Hire Car admin fees - no PCN forwarded

tomo10_2

A couple of months ago I was supplied a hire car while my own was being repaired.

Two weeks ago, I received an email receipt from the hire company saying that they had charged me £60 inc. VAT stating "Penalty Charge Notice". Aside from the PCN number, there were no other details whatsoever.

I called them to query this and they said that they'd received a PCN of a Bus Lane contravention for the car I'd hired, and this was their standard charge for 'handling' it. They stated that if I successfully appealed the PCN then they'd refund half of the charge.
This £60 charge does appear to be in the contractual small print, so I presumed that there was nothing I could do at that time, and would receive the redirected PCN in due course, at which point I could take appropriate action.

Yesterday I received a second receipt through the post, this time charging me another £60 plus a further line item of "Penalty Notice: £5", with the same PCN number.

There is again no further detail, so I still have no idea what this is for.

What do I do?
I have absolutely no idea what the PCN actually is, and have now had £125 taken from my account with no explanation.
I am fairly sure that this second charge is either unlawful or a breach of contract, because it refers to the same PCN number - surely they should have given the Council my details immediately?

The_Slithy_Tove

I think you'll find that the Ts&Cs of the car rental do allow them to pay real fines (which is what this is) and add an admin fee. They don't have to give the council your details - that is only for criminal matters like speeding. You could question the size of that fee, but you probably agreed to it at the time. From what you say, it seems like they've paid a fine of £60 plus their admin fee (which attreacts VAT). If they've taken the admin fee twice, then that's a separate issue, but it seems like it's just two receipts: one for the fine and one for the admin fee.

tomo10_2

Sorry, I was unclear. The line items on the two receipts are:

1st:
Total Administration Charges: £50 + VAT (£60)

2nd:
Total Administration Charges: £50 + VAT (£60)
Penalty Notice: £5

£5 seems an unlikely PCN amount, even paid early.
I don't want to leave the hire co (HelpHire/Albany Assistance) an open door to charge me again and again!

As you said, while the fee is pretty extortionate it was in the contract.

The_Slithy_Tove

Contact the rental company and insist that they provide you with consistent and sensible paperwork (complete with the PCN details). Otherwise you will put the second payment in dispute with your credit card company as a duplicate (as the PCN numbers are the same) and thus an unauthorised transaction, and you'll use THEIR paperwork as evidence of this. A threat like that may make them get their act in order.

Auxillis

Hi Tomo10,
Would you be able to send your customer reference number or car reg to onlineteam@albanyassistance.co.uk so we can get in touch with you regarding this issue.

Kind regards,
Online Team

Hot_Bring

albanyassistance wrote: »

Hi Tomo10,
Would you be able to send your customer reference number or car reg to [EMAIL="onlineteam@albanyassistance.co.uk"]onlineteam@albanyassistance.co.uk[/EMAIL] so we can get in touch with you regarding this issue.

Kind regards,
Online Team

Whilst one can't fail to commend you wanting to sort this out, I have to ask how you found this thread ?

PS - Please, please, please tell me your company doesn't fall for the 'private ticket' scam ?

Quentin

Hot_Bring wrote: »

.... I have to ask how you found this thread ?

They get a load of bad publicity elsewhere on MSE (and across the net) and have software that alerts them to any mention of their name so that they can do this type of damage limitation to try and get it moved offline.

Hot_Bring

Quentin wrote: »

They get a load of bad publicity elsewhere on MSE (and across the net) and have software that alerts them to any mention of their name so that they can do this type of damage limitation to try and get it moved offline.

My new signature might give them a bit of work to do then

The_Deep

My new signature might give them a bit of work to do then

It has certainly puzzled me, Western Australia?

Hot_Bring

The_Deep wrote: »

My new signature might give them a bit of work to do then

It has certainly puzzled me, Western Australia?

Note what has happened to your signature - sometimes you need to circumvent the rules slightly .... Google bots will still pick up the phrase.

The_Deep

Gotcha, very resourceful.


My own signature, which had been there for years, was Cockney Ryming Slang for a ladypart and was totally unacceptable on a family board. I knew this, but it took the MSE sleuths several years to twig.

Another board I used to use had several objections from misguided souls who thought that I supported foxhunting.

You never know how far you can go until you go too far.