PE Invoice - Paid By Lease Company (No Help Needed)

DoaM

I don't need any help with this - just posting for info.

I've just received an email from fleet management, advising that the lease company for my company car have paid a £40 charge to Parking Eye in respect of an alleged overstay at the Asda Hamilton car park (i.e. Scotland). I have responded robustly to deny any liability for the charge (explaining all the reasons why, including the fact that the company Car Policy specifically mentions fines and penalties, not invoices (charges)), and that if they proceed to deduct the charge from my salary I'll raise a formal grievance.

Watch this space.

fisherjim

Had the same thing once with our company's lease Co.


One of my staff got a notice of a charge back for a fine from Camden Council for driving in a bus lane.



The issue was there was no bus lane in the street quoted, and it was timed at 3:15PM and the bus lane restrictions didn't kick in until 4PM.


They tried to claim their money back from Camden, not a chance, and I stuck out that they would get nowhere trying to stop the charge from his salary.


He never got charged.



They say they are trying to stop escalation, the reality is they are just lazy.

DoaM

Had the expected vanilla reply from Fleet management:

Many thanks for your Email and the information provided however both ourselves and the lease company follow the procedures set out by [Company].

The lease company will invoice [Company] who will then manage the process internally.

By paying Parking Eye your legal right to appeal has not been denied. Payment is not an admittance of guilt therefore you are able to appeal directly to Parking Eye. Should your appeal be successful and proof provided the lease company will be able to request a credit

They obviously don't know what they're talking about, so I responded with:

Parking Eye do not consider appeals once a PCN is paid – the horse has bolted by that point. An appeal is pointless anyway – almost all appeals are rejected regardless of the circumstances. (See various online sources).

The point I was making, which you have possibly misunderstood, is that the Car Policy does not allow for charges which are not fines or penalties to be charged to the employee. Please read again the section I pointed out. The PCN from Parking Eye is an invoice from a private company – it is not a fine or penalty from an issuing authority.

If the charge is deducted from my salary then I will raise a grievance as the company will be acting in breach of the car policy.

For info, the Car Policy says this:

Charges and Fines
Company drivers are responsible for paying all parking, speeding or other fines. Such fines must not be left unpaid as this will result in the authorities taking action against the Company. The Company will deduct any fines or penalties direct from the employee’s salary.

The_Deep

As the car hire company appear to have breached the terms of the contract you might wish to complain to the regulator, (if they are a member).

https://www.carleasingmadesimple.com/the-bvrla/

and to Trading Standards

and even your MP

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.

DoaM

It's OK TD - I don't need your copy/paste response.

The car policy is that of my company - that's the only contractual obligation I have. The terms of the contract between my company and the lease company are irrelevant to me - it would be for my company to complain to the BVRLA, not me.

PS - Fleet have washed their hands of this so I've asked them to confirm to whom the salary deduction request will be presented, so I can forewarn them that they'll be in breach of my employment contract by doing so.

Coupon-mad

The most important point is, this was in Scotland so they CANNOT be heard to say:

Such fines must not be left unpaid as this will result in the authorities taking action against the Company.

Errrm, no it wouldn't.

Might be fun as part of this grievance, to ask them to explain on what basis they think ParkingEye would have taken action against the company?

No giving them any clues.

Then let them to fall into the POFA 2012 hole, and hand them a spade to keep digging!

The_Slithy_Tove

Be careful how far you push this. It depends very much on your relationship with the company and fleet management. There was a case a few years ago (on Pepipoo, I think), where much the same happened, the poster pushed back in a similar manner. He ended up losing his job (having to quit rather than being sacked). Although it was probably contrary to employment legislation, when has that ever stopped an employer making life so uncomfortable for an employee that they just quit?

Only you can know how far it's safe to push.

DoaM

Warning noted, but I know how far I can push this ... if they want to make my life difficult I'll just up and leave - and leave them to deal with the fallout of trying to cover all the projects I'm managing. I can easily approach any of my current customers and find a position there - the Oil & Gas / process control sector doesn't have a huge talent pool and my reputation in it is good.

fisherjim

The_Slithy_Tove wrote: »

Be careful how far you push this. It depends very much on your relationship with the company and fleet management. There was a case a few years ago (on Pepipoo, I think), where much the same happened, the poster pushed back in a similar manner. He ended up losing his job (having to quit rather than being sacked). Although it was probably contrary to employment legislation, when has that ever stopped an employer making life so uncomfortable for an employee that they just quit?

Only you can know how far it's safe to push.

Well that's 'constructive dismissal' I'm sure.

DoaM wrote: »

Warning noted, but I know how far I can push this ... if they want to make my life difficult I'll just up and leave - and leave them to deal with the fallout of trying to cover all the projects I'm managing. I can easily approach any of my current customers and find a position there - the Oil & Gas / process control sector doesn't have a huge talent pool and my reputation in it is good.

Make sure you keep a log of everything to use against them if need be. My boss taught me this he was a vindictive B****** but always won..... until they made him redundant:rotfl:

The_Deep

Warning noted, but I know how far I can push this ...

Read my signature.

DoaM

Well - it's now 2 months later and no sign of any deduction having been attempted to my salary.