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£60 admin fee from Auxillis and APCOA PCN

Hi

I regularly park in my university's car park which has number plate recognition and automatically charges my account through direct debit. However, on 19th April, as my car was being repaired I was using a hire car, the system did not recognise the number plate as my car and so did not take take the parking charge automatically through direct debit. The driver did not receive a windscreen PCN.

Instead, in a letter dated 31st May (exactly 6 weeks later) APCOA sent a PCN to the hire company. The hire company then, on 14th June, sent me an an email saying the following:

"Fine Notification received: Overstay

Please find attached a request for payment. This is for an administration fee applied as per the terms and conditions of hire you agreed to. An administration fee is applied for each contravention we receive whilst you are in possession of the hire vehicle.

Please note that no payments have been made in respect of the penalty charge notice, we requested the penalty issuer re- issue their notice to you at your home address for payment or appeal..

Note, this email is not an instruction to you to pay the penalty notice attached at this time.

When the penalty is re-issued to yourself, you will then have the opportunity to pay the penalty at the reduced rate or submit any appeal you deem necessary.

Should it be your intention to appeal the penalty we ask you advise us by return, to prevent Auxillis paying and recharging any penalty that may be returned by the issuer.

We ask that you please contact our offices in the next 7 days to discuss payment of administration fee due under the terms and conditions of hire agreed."


Regarding the T&Cs that I signed was the following:

"You accept that it is Your responsibility to pay all penalties for which You are liable pursuant to this Agreement including the terms and conditions overleaf.

20. You must pay all road tolls, penalties, impounded vehicle charges, infringements, congestion charges or any other charges imposed by statute or otherwise relating to the way in which the Hire Vehicle is used, driven or parked

21. You must when asked pay Us on demand (i) the reasonable retail cost of providing or arranging roadside assistance (except where it is provided to rectify or deal with a matter that is Our liability under this agreement) (ii) for any of the costs set out in clause 20 which We have paid on Your behalf and (iii) an administration fee of £50 plus VAT for each occasion We deal with a damage claim relating to the Hire Vehicle or receives a charge and/or penalty or notification of any of them and each time We demand payment from You in respect of payments due under this agreement other than Charges."


I have not received a PCN directly from APCOA as of yet (it only happened yesterday), but I could do with advice regarding how to proceed. I am very reluctant to pay an extortionate £60 admin fee to the hire company so I need to know how I should respond to the hire company regarding both the admin fee and the PCN. From the newbies thread, I understand that I should direct the hire company to pass my details onto APCOA, which according to their email they have already done. But I cannot see anything regarding the admin fee. Is there a template response to this situation?

In the email they refer to it in places as a 'fine' and 'penalty', but in the T&Cs they say I must pay 'any other charges imposed by statute or otherwise' and they say they I must pay them £50+VAT for each time they receive 'a charge and/or penalty or notification'

Do I have any recourse regarding the 6 weeks from the parking incident to a letter being sent to the hire company?

Many thanks in advance for the help.

«1

Comments

  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 139,928 Forumite
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    edited 15 June 2023 at 1:48PM
    Easy.

    Appeal and beat APCOA (once you receive their Notice to Hirer) by using the Edna Basher hirer appeal you will have seen in the NEWBIES PLEASE READ THESE FAQS FIRST thread.

    The hirer can't lose.

    Not a railway car park PENALTY was it?

    Then show the lease firm you won and demand the admin fee back
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
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  • Jammin1
    Jammin1 Posts: 59 Forumite
    10 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    Thanks for this Coupon-Mad. It wasn't a railway car park penalty. It was a Parking Charge Notice from a car park at my university. 

    The hire company haven't actually taken the payment yet. They have only invoiced me and made a request for payment.

    Do you think the following would be appropriate as a response?

    Dear Client Charges Team

    Thank you for you email. Please provide APCOA with my name and address for them to forward any correspondence to me as the hirer of the vehicle during that time. Do not pay them any money on my behalf. The parking charge notice that you have received is merely a speculative invoice and is not a 'penalty' or 'fine' as you describe. Therefore, this will be disputed and resolved on appeal. As such, please cancel the invoice for the £60 administrative fee that you have sent me.

    Many thanks

  • Fruitcake
    Fruitcake Posts: 58,900 Forumite
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    Add in that they must provide the hirer's details to APCOA in accordance with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedom Act 2012. If they fail to do so, they will remain liable for the charge, not the hirer.

    What does your lease/hire contract say about parking charges from an unregulated private parking company as opposed to fines or penalties from an authority?

    I married my cousin. I had to...
    I don't have a sister. :D
    All my screwdrivers are cordless.
    "You're Safety Is My Primary Concern Dear" - Laks
  • Jammin1
    Jammin1 Posts: 59 Forumite
    10 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    Fruitcake said:
    Add in that they must provide the hirer's details to APCOA in accordance with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedom Act 2012. If they fail to do so, they will remain liable for the charge, not the hirer.

