Parking charges paid on my behalf - no chance to appeal

MoneyGeek

I work for the NHS and have an an NHS lease car (NHS Fleet Solutions). I park in an NHS car park that has designated areas for staff and for patients. The whole place has ParkingEye cameras.

I've received three invoices from NHS Fleet Solutions during June/July highlighting parking charges (with Parking Eye invoices) for three seperate occasions in March that showed my car.

When I went to appeal I found that the lease company had settled all three amounts and there was nothing I could do about it. Two show as settled in full and one shows as overpaid by £35 (i.e. they've paid the full £70, however only £35 was due).

These are 3 x £94.00 invoice from Northumbria NHS Trust (who run NHS Fleet Solutions) made up of the £70 full charge amount (not the reduced £35 if paid within 28 days) plus £24 admin fee levied by the parent lease company, on each one.

It looks like the actual lease car company that NHS Fleet Solutions use is Volkswagen Group and they have paid the parking charges, passed it on to NHS Fleet who have then leisureley billed me months later.

I called NHS Fleet and they agreed to put the invoices on hold whilst it was investigated, but I've just received debt collections letters now demanding payment.

I am not liable for the charges and would have appealled. As a member of staff I was entitled to free parking and I would have successfully appealed these tickets. Even if  unnsuccessful this would have been £35/each rather than £94/each.

My contract with NHS Fleet Solutions states that I am liable for all associated charges, but it doesn't say that they will be handled on my behalf, denying me the opportunity to appeal.

This is what the lease contract says:

11. Additionally, all parking fines, fixed penalty fines, leasing company administration charges associated with speeding or parking fines or similar penalties are the responsibility of the employee. The employer accepts no responsibility to meet payments of this kind on behalf of the employee. The employer will not withhold information properly requested by enforcement agencies, concerning an employee’s address or whereabouts to enable the agency to pursue penalties of this type.

Any advice greatly received, thanks!

KeithP

MoneyGeek said:

This is what the lease contract says:

11. Additionally, all parking fines, fixed penalty fines, leasing company administration charges associated with speeding or parking fines or similar penalties are the responsibility of the employee. 

But ParkingEye do not issue parking fines, nor do they issue any penalties.

It therefore follows that the leasing company has no 'administration charges associated with speeding or parking fines or similar penalties'.

Anyway, if they are 'the responsibility of the employee', why are NHS Fleet Solutions taking on that responsibility?

Half_way

11. Additionally, all parking fines

These are not Fines

fixed penalty fines,

Again not fixed penalty fines , or even penalties or fines

leasing company administration charges associated with speeding or parking fines or similar penalties

Again not fines, or even penalties, or "similar" penalties

If they have been negligent in paying these "charges" that is their down to their own stupidity.

item 11 in the lease contract does not apply

Important : Who are the "debt" recovery notices from? the parking company or the lease company?

this is important.

See also this NHS document, im particular the bit under contracted out parking

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles

MoneyGeek

Half_way said:

Important : Who are the "debt" recovery notices from? the parking company or the lease company?

this is important.

PakingEye have been paid by Volkswagen Group and presumably invoiced NHS Fleet Solutions. I have then received invoices from Northumbria NHS Trust (they run NHS Fleet) demanding payment of the parking charges. The invoices are not from the parking company.

I appreciate what people are saying about these 'just' being invoices but NHS Fleet are following debt recovery procedures and I've been contacted by ACT Credit Management on their behalf to recover the oustanding amounts. I don't want this bit to escalate.

I am proposing to file a complaint with NHS Fleet, but wondered if anyone else had any insight.

Half_way

Get back to the lease company and query the charges, tell them that they have acted in error as the Terms and conditions were not breached and as such they are not entitled to these charges, or to pass your personal data on to a third party such as a debt collection as no just cause exists.

As it is the so called debt collection company can only send scary looking letters as no real debt exists, if you refuse to pay then they will have to take it back to the lease company and from there the lease company can initiate a case at the county court to try and  re claim the money.

 from what you have posted you have not breached clause 11, so their chances of success in court are slim to zero.

The process is as follows:

 Letters from a so called debt collection company threatening all sorts - you can either ignore ( but keep the letters) or tell them that all assumed debt is denied and they must refer this back to their clients as you will not be paying them

Letters get scarier - they may use brown envelopes, they may use red bold text.

 You may get a court claim this must not be ignored, but clause 11 of your terms puts you in a good place

Of course you shold try and head any of that off - they have 6 years to initiate a claim and your circumstances/address may change in that period.

 So tell the debt collection company to stop harassing you and send this back to the lease company as you wont be paying, or held liable for someone else's incompetence

 Tell the lease company as above at the start of this, plus inform then that as the terms were not breached they have passed your data on in breach of GDPR to a third party ( debt collection)  without just cause

Coupon-mad

I appreciate what people are saying about these 'just' being invoices but NHS Fleet are following debt recovery procedures and I've been contacted by ACT Credit Management on their behalf to recover the oustanding amounts. I don't want this bit to escalate.

It can't escalate, unless they file a court claim (defendable and no risk, as long as that isn't ignored) or if they have something in your t&cs that gives them the right to deduct money from salary.

I'm not seeing any sentence in the Terms you showed us, that even lets them pay it, let alone charge you for their error. It talks about them giving an 'authority' your details.  PPCs are not an 'authority' and don't issue 'penalties' but ignoring that bit, why didn't NHS Fleet provide your name and address to transfer liability to you, as per the longstanding BVRLA MoU with the BPA? 

Do you know the difference between debt recovery letters and bailiffs?  Chalk and cheese. No-one comes knocking and no CCJ can just blight your credit rating.

fisherjim

MoneyGeek said:

I appreciate what people are saying about these 'just' being invoices but NHS Fleet are following debt recovery procedures

But you did not have any "debts", you should have received speculative invoices for charges that in you own words you are not liable for and would have appealed. The lazy lease company have taken this away from you and they have created an alleged debt.

I used to manage a fleet of 19 vehicles in my department, the lease company always wanted to pay these type of charges and fines up front for the simple reason it was quick, it saved them time and work because they were too inefficient and understaffed to get them out in a timely manner!