Lease Car Company Already Paid

Half_way

My base understanding is that once a Fine/Penalty is paid to a real authority then there is a slight window of opportunity to appeal it if its paid by a third party .

  With some councils/CEOs operating on a ticket first, ask questions later as the motorist can always appeal approach,  lease/hire companies that run on a pay up and charge an admin fee model do raise some serious questions ( unfair term in consumer contracts?) Also there is a regulated and independent appeals process with council tickets

With Private parking charges, which are not fines - and while it may seem pedantic this is important and even more so when dealing with lease/hire companies, once paid up it can be game over and getting anything back is nigh on impossible.

  Private parking companies are unregulated, and often use devices that are not approved to be used by ( regulated)  councils/real authorities , plus the system is prone to errors such as double dipping, breaches of equality act, confusing signage/road markings, operating in areas they shouldn't and so on

 If a lease/hire company says it will pay any private charges and then pass the cost on, plus an admin fee this should raise serious questions as it would appear that anyone with or without a criminal record can set up as a PPC and get hold of registered keeper data .

So i would query this charge with the lease company do not call it a fine but an invoice raised by a private company against the registered keeper of the vehicle

Re charge for a speculative invoice issued to vehicle , i am a little confused as to why this charge has been levied to me, i have carefully checked the terms and conditions and i can not find a reason why.

 This appears to be an error on your part, please ensure that this charge and the so called admin fee plus my costs at ( whatever the tax is) are refunded to myself within the next 5 working days.

 thank you for your co-operation and look forward to hearing that you will deal with this and refund the value of £X

BobSmith5

Thank you everyone for the advice and help. 
As it stands, I have written to the car park company, as per my employer's request. They said that should I win the 'appeal', then they would reimburse it, but again causing me to lose out slightly because of tax. 

Fruitcake, is this something an MP can help with? I was unaware of that. From what you and others have said, the policy does not seem to cover private parking charges. And of course, as has also been mentioned, it could just be some rogue ticketing. 
I will definitely look into complaining to the BVRLA. Thank you. That's really helpful. 

Half_way, they did not give me the original copy of the parking notice, but a photocopy. They also failed to provide me with the reverse side of the letter which details the appeals and whatnot. 
Also, thank you for your letter template suggestion. I am going to try and draft something this weekend. If it is OK, I would like to post it here to get some further pointers, if possible. 

Jenni, yes your bullet points round up the situation succinctly. The only thing I can find related to the car policy is the part I had posted in a previous message. They are being quite cagey with giving me further information. 
Also, thanks for the reminder regarding start time. It was a recent change they've made to their system. They did not have cameras previously. 

Thank you again, everyone. 

Jenni_D

Cagey? You have a legal right to be fully-informed of your employer's car policy - if they don't give you the full policy then you can't be bound by it. What you need to be clear on are:

1. What exactly does the lease company's T&Cs say regarding parking fines etc.?
2. What exactly does your employer's car policy say regarding parking fines etc.?

If neither mention parking charges (invoices) then they cannot make you liable for them. The lease company can transfer liability to your employer (if they properly follow the law - POFA 2012 Schedule 4), but your employer can't make you liable if the car policy doesn't allow them to.

Coupon-mad

That PPC won't consider any appeal after being paid.  Your company removed your right to appeal.

Jenni_D

One more point to add ... the lease company's contract with your employer is a 3rd party contract as far as you are concerned, thus it is of no matter to you. (This is the default position with company cars - unless you personally have signed the lease contract). The only thing that matters is what your employer's car policy says.

BobSmith5

Jenni_D said:

Cagey? You have a legal right to be fully-informed of your employer's car policy - if they don't give you the full policy then you can't be bound by it. What you need to be clear on are:

1. What exactly does the lease company's T&Cs say regarding parking fines etc.?
2. What exactly does your employer's car policy say regarding parking fines etc.?

If neither mention parking charges (invoices) then they cannot make you liable for them. The lease company can transfer liability to your employer (if they properly follow the law - POFA 2012 Schedule 4), but your employer can't make you liable if the car policy doesn't allow them to.

Thank you, Jenni. 

When I tried asking them for further information, they just said "refer to the policy", and that if I wanted to do anything, then I would have to appeal directly to the parking company. 

I have been going through my handbook, and the above excerpt that I posted is all that I have that relates to parking fines, etc. 

In regards to POFA 2012 Schedule 4, how do I actually refer to this? Do I tell them that they have breached this? 

Also, I did not personally sign anything relating to the car lease. 

Fruitcake

Look up the PoFA 2012, paying particular attention to paragraphs 13 and 14, and explain how you cannot be held liable because liability was never transferred to you according to the Act, which is law. If the lease company paid the charge, that is their decision, but by doing so they, as registered keeper have effectively admitted liability as well as denying you the right to appeal.

As for your employer making a salary deduction, that may well be a criminal offence, or at least unlawful under contract law, but that is outside the remit of this forum.

BobSmith5

Fruitcake said:

Look up the PoFA 2012, paying particular attention to paragraphs 13 and 14, and explain how you cannot be held liable because liability was never transferred to you according to the Act, which is law. If the lease company paid the charge, that is their decision, but by doing so they, as registered keeper have effectively admitted liability as well as denying you the right to appeal.

As for your employer making a salary deduction, that may well be a criminal offence, or at least unlawful under contract law, but that is outside the remit of this forum.

Thank you. HR have finally sent me the policy, and it states the following:

The company will not pay for driving penalties. (speeding /parking/toll fines etc). Such costs will be recharged to the employee with an additional administration fee added by the fleet management company. Please refer to the FLRU01-01 Company Car Driver’s Handbook for further information.

Which was the excerpt I posted on the previous page. Does this change anything in terms of challenging this? 

Le_Kirk

It is not a penalty, nor is it a fine!  It is a speculative invoice without foundation; not backed by an authority.

Jenni_D

As above, nothing has changed ... by their own words they have no valid justification to deduct monies from your salary, and will be in breach of your employment contract if they attempt to do so.