Hertz paid dodgy fine then told me

BrightonBoy66

Hi,
We received a letter from Hertz saying they'd paid a £60 parking fine and had charged me a £42 admin fee. We were parked in an Inverness car park, had paid and displayed, returned in good time and there was no parking ticket.

The fine was issued by these scammers payments.townandcityparking.co.uk so should we go straight back to Hertz for a refund or try to go through the 'parking company'?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

pappa_golf

50 ways to tackle this , but why the hell did hertz pay a dormant company that is not listed as being in a ATA , https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/SC438115


yes , I know the links with smart

Half_way

you have not been fined and you should demand that hertz repay/refund you the amount in full, plus their admin charge.

safarmuk

This is becoming almost as common as the Residential Parking wheeze nowadays ... wow, its win-win for everyone but the hirer. The PPC gets paid, the car hire company coin in an "admin" charge ...

I will no longer buy a leasehold flat nor hire a car!

Seriously though, you need to check the T&Cs of your hire agreement and then go back and complain to Hertz. Instead of paying it they should have simply named you as hirer and passed the liability for the PCN onto you thus discharging their liabilities. Instead they chose to take the easy way out and pay it and pass it on without even a simple check.

I have seen a case where Europcar did this too.

Half_way

Seriously though, you need to check the T&Cs of your hire agreement and then go back and complain to Hertz. Instead of paying it they should have simply named you as hirer and passed the liability for the PCN onto you thus discharging their liabilities. Instead they chose to take the easy way out and pay it and pass it on without even a simple check.

Except that this was in Scotland where POFA doesn't apply.

As per above, check the Terms and conditions, if in doubt post them up here. then do a light complaint to Hertz to fish for some information

Dear Hertz, i have noticed that you have made a charge of £102 consisting of a £60 parking charge notice and £42 of your admin charges to my account relating to a parking charge notice issued by Town and City parking/Smart parking. I did not consent to this charge, and as such i would appreciate it if you can offer a full refund of all charges £60 parking charge notice plus £42 'admin' charge together with a full explanation as to what grounds you have for this erroneous charge.
I Also need to know if you are using the Protection of Freedoms act as a reason for the issuing of this charge.
I look forward to your response and apology as I do not appreciate having my time wasted in the next few working days.
I also reserve the right to charge yourselves an admin fee of £19 per hour should your answer not be satisfactory.

That should gleam some answers, as well as possibly tripping them up over the protection of freedoms act, as the POFa does not apply in Scotland, Hertz could be in trouble if they are using it as a method to extract money from people.

The_Deep

Is there no some sort of hire car trade body guidance on this to which you could refer them?.

pappa_golf

I would also be asking for a copy of the ticket , I smell a rat , you should see the companies number on the ticket , and check out if THAT company are in a ATA , etc etc , why should hertz use the name of a company that effectivly change its name to smart parking back in 2013 , and is at present a dorment company

Computersaysno

The_Deep wrote: »

Is there no some sort of hire car trade body guidance on this to which you could refer them?.

There is a trade body [BVRLA??]...and it will 100% support the hireco.


I know this because I know someone who had it happen to them. They eventually took the hireco to court and got the admin fee back....plus iirc £250 compensation.

Computersaysno

Op




Simply take the hireco to court...you should end up about £250-500 better off.

safarmuk

Except that this was in Scotland where POFA doesn't apply.

Ah yes missed that - good point.

So in Scotland the hire company can ignore it without any worry, it's just that they wont because they will not want all the letters and threats from the PPC and their debt recovery "friends".

liviboy

Just reply stating it was not a fine, but in fact a charge notice.

Ask for a refund of both the £60. If this is not forthcoming, a letter before action and then small claims (no MCOL in Scotland unfortunately).

They have breached their own Ts&Cs by charging you, it is an unauthorised debit from your card (which you can also take up with the card issuer).

They are entitled to their Admin charge as their Ts & Cs state clearly:

You are responsible for all fines, road tolls,
congestion charges and other similar charges
(including parking fines or charges) incurred
in relation to the vehicle during your rental.
Some of these will be sent to us for payment,
which we will pay and recover from you by way
of reimbursement. Alternatively, we may be
required to provide your details to the relevant
authority, who will contact you directly

Annex 1 which covers all these charges does in fact state "parking fine or charge"...

https://images.hertz.com/pdfs/RT_CHARGES_EU_EN.pdf

So whilst the £60 should not have been paid, they are within their rights to charge you an admin fee for "dealing" with the charge notice...