    What does your lease/hire contract say about parking charges from an unregulated private parking company as opposed to fines or penalties from an authority?

    Thanks for this. I'll add this to the response. The only mention in the T&Cs which I can see that is relevant to this situation is the following:

    "You accept that it is Your responsibility to pay all penalties for which You are liable pursuant to this Agreement including the terms and conditions overleaf.

    20. You must pay all road tolls, penalties, impounded vehicle charges, infringements, congestion charges or any other charges imposed by statute or otherwise relating to the way in which the Hire Vehicle is used, driven or parked

    21. You must when asked pay Us on demand (i) the reasonable retail cost of providing or arranging roadside assistance (except where it is provided to rectify or deal with a matter that is Our liability under this agreement) (ii) for any of the costs set out in clause 20 which We have paid on Your behalf and (iii) an administration fee of £50 plus VAT for each occasion We deal with a damage claim relating to the Hire Vehicle or receives a charge and/or penalty or notification of any of them and each time We demand payment from You in respect of payments due under this agreement other than Charges."

  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 139,928 Forumite
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    edited 15 June 2023 at 11:00PM
    Doesn't change my advice. Easy to beat APCOA once you get the NTH then you can ask the hire firm to refund that charge (or let you dispute it at ADR) not least because it DOESN'T cost them even a large chunk of £50 to send two template letters.
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top or bottom of this/any page where it says:
    Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
  • Fruitcake
    Fruitcake Posts: 58,900 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Jammin1 said:
    Fruitcake said:
    Add in that they must provide the hirer's details to APCOA in accordance with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedom Act 2012. If they fail to do so, they will remain liable for the charge, not the hirer.

    What does your lease/hire contract say about parking charges from an unregulated private parking company as opposed to fines or penalties from an authority?

    Thanks for this. I'll add this to the response. The only mention in the T&Cs which I can see that is relevant to this situation is the following:

    "You accept that it is Your responsibility to pay all penalties for which You are liable pursuant to this Agreement including the terms and conditions overleaf.

    20. You must pay all road tolls, penalties, impounded vehicle charges, infringements, congestion charges or any other charges imposed by statute or otherwise relating to the way in which the Hire Vehicle is used, driven or parked

    21. You must when asked pay Us on demand (i) the reasonable retail cost of providing or arranging roadside assistance (except where it is provided to rectify or deal with a matter that is Our liability under this agreement) (ii) for any of the costs set out in clause 20 which We have paid on Your behalf and (iii) an administration fee of £50 plus VAT for each occasion We deal with a damage claim relating to the Hire Vehicle or receives a charge and/or penalty or notification of any of them and each time We demand payment from You in respect of payments due under this agreement other than Charges."

    A parking charge notice from an unregulated private parking company is none of those things that you have highlighted so you can never be liable for any of them.
    Your hire/lease company should know this. Whilst it doesn't matter much where APCOA are concerned, it may make a difference if you ever get a PCN from one of the more vicious PPCs.

    You need to ensure your hire lease company understands the PoFA and how your lease/hire contract does not include PCNs from PPCs. If they are members of the BVRLA then you need to remind them their trade association has told them not to pay PCNs and then pass the charge on to the hirer.
    I married my cousin. I had to...
    I don't have a sister. :D
    All my screwdrivers are cordless.
    "You're Safety Is My Primary Concern Dear" - Laks
  • Jammin1
    Jammin1 Posts: 59 Forumite
    10 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    Hi, I just a quick question. I got the initial email from the hire company on 14/06/23 saying 'we requested the penalty issuer re- issue their notice to you at your home address for payment or appeal'. and I responded by saying that they 'must provide my details to APCOA in accordance with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedom Act 2012' But we're now in August and I'm yet to receive any PCN from APCOA. Is there a time limit for the PPC to send me the NTK? I'm not sure whether they sent it and it got 'lost' in the post or whether they're yet to send it. Should I be doing anything or just continuing to wait for the PCN?
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 139,928 Forumite
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    If you have a copy of the PCN, send an appeal to APCOA online (as hirer - NOT SAYING WHO WAS DRIVING) and ask why they haven't sent you a NTH yet.  Reconfirm your address but tell them the driver will not be identified but where is your NTH?
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
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    Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
  • Jammin1
    Jammin1 Posts: 59 Forumite
    10 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    Although I haven't received a PCN, the hire company did send me a scanned copy of the original PCN, so I put the details into the APCOA website in order to appeal as advised, however it only states the following:

    'This Charge Notice has now been passed to an Enforcement Agent and therefore payment cannot be accepted on this website. Payment must be made directly to the Enforcement Agent and you must refer to any correspondance you have received from them on how payment can be made.'

    Where do I go from here?
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 139,928 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    To their Complaints policy or portal instead and contact them that way. If you can't find it, the BPA list of AOS members has a direct link.
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top or bottom of this/any page where it says:
    Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
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