Green Motion "management fee" for cancelled PCN

robod

Hi All,

I googled and checked this forum, but the advice and outcome was inconclusive so I'm wondering if anyone here can help?

We hired a car from Green Motion for two consecutive weeks under two separate hire agreements (basically returned the first car after a week and then immediately hired another one for another week under a new agreement).

We used it to travel to work, but due to "system/personnel issue" we were given two PCNs (one for each car) on the first day of parking. Once we found out that PCNs were issued, we queried it and both were cancelled by the employer. So no problem there.

However, Green Motion have emailed more than 2 months after the hire and immediately charged 2 x £68 management fee to process the PCNs.

Before I respond and demand a refund as the PCNs were issued in-error what would be the best approach?

The rental agreement contains this:

"Each traffic violations/PCN’s/Parking Charge Notices are subject to management fees of £68.00 including VAT."

My initial thinking was that as PCNs were cancelled no traffic violation nor alleged contractual breach occurred, therefore the condition above doesn't apply. I am guessing their argument will be that they still incurred costs processing this, however I don't see why should we pay excessive management fees due to somebody else's negligence. Would it be reasonable to claim that T&Cs are potentially unfair? Anything else I can try?

Thanks a lot.

I looked at these already:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6450386/parking-charge-and-rental-company-admin-charges-help-please

https://legalbeagles.info/forums/forum/legal-forums/motoring-parking/ppc-s-parking-charge-notices/1465496-green-motion-admin-fee-re-parking-penalty

http://forums.pepipoo.com/lofiversion/index.php/t152287.html

http://forums.pepipoo.com/lofiversion/index.php/t114837.html

 

MilesT6060842

Welcome to Green Motion is all I can say.  Clearly their team was automatically informed of the PCN and they have handled the paperwork.  Appeal to them in the first instance, then try small claims court.

It is worth noting that at least one "car rental excess insurance" provider refuses to provide cover if the car is rented from Green Motion.  Draw your own conclusions! 

If the price is much cheaper than others then do your research before hiring.

(If you are renting in London, then I can recommend a local company that is similar price as Green motion, and whom I have hired from on many occasions, and have always been treated fairly).

born_again

They still incur admin fee's even if it's cancelled. Will be their arguement.

Coupon-mad

born_again said:

They still incur admin fee's even if it's cancelled. Will be their argument.

But not £68 X 2.  And most lease firms refund it if the PCN is cancelled.  Maybe they will.  Admin fees must be reasonable.

If they won't refund it, tell Greenmotion that:

- you can't afford to rent a car from them again, and will be telling colleagues about this charge

- you want to take the matter to BVRLA ADR to escalate the dispute (which costs Greenmotion money...). 

Half_way

The Question is do these admin fees fall foul of unfair terms in consumer contract legislation?

 Private parking companies are un regulated so there may be some leverage there .

Fruitcake

I suggest you put the charges in dispute with whatever financial institution you used for payment, be it credit or debit card or bank.

State that you do not have a PCN so therefore do not owe anything to Green Motion. Do this asap to stop money actually being taken from your account, which is easier than trying to get a refund.

robod

Thanks all for responses.

Yes, I've noticed that some excess insurance companies exclude Green Motion, so I made extra sure that I had photos of the car before and after.

We were desperate as needed a replacement car with less than 24 hours notice and they were the only one that had anything that didn't cost more than week salary as my other half needed to get to work the following day.

I will try to ask them nicely first (although I doubt they will be accommodating) then will try to escalate to BVRLA ADR.

Unfortunately they took the money on the same day the email arrived, so I couldn't stop it. The only thing I can do is to dispute the transaction with the bank, but they will ask me to resolve it with GM first.

troublemaker22

If the original rental cost was at least £100 and paid in whole or part with a UK credit card (not a debit card or a charge card) you might have a direct claim against the issuing bank under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 which, unlike a chargeback, is not contingent on your first trying to resolve the matter with the merchant. 

Section 75 is quite technical and some banks take a harder line than others over the wriggle room in the technicalities- especially where the rental contract was concluded via a third party rather than directly with the rental company - but it could be worth a try 

Half_way

Whatever you do do nto call it a fine.

Refer to it as a speculative invoice issued by an unregulated parking company, make sure you get this right when dealing with them.

You also need to state that the private pakring industry is un regulated and there is no regualtory authority in charge

You havent mentioned the name of the pakring company invovled, if it was the British Parking association you can mention this from the BPA limited's website: https://www.britishparking.co.uk/about

We are a membership association and not a regulatory body. This means that whilst we will address any concerns raised about our members’ working practices, we do not have the resource to deal with complaints about individual enforcement notices.

There are a few other regulars on here that will be able to help with regards to how the pakring industry has been described in Parliment and in turn you should be able to use that to further re enforce your complaint /get your money back.

There is a guide on the unfair terms in consumer contracts here, read it and see if it appplies to Green motions Ts&Cs regarding "admin" fees for an un regulated industry ( or even council issued tickets) : https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a807f4c40f0b62302693daf/Unfair_Terms_Explained.pdf

Remember do not mention it as a fine, penalty or even a charge  when deling with green motion , its a speculative invoice issued from an un regulated private company with an extremly poor reputation

robod

troublemaker22 said:

If the original rental cost was at least £100 and paid in whole or part with a UK credit card (not a debit card or a charge card) you might have a direct claim against the issuing bank under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 which, unlike a chargeback, is not contingent on your first trying to resolve the matter with the merchant. 

Section 75 is quite technical and some banks take a harder line than others over the wriggle room in the technicalities- especially where the rental contract was concluded via a third party rather than directly with the rental company - but it could be worth a try 

It was all paid by credit card, but the cost of hire was £90 and it was via third party website, not directly with Green Motion. It's funny that cost of hiring a car for one week is £90, but the cost of providing driver's details to the parking company  which probably took 30 minutes including a coffee is £68.

robod

Half_way said:

Whatever you do do nto call it a fine.

Refer to it as a speculative invoice issued by an unregulated parking company, make sure you get this right when dealing with them.

You also need to state that the private pakring industry is un regulated and there is no regualtory authority in charge

You havent mentioned the name of the pakring company invovled, if it was the British Parking association you can mention this from the BPA limited's website: https://www.britishparking.co.uk/about

We are a membership association and not a regulatory body. This means that whilst we will address any concerns raised about our members’ working practices, we do not have the resource to deal with complaints about individual enforcement notices.

There are a few other regulars on here that will be able to help with regards to how the pakring industry has been described in Parliment and in turn you should be able to use that to further re enforce your complaint /get your money back.

There is a guide on the unfair terms in consumer contracts here, read it and see if it appplies to Green motions Ts&Cs regarding "admin" fees for an un regulated industry ( or even council issued tickets) : https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a807f4c40f0b62302693daf/Unfair_Terms_Explained.pdf

Remember do not mention it as a fine, penalty or even a charge  when deling with green motion , its a speculative invoice issued from an un regulated private company with an extremly poor reputation

Yes, will do. It's Euro Car Parks, but I can't really complain about them in this instance .

It was the employer's customer who is owner of the site and and didn't correctly process the parking permit in the first instance. The "parking invoice" was cancelled once we chased it with the customer/site owner.