icanhire van rental - watch out for parking fines!

CraggyRockFace

I have kind of realised that this is all my fault, but perhaps it can serve as a warning to others.

Needing some bulky DIY equipment I hired a van for a single hour from icanhire.com, at the very reasonable rate of just under £10. This is a very modern way of hiring cars and vans - they are parked in various locations on public roads, and you simply book one near to your house, and then it is remotely unlocked at the start of your rental period. Then at the end you park the vehicle as close as possible to where it was picked up, call a number, and it is remotely locked. Highly technological and cheap if you only need it for a short period.

When I dropped off my van, the spot I had taken it from was filled by another car, so I parked it a little further away near the corner of the road. However a week after my rental I was contacted by icanhire saying that I had parked the van partially across a dropped curb and that there were three parking tickets on the van. Adding up the cost of three £65 tickets, the £35 admin charge and £108 call out charge from icanhire to to move the van to a new location, I was suddenly looking at just shy of £350 for my "bargain" £10 an hour rental! All to be taken directly from my credit card.

The problem is that hire vehicles could be left unattended for days or weeks before they are hired again, leaving unsuspecting people like me building up hundreds of pounds worth of parking fines. Any users of this service need to be aware that if they do not park correctly then they could be in for a very large bill, depending on how long the parking infringement is left undiscovered. I understand this is a new way of hiring vehicles, but I think that icanhire need to look at a way to mitigate the costs incurred if you make a parking mistake. I am happy to pay a parking fine proportionate to my misdemeanour, but I dread to think how much I would have been charged had the van been left undiscovered for weeks!

bod1467

They do have that scenario covered in their T&CS.

http://icanhire.com/terms.php

You are responsible for all parking charges and the observance of all road traffic legislation. In the event that we, as the vehicle’s owner, receive a fixed penalty charge notice, WHERE THAT NOTICE ALLOWS, we will advise the relevant authority of the hirer’s details. It is the hirer’s sole responsibility to challenge the legitimacy of the ticket. We will levy an administration charge of £35 +vat which you authorise us to debit against the credit / debit / switch card used for the original rental.

Where we receive notice of a road traffic offence where we as vehicle owner are responsible for payment of the penalty, this will be paid and this charge together with an administration charge of £35 +vat will be charged to the credit / debit / switch card used for the original rental.

George_Michael

CraggyRockFace wrote: »

Any users of this service need to be aware that if they do not park correctly then they could be in for a very large bill, depending on how long the parking infringement is left undiscovered.

Surely any car driver should be aware that they face the possibility of parking fines for not parking correctly irrespective of whether the vehicle concerned is a rental car or their own personal car.

ThumbRemote

George_Michael wrote: »

Surely any car driver should be aware that they face the possibility of parking fines for not parking correctly irrespective of whether the vehicle concerned is a rental car or their own personal car.

I think their point was not that they could get a fine, but that they could get multiple fines:

The problem is that hire vehicles could be left unattended for days or weeks before they are hired again, leaving unsuspecting people like me building up hundreds of pounds worth of parking fines.

dors01

Hi CraggyRockFace,

Thanks for the useful information, I have seen these types of rental vehicles near me and will probably have need for one in the near future, I will definitely read their terms carefully after reading your post:beer:

peter_the_piper

Go onto the parking forum for help. Were all the tickets the same day? Also try pepipoo.com if this forum can't help.

dodger1

Out of curiosity how do they check for damage to the returned vehicle?

mije1983

dodger1 wrote: »

Out of curiosity how do they check for damage to the returned vehicle?

When you collect your vehicle you should inspect it for any damage that is not already listed on the Vehicle Condition Report which is to be found in the glove box. If there is additional damage, this should be reported immediately by phone. You must report this damage BEFORE YOU MOVE THE VEHICLE. It is always best to avoid later accusations of damage to take some photo images of the damage on the vehicle showing the registration number of the van.

Their bolding.

dodger1

mije1983 wrote: »

Their bolding.

That's ok but how soon do they check the vehicle when you park it after you've finished. You may leave it in pristine condition but it can be damaged after you've left it and before they check it.

bod1467

Which probably means it's a good idea to take (and keep) photos of the vehicle after parking it, damage or no damage. So if they allege damage you can refute that with photographic evidence.

Fool_No_Longer

Me too. I fell into the trap of not reading the small print and assuming that any vehicle hire firm would pass on PCN's in a timely fashion. I have more recently discovered just how apathetic, not to say pugilistic, their staff can be and how disgraceful their tactics are. When you buy the cheap, it is almost always dear. When you sink to the depths, prepare to meet the denizens there.