Query around furlough agreement

Thrugelmir

FuzzyDuck1 said:

Ive looked into this and my employer isn’t contractually allowed to deduct these as my contract doesn’t include these types of tickets.

I've never personally encountered a situation where employees aren't personally liable for reimbursing penalty charges incurred when using a company vehicle. As the Company itself has to pay the leasing company as it's technically their liability. Where charges are subsequently refunded then reimbursement is made to the employee. This is normally covered in the Company's policy for being granted the use of a company vehicle , irrespective of it's type. Not normally included in the terms of a contract of employment. 

FuzzyDuck1

Thrugelmir said:

FuzzyDuck1 said:

Ive looked into this and my employer isn’t contractually allowed to deduct these as my contract doesn’t include these types of tickets.

I've never personally encountered a situation where employees aren't personally liable for reimbursing penalty charges incurred when using a company vehicle. As the Company itself has to pay the leasing company as it's technically their liability. Where charges are subsequently refunded then reimbursement is made to the employee. This is normally covered in the Company's policy for being granted the use of a company vehicle , irrespective of it's type. Not normally included in the terms of a contract of employment. 

Hi, thanks. It’s because private car parking companies issue “parking charge notices “ which are unenforceable and is definitely not a “fine”. Instead these parking charge notices are a breach of contract invoice by a 3rd party. Penalty charge notices ARE a fine and legally enforceable by the authorities and therefore these can be paid by the hire company and claimed back but it also has a duty to pass these documents into the motorist without delay. Private car parks are based around contract law and so only a driver of the vehicle and the landowner can ever enter a contract. The lease hire companies know the difference between a private car parking operators “invoice” and an authority fine. The BVRLA to which they are a member state that private car parking tickets should not be paid and reclaimed and instead to notify the car parking company of the “hirer” or “lessee” details so they can either pay or appeal. By lease hire company’s paying, it takes a way the drivers statutory rights in appeal. In my case my wife was driving and had full permission to park on the car park in question by the landowner (she is insured on the company vehicle). It’s quite a simple but complex situation at the same time. Have a read into my forum thread surrounding this matter and you will get a greater understanding. Please note, I wouldn’t have condoned not paying or avoided paying if the parking charge notice was valid. In the events in my personal case surrounding this issue, Not only did my contract of employment or the company handbook not state that these types could be deducted from my salary but my wife isn’t a party to any contract with the lease hire company or my employer so they didn’t have her permission to deem her guilty of something and pay on her behalf - especially when the parking charge notices weren’t passed on within the allowed time to appeal them. Luckily when the matter was brought to my attention I immediately realised there had been an error and thankfully even after the 28 days allowed for appeal, The parking charge notices have been cancelled and refunded proving there never was any liability by anyone involved. Furthermore in my case, the lease hire company’s terms and conditions with my company didn’t state that these “parking charge notices” could be paid and reimbursed or did it say anywhere within that contract name the company who is registered keeper. There was a whole host of procedural processes errors too. 

1) the registered keeper who received the notice had no contract with my employer as it wasn’t named in it.
2) another company (not my employees lease hire company) invoiced my employers lease hire company passing on those charges (3+ weeks after the parking charge notice was received) with an admin fee (again also not named within the lease hire agreement)
3) my company’s lease hire company invoiced my company 3+ weeks after they were in receipt of their invoice from the previous company.
4) by the time my employer was notified of the parking charge notices, the allocated time for appeal had been and gone as it had been 47 days after the notices were received. 

5) only an individual could ever be liable for any such charges and that can only be decided by a judge. Companies can not be held accountable for these type of charges as stated in the PoFA 2012.

With the sheer amount of time it took my company to have been informed there was a problem, SIX parking charge notices had accumulated and the admin fees collectively for this part amounted to £210. If they had followed the code as set out in BVRLA in which they are a member, they should never have paid in the first place and reclaimed and only notified the parking company of the Hirers name and address so that this could be rectified between the hirer and the private car park operator. 

Also BVRLA states that any parking charge notices or penalty charge notices, fixed penalties etc MUST be forwarded on immediately to ensure a fair outcome to the motorist. 

As you will see from the above they failed to do that.