Hire Car Parking Charge Process Fee Reimbursement

Royal_Pollen

Hi,

My girlfriend was recently unfairlry charged £90 for a 11 min overstay in a Lidl Car Park. Lidl denied it had anything to do with them - which is bizarre - but 'Athena the Parking Charge Pirates' relented and dropped the charge once challenged with some of the advice given on this site.

My question to this forum is however:

The car driven was a hire car. Enterprise, the hiring company, charged my girlfriend a £35 processing fee.

So, as the original parking charge was found invalid can she claim the processing fee back from Enterprise with Enterprise having to redeem the £35 from Athena?

Thanks for your consideration.

Royal Pollen

Umkomaas

So, as the original parking charge was found invalid can she claim the processing fee back from Enterprise

She can try - check the small print in the hire contract. A number of hire companies offer reimbursement in the event of a successful appeal to the PPCs.

with Enterprise having to redeem the £35 from Athena?

That's their problem, not yours, I wouldn't worry about it. I think their chance of recovering a penny from Athena lies somewhere along the continuum Nil to Zero.

Royal_Pollen

Umkomaas wrote: »

She can try - check the small print in the hire contract. A number of hire companies offer reimbursement in the event of a successful appeal to the PPCs.

Thanks Umkomaas. I'm sure you're right about this but my question is slightly different.

It's not so much about what the contract my girlfriend signed with Enterprise says but what English Common Law says. Let me clarify. Had my girlfriend left her purse in the car and they had found it, Enterprise would have legally been required to give it back even if there was a clause in their contract that read 'Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers'.

You can't write a contract in contradiction of Common Law. It's an illegal & consequently unenforceable contract.

So, my question remains, are Enterprise allowed under Common Law to charge my girlfriend a processing fee for a charge that was subsequently found to be incorrect and possible unlawful? Even if they do have a clause in their contract that says they can do whatever they like and damn the little people.

If that's the case then the next time an Enterprise rented car cuts me up I'll send them an invoice for offending me and see if they charge their customer a £35 processing fee.

In effect Enterprise are in cahoots with Athena as they are making a profit from the charge. It doesn't cost them £35 to reply to Athena.

To complete my rant :mad: these parking charge companies are nothing but sharks and bullies trying to get away with what they can. They dropped my girlfriends charge at first complaint in case it ended up in court and a precedent set meaning they couldn't continue bullying unsuspecting drivers.

Umkomaas wrote: »

That's their problem, not yours, I wouldn't worry about it. I think their chance of recovering a penny from Athena lies somewhere along the continuum Nil to Zero.:)

Absolutely, but I'd love to be fly a on the wall during that phone call between the lawyers.

KeithP

Royal_Pollen wrote: »

So, my question remains, are Enterprise allowed under Common Law to charge my girlfriend a processing fee for a charge that was subsequently found to be incorrect and possible unlawful?

Yes they can.

I hope that helps.

nosferatu1001

Yes, of course they can
There charging you for the admin. Of course, £35 is excessive an includes a profit element, and is likely itself unlawful. But the concept of charging a fee for performing admin, regardless of the legality of the reason for the admin, is settled and you're on a hiding to nothing

So, do as told. Or not.

Umkomaas

Thanks Umkomaas. I'm sure you're right about this but my question is slightly different.

It's not so much about what the contract my girlfriend signed with Enterprise says but what English Common Law says. Let me clarify. Had my girlfriend left her purse in the car and they had found it, Enterprise would have legally been required to give it back even if there was a clause in their contract that read 'Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers'.

You can't write a contract in contradiction of Common Law. It's an illegal & consequently unenforceable contract.

So, my question remains, are Enterprise allowed under Common Law to charge my girlfriend a processing fee for a charge that was subsequently found to be incorrect and possible unlawful? Even if they do have a clause in their contract that says they can do whatever they like and damn the little people.

You seem to be seeking legal advice about Common Law on a private parking forum. If you really are seeking definitive legal advice (rather than opinion), then you must talk to a lawyer.

Not sure why you are asking for legal advice here - it's really not what we do.

[Deleted User]

However the o/p looks at it, the hire company have been put to additional admin and the hirer agrees to pay that if required.

The better argument would've been to counterclaim against Athena for the relevant sum as a consequential loss, had the litigation got that far.

I'm also not sure it follows that the original charge was found invalid. It may have been, but strictly speaking, there could be a myriad of reasons as to why the PPC withdrew their claim.

DW190

Check the rental agreement. Enterprise agreements used to say Police and Council Tickets would attract an admin fee. If there is no mention of PPC's or anything relating other organisations in the terms then its an unauthorised debit.

Royal_Pollen

Great! That's all really good advice.

I'll check the rental agreement in detail and approach Enterprise and see what they say. I'll also be writing to Athena to claim the £35 back - which should be fun.

I doubt my girlfriend will see her £35 but the only response to bullies is to stand up to them. These PPC's business model seems to be, intimidate the public into paying up regardless of the legitimacy of the situation.

I imagine someone even more outraged than myself must be taking this through the courts. Weren't they stopped using clamps by someone?

Half_way

As above check the rental agreement/terms carefully, if possible post them up on here, and before you contact enterprise post what you intend to say to them on here first, so that you can avoid unknowingly shooting yourself in the foot.
and never refer to the ticket as a fine or penalty when dealing with hire companys

The_Deep

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each year). They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

Hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned.

The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the HofC recently.

http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by Christmas.