PEEL Shopping centre Stockport

dovski

Good day everyone,

I've read through the newbie site again after my last charge was dropped having overslept at Wetherby services on the A1. Thx to the site for that experience! :beer:

Now, I hired a car and 'popped' into KFC for a bite to eat in the Peel centre at Stockport. There were road works etc at the entrance and I was driving a hire car carefully at night getting my tea before a contracted night shift.

Well, just had a £55 admin fee from the hire car company who passed me the PCN today via email copy. The PCN is dated 13/12/16.
I gather I am now waiting on the 'PCN plus hire agreement etc to be sent to me within 21 days of the date of the notification by the hire company to EXCELL Parking? Am I correct in stating this and should not establish contact in the meantime?

To complicate matters I am temporary resident here on contract work and live in Scotland...additionally, only yesterday I parked again to do some Christmas shopping and still at that time hadnt noticed a pay and display sign? SO, potentially I have another set of charges coming my way..merry christmas indeed..:A

Any advice gratefully received.

Dov

Guys_Dad

1. Lots of thread on here re Peel Centre. Search and read.

2. You live in Scotland. Doesn't the NEWBIES thread say something about that?? Hint - Yes ! Scotland is outside the English Courts jurisdiction and as long as the PPC doesn't know who was driving, you are safe.

dovski

Thanks for prompt response re jurisdiction..Only trouble is the hire car company have disclosed my details as the hirer to EXCELL..I'm the only named driver on their hire policy tho..?

Thx Again for response, ill read the PEEL threads..I'm off to KFC now to see if they'll get the first charge dropped. What is really annoying is the fact that these companies make WAY TOO EASY to have you in a breach of contract without even knowing. Who in their right mind would pay knowingly pay to pay and display then eat in KFC !!!!!!..it should just be outlawed as a means to charge by the courts. If there was a barrier or ticketing machine with 5mins grace period, there would be irrefutable evidence against you. As its such a covert system, how are you expected to accept the evidence? I'm thoroughly p....d off with the whole experience these days (been driving since 1980)..rant over, sorry

Umkomaas

Your main fight here is with the hire company for charging you an admin fee. You'll need to check your hire agreement and work from there, using research on here and on PePiPoo where there are many, many threads where hire companies have slapped on an unwarranted admin fee.

In Scotland you're bombproof. Even if Excel were handed driver details on a plate, the cost and complexity of chasing this through the courts means it's not going to happen. It doesn't mean they won't hassle you, including their debt collectors, maybe even solicitors, but the chances of them doing anything against you are vanishingly remote. This hassle could continue sporadically for 5 years (statutory limitation in Scotland), 6 years in England/Wales. You can safely ride this out, ignoring everything other than real court papers.

Of late, and a bit surprisingly, Peel have been cancelling tickets. There are two named contacts there to write to. Just do a search on recent Peel cases (last 3-4 weeks) and you'll get their names. If you can get them to cancel for you, that's the end of it, no further hassle. If they won't, then it's fasten your seatbelt for the ride ahead.

Fruitcake

The hire company will have named you as hirer, not driver, and you now await a POFA compliant notice to hirer which will never come because whater you get won't apply in Scotland.
A notice to driver must be handed to the driver or affixed to the car whilst the vehicle is stationary. The PPC can't send a NTD through the post as far as I recall from reading the POFA 2012.

The hire company had no business charging you such an extortionate admin fee. If they are members of the BVRLA they will know this. In any case, it is very likely that an admin fee (or paying the PCN on the hirer's behalf) is not mentioned in the Ts and Cs of the hire agreement for private parking tickets.
Usually these ae not covered and the hire agreement only covers fines and official parking tickets.

You should challenge this fee with the hire company. If you paid by credit card then you should put the charge into dispute with them.
Point out to the hire company that they were never liable, and neither are you as hirer/keeper on the day as the POFA 2012 does not apply (does not exist) to residents of Scotland.

dovski

Excellent replies, thanks to you both. I'm still in the area so I'll vist the hire company and KFC to dispute today. I'll post back and let you know what the outcome(s) are.
:money:

Umkomaas

When you discuss with the hire company, don't forget that 'penalties, road traffic infractions, council enforced tickets' (and similar descriptions in the agreement that they will charge you for) are nothing to do with private parking charges.

dovski

KFC and TKMAXX --tough luck mate they both said..just what I'd thought. EASIRENT werent any better..email address to contact head office but the hire agreement would stand. I made a point about disclosure of my details to a private company but they wouldnt comment..

Coupon-mad

You need to complain to Easirent further and say that the £55 is hugely disproportionate, not a fair or justifiable 'admin fee' for sending a letter to Excel (did they even do that?). A fair 'admin fee' has been found to be around £12 in fact, hence why Banks and credit card firms can only charge that sum for writing one letter. The same applies here and the Consumer Rights Act 2015 supports your view. Say you see that Easirent are regulated by the BVRLA and you intend to complain to the BVRLA formally about:

- the £55 unfair charge, which should surely only be around £12 for a few minutes admin and a standard letter

- the fact they have treated this as if it is a fine where Easirent had any liability. They did not have any potential liability. Tell them this is clearly a non-POFA worded 'private PCN', incapable of holding a owner/keeper liable (unlike some types). Easy to spot as it does not mention the POFA 2012, does not warn of any 'keeper liability' and just says they would assume the keeper is the driver (which a company body like Easirent, not being a person, cannot be). So Easirent were fooled by a driver-only PCN and merely needed to pass it to you.

Point all that out NOW to Easirent and threaten them with a BVRLA complaint and warn them about the second letter you are expecting to arrive (another non-POFA version from Excel) and that you will categorically reject any attempt to charge £55 a pop for handling this non-POFA rubbish.

Did the hire firm give your Scottish address? You need to find out urgently because that's the address you need Excel to use.

I would be writing to Excel by email anyway, giving your Scottish address, saying the 'PCN' has been passed to you as hirer and you wish to appeal because the driver was using KFC which has different signage offering free parking. And the signs at the Peel Centre are known to be unclear, with the P&D machines dark and hidden. DO NOT IMPLY WHO PARKED!!

How long was the car parked for? KFC has a sign offering 15 minutes which has to be added to the time taken to drive in and out, of course.

Half_way

Are these the terms and conditions: https://www.easirent.com/rental-terms/

Traffic Fines: If the vehicle receives a fine during the rental period, you will be responsible for full payment of the fine as well as a £55 traffic fine management fee per fine.
Out of Hours Charge: If the Pick Up or Drop Off time is outside the Rental Branches’ operating hours there will be a £30/hour fee.

The Excel charge is not a fine, and therefore is not covered, you should now be seeking a full refund for this from Easirent, make sure that you do not refer to it as a fine, penalty or anything other then a speculaitve invoice.
Also do the letters from /Excel parking meet the strict requiremetns of sch.4 of the protection of freedoms act?
If not then Easirent had no business passing your private details on to Excell

Umkomaas

Here are a couple of Easirent cases from over on PePiPoo. They won't provide you with instant solutions, but might give you some further ideas on handling this.

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=110319&hl=Easirent

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=92166&hl=Easirent