Lease Car Company Already Paid

BobSmith5

Hi all,

I was wondering if I could get some help with my situation. 

I regularly use a car park where I buy a ticket for 3 hours. I would usually enter the car park, wait until it's time for me to go in to the building, and then buy the ticket. I had been doing this for about 2 years and had no issues. I arrived earlier than planned, so had to wait a little more. 

A couple of weeks ago, my company received a parking ticket in my name. I was 18 minutes over the allocated limit from entry and exit. 
Entry: 15:00
Ticket purchased: 15:35 (3 hour ticket valid until 18:35)
Exit: 18:18

However, they automatically paid it. I suspect I will receive a second one due to similar circumstances. 

Since it has already been paid, is it still possible to appeal? My company have told me to appeal, but that if another one comes, they will automatically pay it again. 
The car park company is CPM. 

Edit: Just to add, my company have charged me an additional £25 admin fee on top of the ticket. 

Thank you. 

KeithP

You got a lot of help with your earlier ParkingEye problem back in 2018 but never did bother to report the conclusion.

BobSmith5

KeithP said:

You got a lot of help with your earlier ParkingEye problem back in 2018 but never did bother to report the conclusion.

Hi Keith,

Ah, I had forgotten to do that back then. That was resolved in my favour thanks to all the help.

Fruitcake

You can't appeal if the PCN has already been paid.

You need to read the lease terms and conditions to see what it says (and doesn't say) about paying PCNs from unregulated private parking companies. Some only mention fines and penalties from an authority, so check the small print.

Check if the lease company is a member of the BVRLA. Members of that trade association have been told not to pay private charges but to pass the hirer/lessee details to the PPC. This absolves them of any liability. They are permitted to charge the hirer/lessee for the privilege. Whether £25 is a reasonable amount is another matter.

Transferring liability to the hirer/lessee has been the law since 2012 when the PoFA was introduced.

D_P_Dance

If you company pay unsolicited invoces for alleged breaches of contract, that surely is their choice.  I trust they are not seeking re-imbursement from you? 

There is an MOU betwenen the BVLRA and the BPA which may be of interest., also this,

https://www.bvrla.co.uk/uploads/assets/12254736-9f95-4005-a69668daed82959d/Parking-Code-Enforcement-Framework-consultation-PAS-232.pdf

Fruitcake

D_P_Dance said:

If you company pay unsolicited invoces for alleged breaches of contract, that surely is their choice.  I trust they are not seeking re-imbursement from you? 

There is an MOU betwenen the BVLRA and the BPA which may be of interest., also this,

https://www.bvrla.co.uk/uploads/assets/12254736-9f95-4005-a69668daed82959d/Parking-Code-Enforcement-Framework-consultation-PAS-232.pdf

The PPC appears to be an IPC member, not BPA, but members of the BVRLA have been told not to pay PCNs but to pass hirer/lessee details to the PPC.

BobSmith5

Thank you both for the responses. 

So, firstly to mention, the company are claiming the costs back from me via salary deduction. This is after tax, and then if I manage to get it reimbursed, it will be taxed again. So, it's already frustrating.

Secondly, after checking the policy, it states that the fine is to be paid by myself, but if it is not, then the hire company will pay it and claim back costs plus admin. However, they paid it without giving me any notification of receiving it. After speaking with them, they said they will continue to do this. I have attached the section of the policy to see if I am misunderstanding anything. 

Fruitcake, the policy mentions BVRLA at the start, so I assume they are part of it. 

Since you're both saying that they should've passed on the fine to me, they should not be entitled to claim the costs from my salary? 

Again, appreciate the responses. 

KeithP

But the point is, and you need to be clear about this, there is no fine involved.

The paragraphs you have shown us is headed 33. Fixed Penalties/Fines.
The parking company do not issue either Fixed Penalties or Fines.

Further down there is mention of the issuing authority. 
There is no way any of these parking companies can be considered any kind of authority.

I also see in your latest post that you to have slipped into calling it a fine.
I'm not mentioning it as a criticism, but it is very important if you want to stand any chance beating these chancers (and that may include your leasing company) that you get it clear in your mind, and in any communication, that these are nothing more than speculative invoices.

So there is nothing in your lease agreement, or employment agreement, that allows your employer to deduct money from your pay to cover speculative invoices?


Just to add:
I am not suggesting we do this, but if you were to give me you car registration number (I don't even need to know your name) and I were to then write to the registered keeper on headed paper, just like those PCNs we can see all over the internet, would your employer send me some money too? They do seem quite gullible - but then again, why should they care - they just deduct it from your pay.

Thrugelmir

KeithP said:

So there is nothing in your lease agreement, or employment agreement, that allows your employer to deduct money from your pay to cover speculative invoices?

Normally will contained in the company policy document covering the provision of the car to the employee. Most companies have better things to do with their time than getting involved in disputes of any kind. Time is an expensive commodity. Nor is it productive. 

BobSmith5

Thank you. I just automatically referred to it as a fine. However, I will try to remember it is a 'speculative invoice'.

"So there is nothing in your lease agreement, or employment agreement, that allows your employer to deduct money from your pay to cover speculative invoices?"

Well, the part in the policy that says they will rebill me for any "fine" paid. Though, as you said, it was not a fine in the first place? 
I do not recall seeing anything in my employee handbook, but will have to double check that. 

So, should I again be hammering that point home to my company? When I contacted them, they initially said to just appeal the already paid speculative invoice. 

KeithP

I've edited my earlier post to add another paragraph which you probably missed.