jiggy2

taffy056 wrote: »

Why stop at a LBA? their own terms and conditions doesn't allow for this, they are breaking their own agreement, and trust me they know they are, these companies just want the admin charge. Tell them that you will issue against them, you will get your money back if you are determined to do so. Also I surge you to read the pepipoo thread I linked to for you.

Reason (in my head) for stopping at LBA was that I wasn't sure how my employer would take it - whilst taking the lease company to small claims court would be fine I wouldn't want relationship with the employer to deteriorate over what in the scheme of things would be a relatively small amount (not saying £100 is a small amount - but whether it is big enough to !!!! off my only source of income).

jiggy2

taffy056 wrote: »

I think there is no need to actually involve your employer in this, the argument is with the lease company and the deduction they are making beyond the scope of their T&Cs. Though being pro-active with them would be a good thing, that is why showing them that this is not legal, and getting them onside will help put pressure on the lease company. Them paying the fake invoice is their problem, they know the advice from BVRLA as its been issued to all of them.

I think as a minimum sending the relevant individual at my company the pro forma letter from BVRLA might be a good idea. He/she if they have agreed with the lease company need to be educated with regards to what the trade association for lease companies says and even if that doesn't result in them being onside - hopefully will mean they don't interefere.

The_Slithy_Tove

jiggy2 wrote: »

The company I work for employs 10,000 people in the UK (so probably won't be willing to listen - but I have asked the lease company for the details of the person the claim they spoke to).

A company of that size clearly runs a large fleet, so they really ought to know better. I can't believe they've never come across this before.

jiggy2

The_Slithy_Tove wrote: »

A company of that size clearly runs a large fleet, so they really ought to know better. I can't believe they've never come across this before.

Well - out of the 10,000 people at a guess, say a third might be in the car scheme. I presume the company will have come across it before (then again not sure how many peole just pay the invoices) - but whether they would actually care enough to listen might be a different thing (which then leaves legal options such as small class court - and whether the amount is worth losing a job over - especially when they seem to make redundancies on a regular basis).

jiggy2

By the ways thank you all for your replies. It is helping me get some clarity in my mind on what I need to do next.

I need to get in touch with the relevant individual at my company in the next day or so.

taffy056

Obviously you need to tread carefully with this, that is why trying to get your company onside could be a thing to do, print out the fleetnews article in my first post and take whatever bvrla info you have. And sit down with the fleet manager and show him this.

The argument though is with the lease company specifically they are acting beyond their legal rights, and you would need to take as much action as possible there. Can I ask is the vehicle lease in your name on behalf of your company ?