PPC Car Hire Admin Charges

The_Edge

I have been in dispute with Avis over a number of issues. I have escalated them to a high level & I am pleased to say it is going well.

Everything has been resolved to my satisfaction, including all overpayments taken by them & the costs incurred by me refunded.

However, one thing is outstanding. They have charged me 30 GBP 'Admin Charge' for a PPC. They haven't paid it, just charged me for their 'Admin' in changing it into my name.

I have written most of the email telling them why this is nothing more than an unenforceable invoice.

But I am sure I read somewhere that they are in breach of my rights by giving my details to Parking Eye - is this correct?

I have found threads on here & Pepipoo that discuss this but only when the hire Company pays the invoice. Any advice on when they simply charge you the Admin fee? If the hire Company can just charge Admin fees for any old invoice they receive surely this is open to massive abuse!

Thanks!

Guys_Dad

They are not in breach of anything by telling a PPC who the hirer is. They did you a good turn by not paying the PPC and charging you.

As for the administration fee for responding to the PPC - see their t&c.

The_Edge

Guys_Dad wrote: »

They are not in breach of anything by telling a PPC who the hirer is. They did you a good turn by not paying the PPC and charging you.

As for the administration fee for responding to the PPC - see their t&c.

The T & Cs are as follows, Renter must pay blah, blah:
'On demand, all fines and court costs for parking, traffic or other offences (including any costs which arise if the vehicle is clamped). The Renter acknowledges and accepts that it is responsible for paying the appropriate authority or company for any such charges and costs. Avis shall, where reasonably practical use its reasonable endeavours to transfer all fine or charges in relation to any parking, traffic or other offences to the Renter, together with all relevant information relating to the claim, and the Renter will be responsible for an administration charge of 25 GBP plus VAT to compensate Avis for its costs in dealing with such matters.'

What I basically want to know is there anything here that I could contest? With these 'invoices' applied by these Cowboys this is open to massive abuse.

Why should I pay an admin charge for what is a speculative invoice. It is not enforceable under any statutory laws in this country in the way of any fine or penalty, it is purely a civil matter. l have not contravened any statutory laws, traffic or otherwise - or committed any offence. (I am using these phrases from old threads - has the position changed??).

Finally, what is the up to date BVRLA advice to its members (AVIS is a member) regarding these invoices?

Thanks!

Coupon-mad

You are entitled to ask for a breakdown of that cost, since you 'wish to dispute that Avis have got involved' and charged for a private invoice which isn't a fine nor an offence. Remind Avis that, despite having randomly included the words 'authority or company' as some sort of attempt at a catch-all term, their t&cs seem to relate to fines (which this is not) but to change £30 for a letter is broadly comparable to the penalty charges that credit card operators were forced to wind back to a typical £12 for a letter.

Was this is England/Wales?

I assume you are challenging the fake PCN if so and can win at POPLA?

I suspect there's a final referral for this charge (Financial Ombudsman maybe)? And that would be up to Avis to tell you about. So complain and ask whether they are answerable to an Ombudsman Service in respect of this punitive 'charge'.

The_Edge

Thanks CM - this is brilliant!

It was in England.

I am in direct contact with someone quite senior in Avis, so I am mailing them now disputing the charge in the first place - mainly over the difference between an 'offence' that they refer to & speculative invoices (I read a similar post you replied to a few hours ago).

If that fails - I will go in the direction you suggest.

Re the PCN - I know you will be mad at me, but I am old school with these things & always been an ignore & they will go away person. It has always worked.

I travel a lot & don't have the time with their nonsense, I guess when I do one day get Court papers it will mean more work, but my New Years resolution will be to deal with new ones thru POPLA.

A couple of questions:
As I said, I have never been taken to Court. This particular one they have sent me 3 letters the last one being a FINAL NOTICE (not a before Action - I understand the difference!!). We are talking about a 2 1/2 hour stay at a Motorway Service at 2am for Gods sake!! What are the chances they will go the whole way & pursue this? What percentage of the invoices go that far these days with the change in the law?

Also, if I do leave it - should it go to Court, I assume that I would still be pretty confident that I would win in this sort of situation? It's laughable.

I understand its slightly more hassle, but hopefully more costly for the PPC as well??

Thanks in advance!

Guys_Dad

Might have missed it but who is the PPC?

On your general stance on parking charges and court, please don't take this the wrong way, but if you don't take the time to prepare better than your last post implies you will not win.

The_Edge

It's Parking Eye.

When I put my mind to it, I am very good with these things

I do actually have an update already from Avis. As I said I sent a detailed email about 'speculative invoices' (I can post here if someone wants to see it) at 3:22am.

I got a reply at 8:53am - Thank you for your email.

Our Terms and Conditions (attached) do state that you are responsible for parking fines (section 6 (d) applies) and that an administration fee of £25.00 plus vat will be charged for our administration costs in dealing with these fines. Upon signing your rental agreement you have agreed to abide by these terms and conditions, therefore the administration fee is valid.

However, in view of the other issues experienced on this occasion, I have refunded this fee as a gesture of goodwill. The amount of £30.00 will reflect as a credit on your account in the next 5 - 7 working days.

Thank you for taking the time to write to us bout your recent experience allowing us to investigate the issues you have raised and improve the service for all of our customers. I trust my reply now addresses the issues you raised.


Obviously, she did not read my mail (as I disputed section 6 d - as they refer to 'offence'), but bottom line - RESULT! :j


Regarding my points from my previous post, I would be interested to hear CMs comments.

Thanks again, guys!!

Guys_Dad

You can either leave it at that or reply to Avis thanking them but drawing their attention to the fact that private parking charges are not fines, and copy the section from the BPA Code of Practice on misrepresentation where they clearly state that these are not to be defined as or called fines.

jet27_2

I am in a similar predicament. I have been charged a £30 admin fee to forward my details to a local council in relation to a PCN. Only difference is they do not advertise the costs of the admin charge anywhere in the T&Cs or on their website. Indeed not even in the letter did they state how much they were charging, I only found out the amount by checking my credit card statement! Do I have a case here?

EHBA

jet27 wrote: »

I am in a similar predicament. I have been charged a £30 admin fee to forward my details to a local council in relation to a PCN. Only difference is they do not advertise the costs of the admin charge anywhere in the T&Cs or on their website. Indeed not even in the letter did they state how much they were charging, I only found out the amount by checking my credit card statement! Do I have a case here?

Best to start your own, new thread on this. I don't think we've seen any/many with this specific situation.

jet27_2

Thank you EHBA I will do just that.