Hire Car False Parking Ticket

Jams91

Back in June I had a hire car for a week and I took it to work (hotel car park, Parking Eye controlled). I foolishly forgot to get it registered on the staff system.

In August I got 2 PE tickets through my door and the hire company (Albany Assistance) took £60 x 2 out of my bank as an administration charge for the tickets.

I went to my employer who got PE to revoke the tickets- fine

I called Albany to ask for a refund on £120 given they were not valid parking tickets, but they refused as they have had to do admin work and said PE should refund me £120 not them.

What can I do? Thanks

Tilt

Check the T & C's on the rental agreement. No doubt somewhere there will be a clause relating to parking and speeding tickets etc. What this means is that they charge an admin fee to deal with OFFICIAL parking penalties/fines. If either of those words are used then they blow their own argument out of the water as the tickets were NOT fines or penalties but merely speculative invoices which they could of simply diverted to you anyway.

As such, you should write a letter asking for a full refund of the admin charges due to the fact that their terms and conditions do not relate to private parking matters.

bazster

When you say "the hire company (Albany Assistance) took £60 x 2 out of my bank", how did they do this?

Jams91

bazster wrote: »

When you say "the hire company (Albany Assistance) took £60 x 2 out of my bank", how did they do this?

They took my DD details when I got the hire car (car was provided because I was in a non-fault accident so I shouldn't have paid a penny) and they debited £120 from my account without my knowledge.

Jams91

Tilt wrote: »

Check the T & C's on the rental agreement. No doubt somewhere there will be a clause relating to parking and speeding tickets etc. What this means is that they charge an admin fee to deal with OFFICIAL parking penalties/fines. If either of those words are used then they blow their own argument out of the water as the tickets were NOT fines or penalties but merely speculative invoices which they could of simply diverted to you anyway.

As such, you should write a letter asking for a full refund of the admin charges due to the fact that their terms and conditions do not relate to private parking matters.

Here's their T&C, what do you think?

19. You must pay all road tolls, penalties, impounded vehicle charges, infringements,
congestion charges or any other charges imposed by statute or otherwise relating to
the way in which the Hire Vehicle is used, driven or parked

20. You must pay the Lessor on demand (i) the cost of the Lessor providing or
arranging roadside assistance (except where it is provided to rectify or deal with a
matter that is the Lessor’s liability under this agreement) (ii) for any of the costs set out
in clause 19 which the Lessor has paid on Your behalf and (iii) an administration fee of
£50 plus VAT for each occasion it deals with a damage claim relating to the Hire
Vehicle or receives a charge and/or penalty or notification of any of them and each
time the Lessor demands payment from You in respect of payments due under this
agreement other than Charges.

bazster

Your signing a DD mandate doesn't give them the right to debit your account willy-nilly without notifying you first. They must give you advance notice of collection dates and amounts (which, in this instance, would've given you the opportunity to cancel the DD mandate and dispute the charges). For example, if you pay your electricity bill by DD the amount you pay varies with each bill, but they still tell you each time, in advance, how much money they are going to take and when.

Since it appears that Albany failed to notify you, you could now tell your bank that the debits were made without your knowledge or agreement. The bank is obliged to refund your money and will themselves get it back from Albany. Make sure you cancel the DD mandate with your bank.

As to whether the admin fees are actually payable under clause 20(iii), I couldn't say because the clause is so badly worded I can't make head nor tail of it.

Jams91

bazster wrote: »

Your signing a DD mandate doesn't give them the right to debit your account willy-nilly without notifying you first. They must give you advance notice of collection dates and amounts (which, in this instance, would've given you the opportunity to cancel the DD mandate and dispute the charges). For example, if you pay your electricity bill by DD the amount you pay varies with each bill, but they still tell you each time, in advance, how much money they are going to take and when.

Since it appears that Albany failed to notify you, you could now tell your bank that the debits were made without your knowledge or agreement. The bank is obliged to refund your money and will themselves get it back from Albany. Make sure you cancel the DD mandate with your bank.

As to whether the admin fees are actually payable under clause 20(iii), I couldn't say because the clause is so badly worded I can't make head nor tail of it.

Cheers

Albany did post me a letter to tell me that they were taking money from my account, but this letter was received after I noticed money leaving the bank- so technically they have notified me, although not till I had had the money taken.

Also this was early August, so have I left it too late to act with my bank? Thanks

bazster

Jams91 wrote: »

Cheers

Albany did post me a letter to tell me that they were taking money from my account, but this letter was received after I noticed money leaving the bank- so technically they have notified me, although not till I had had the money taken.

So they didn't notify you. They must notify you in advance, usually at least 10 days in advance.

Jams91 wrote: »

Also this was early August, so have I left it too late to act with my bank? Thanks

No.

Banks will usually refund DD's without question upon receipt of a complaint, because the mechanisms exist for them to easily claw back the money themselves. Pretty stupid way for Albany to arrange this really, most hire companies do it by credit card which makes it rather harder for the hirer to get his money back.

Jams91

bazster wrote: »

So they didn't notify you. They must notify you in advance, usually at least 10 days in advance.



No.

Thanks, I call my bank then about the 2 unauthorized payments then

bazster

Please note that although this will almost certainly get your money back you might then have a fight on your hands with Albany, who will most likely argue that you still owe them the money under clause 20(iii).

Jams91

bazster wrote: »

Please note that although this will almost certainly get your money back you might then have a fight on your hands with Albany, who will most likely argue that you still owe them the money under clause 20(iii).

Their administration charge is invalid though as Parking Eye withdrew their parking ticket.