No Stopping Hire Car Fine

ecuador1

Hello - I have recently received a fine via a hire car that I rented with Sixt. The fine claims the car stopped in a 'no stopping' zone - this was for the purposes of dropping somebody off and picking them up shortly after - I was stationary for a matter of seconds one each occasion. The only 'evidence' attached is a photograph that shows the front of the car only - no indication of surroundings or it being stopped in any capacity. 
A notice to keeper has been issued to Sixt, from UKCPS with the date of notice 16th June. I am now waiting for a notice to be posted to my address. Sixt have already charged me £40 from my debit card for admin fees.
Is the next step to wait until the post arrives at my address (Sixt have stated this will indicate a 'new payment deadline') and then appeal when it arrives, or should I be waiting for 21 days to elapse to do this regardless of the post arriving or not? Is Esna Basher's wording on the forum below the appropriate  wording to be using when I am appealing? And is it wise to keep Sixt out of the loop until the charge is hopefully withdrawn, in which case I would hope to request the admin fee back? Many Thanks!
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5381275/late-arrive-of-pcn-for-leased-vehicle-highview-parking

Half_way

this is not a fine and it  is critically important that you do not refer to it as such, especially when dealing with the hire company.
Where was the parking charge notice issued? (ie airport, shopping centre, railway starting etc)

ecuador1

The parking charge was issued for a road behind Piccadilly train station in Manchester - behind gateway house and not actually in a car park (the site location is simply given as 'Gateway House Piccadilly'). There are some signs that state 'no stopping' with a statement of a £100 penalty along the road   - as stated the car only stopped for a few seconds to let a passenger out and then collect them and there is only a picture of the front of the car as 'proof'. 

D_P_Dance

It is not a fine, it is an invoice from an ex-clamper to compensate them for the alleged harm they suffered when you did what you did. We call it a scam. Pay them not a penny unless a judge so orders it.

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP., it can cause the scammer extra costs and work, and in some cases, cancellation. 

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, 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,

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

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

MistyZ

ecuador1 said:

The parking charge was issued for a road behind Piccadilly train station in Manchester - behind gateway house and not actually in a car park (the site location is simply given as 'Gateway House Piccadilly'). There are some signs that state 'no stopping' with a statement of a £100 penalty along the road   - as stated the car only stopped for a few seconds to let a passenger out and then collect them and there is only a picture of the front of the car as 'proof'. 

Wait for other views but to me this sounds like a case for Edna!  

I didn't read the whole thread you linked to in your opening post but saw that it was very old.  There are links to 3 Edna Basher hire car first appeals on the first page of the Newbies' thread under this heading: '* COMPANY, LEASE OR HIRE CARS ANYWHERE IN THE UK'.

Fruitcake

MistyZ is correct. You should be using one of the edna basher hire/lease car appeal templates from the first post of the NEWBIES when the NTH arrives on your doormat. There are three such templates but one is for fleet managers, so the one you want will be one of the other two.
Adapt the relevant one accordingly and send it from The Hirer. Do not reveal the driver's identity under any circumstances. 

Thoroughly read paras 13 and 14 of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act (PoFA) 2012 which is linked from the NEWBIES or can be found using a search engine. The scammers must provide you with copies of the hire agreement amongst other things within the timescales given in the PoFA. Wait until a couple of days before the appeal deadline, or after the PoFA timescales have passed before appealing. You can then add a one liner to the edna basher template that the scammers have failed to hold the hirer/lessee liable so should cancel the charge immediately to save themselves money.

Have a look at this thread about this location as loads of people have been caught out by this scam.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6071461/ukcps-no-stopping-parking-charge/p1

This one was another hire/lease car case.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6103740/lease-car-ukcps-gateway-house-piccadilly-manchester-already-paid/p1

Don't forget to complain to your MP about this unregulated scam.

Umkomaas

There is already a very long thread running on this issue at Piccadilly, so please have a thorough read of it and look at the advice issued there. There have been dozens of victims of this UKCPS trap. The main point is you will not be paying anything if you follow our advice. 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6071461/ukcps-no-stopping-parking-charge/p1

Coupon-mad

Join the long thread please. 

We can't deal with these UKCPS 'no stopping' scam ones like this, they are all the same so we have a group thread.

ecuador1

My initial plan was to appeal the decision and ignore future correspondence inducing debt collectors notices and just wait to see if it goes to court which I understand is unlikely - the problem being that in my specific case I am looking to retrieve the admin fee of £40 from Sixt. I understand that given these threads are aimed more at private parking companies that this might be something I cannot receive help with - if I actually had a successful appeal then I could turn around to Sixt and demonstrate this which would surely see my Admin fee returned...but if the plan is to appeal, have it rejected then wait for court papers that are unlikely to ever arrive then any return on the admin fee seems unlikely?

D_P_Dance

- the problem being that in my specific case I am looking to retrieve the admin fee of £40 from Sixt.

This fee may well be unawful depending on the T&C of the hire agreement as these  charges are neither fines nor penalties, They  are invoices for alleged breaches of contract, and are of no value unless validated by a County Court Judge.  Much depends on how the contract is worded, read these.  Please post the actual wording WRT admin charges.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5063387/bpa-and-bvrla-agreement-over-hire-cars-and-pcns

https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/fleet-leasing/news/latest-fleet-leasing/2016/12/22/bvrla-signs-agreement-with-ipc-to-aid-processing-and-securing-payment-of-pcns

ecuador1

Seems I will have to dive into the T&Cs around this then - what exactly would I be looking for? Only wording provided by Sixt is as follows (have censored number plate date and time and parking charge reference);
Attached please find the invoice for the processing fee regarding your traffic violation.
Administrative Fee: Total: 40.00 GBP 40.00 GBP ========= The amount will be debited from your credit card account. During your rental, an infringement was committed with the vehicle (number plate) on (date and time) hours (ref. 'parking charge reference'). The handling fee of this invoice applies according to our T&C for the processing of the ticket and does not cover the fine amount. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY: Sixt has not paid this fine. To settle the payment, the authority will contact you by regular mail with a new payment deadline. Please do not pay the fine before you receive the ticket issued on your name. For questions or appeals, please contact the authority. For any other questions, please contact us at fines-uk@sixt.com.