I have received a fine... But I haven't received it!

FlitwickBeds

Come home today to a letter from our car lease company informing us that they will add £15 to this month's direct debit payment for "redirecting" a parking charge from a local retail park. I remember in the contract that they do this (small charge for supplying our real address to the fining company) and no problem with it as such.

However we haven't actually had a parking charge through the post or (to my knowledge) stuck on the windscreen. The letter from the car lease company states the date, time and location of the fine but no other information, no copy of the charge, or anything like that. I can't appeal or pay the fine as I don't have the reference number or any other information. It's impossible to speak to a human at the fining company and the lease company were closed by the time I got home.

My concern is that the date of the charge is 1st August  so we're already beyond the 14 day appeal period. It doesn't seem that the car lease company will have paid it as they would be charging us a lot more than £15.

I'm going to talk to the car lease company in the morning but what are your thoughts?

KeithP

The leasing company will have notified the parking company your name and address as the lessee.

The parking company will now, or some time soon, issue a Notice to Keeper to you.

You then deal with that as described in the first post of the NEWBIES thread.
Towards the bottom of that post you will find three template appeals written by Edna Basher for issues with hire cars. Choose the appropriate template and watch your parking charge disappear.

Parking companies seem to have great difficulty pinning this stuff on lessees, so it is most important that the driver's identity is never disclosed.

By the way, who is the parking company?

Fruitcake

It is not a fine nor a penalty (unless it is from the council, or police, or a court)

The hire/lease company as registered keeper will have received the Parking Charge Notice/Notice to Keeper (NTK), and will (should) have given them your details as hirer/lessee.

The hirer/lessee will (should) receive a Notice to Hirer (NTH) in the post at some point in the near future.

The important thing to note is that unless a member of the hire/lease company was actually present at the time of the alleged event, they cannot name anyone as the driver, only as hirer/lessee. Do not let the PPC bully you into believing they have been given/know the driver's details, and do not under any circumstances reveal the identity of the driver.


Plan A is always to complain to the landowner and your MP. Failing that, the hirer/lessee and only the hirer/lessee should respond to the NTH as advised by KeithP above.

Half_way

Just to go over the above, its relay important that you understand the differences between parking charge notice and a fine or penalty.

Before you talk to the lease company and shoot yourself in the foot, please post up the terms and conditions for the vehicle - in particular if it says anything about paying parking charge notices, fines or penalty's.

Also it may be of use to let us know the location, type of car park ( residential shopping centre, stand alone etc)  and the reason why a ticket was issued

do not attempt to guess the ID of the driver, only talk about the vehicle entered/did this that or the other.

FlitwickBeds

Thanks. 

I can't locate the full contract now but I remember at the time it stating we would be liable for all fines/charges/etc and they would charge a small processing fee each time.

It's a retail park managed by UKPC. From everything we can see online (going to go to the location tomorrow and take photos) there are no restrictions - on Google Street View (I know it may have changed, but it's all we have to go on right now) the sign states in large letters "no unauthorised parking" but doesn't give any maximum time unless it's in the tiny writing which is illegible on Street View.

I don't know why the ticket was issued. All we have to go on is the invoice from the lease company stating te date, time and location (which is incorrect - it states xxx Shopping Centre, not xxx Retail Park, but might just be a clerical error on the leasing company's part). It only details their fee, not the amount of the charge, nor the reason for issue. 

KeithP

FlitwickBeds said:

I can't locate the full contract now but I remember at the time it stating we would be liable for all fines/charges/etc and they would charge a small processing fee each time.

That is critical.

So often we see mention in the contract of fines, frequently we see absolutely no mention of private parking charges. You really must try and find a copy of that contract. Perhaps one of your work colleagues can find theirs?

But as said earlier, wait for a Notice to Hirer from the parking company. It will almost certainly fail to include all the necessary documentation.

FlitwickBeds

It's not a work vehicle. 

It's a private lease through one of the car manufacturers' finance arms, arranged via one of their showrooms. 

KeithP

Oh well, it was just an idea. Keep searching then.

Coupon-mad

FlitwickBeds said:

It's not a work vehicle. 

It's a private lease through one of the car manufacturers' finance arms, arranged via one of their showrooms. 

OK, so the lease firm can provide a copy of the contract if you ask them.

And wait to get your Notice to Hirer then win the appeal easily, by using the Edna_Basher appeal for leased cars (see NEWBIES thread) and of course NOT saying who was driving.