Enterprise Car Club paid Parking Charge Notice

Dewi99

Hi Everybody,

I’d like to ask advice about a Parking Charge Notice received on an Enterprise Car Club vehicle where Enterprise automatically paid the charge before informing me.

The PCN was related to overstaying the 3 hour limit by a few minutes in a Costco car park. Enterprise received the PCN as a notice to keeper and then emailed me a scan of the PCN informing me that they had already paid. 

I initially didn’t notice the part saying they'd already paid, so I called Costco and they said they would cancel the PCN. I let Enterprise know not to pay, and they pointed out that they’d already paid. The private parking company aren’t interested as they’ve already been paid.

Enterprise’s terms say this:

Parking tickets

Parking tickets are your responsibility and must be paid for directly by you. If the ticket has to be processed by the club, an administration fee of £30 will be added

I'd say that this was paid directly by Enterprise, and not by me as stated in their terms. I emailed Enterprise telling them that they didn’t follow their own terms and requested a refund of the charge (£60 for the PCN + £30 admin fee).

I’ve pointed this out to them several times, but I'm not getting anywhere. I've pasted some of their replies below.

• This means that we would process and pay for fines when they are passed on to us when the driver fails to pay. We do this to avoid further charges.

• A Penalty charge notice (PCN) was issued to you for exceeding the maximum fee parking period of 3 hours at Costco Hayes. Payment of these fines are the responsibility for the driver of the vehicle. As you did not pay for the fine as was then passed on to us, we processed and paid for it to avoid further charges.

• Yes, parking tickets are your responsibility. However, we pay for these fines when they are passed on to us. This is to ensure we do not incur further charges as the registered owner. We do not transfer liability. Nonetheless, you maintain your right to appeal the fine despite it being paid. Please appeal via the guidelines provided to you and your appeal will be considered.

They constantly refer to this as a 'fine' or a Penalty Charge Notice, so I point out that it's a speculative parking charge notice. The emails are from UKECCFines@em.com so that may explain why they treat everything as a fine.

They paid the charge and then informed me, so their statement that they paid the 'fine' because I didn't doesn't make any sense.

I've lost the right to appeal as they've already paid - the landowner was willing to cancel the charge, so there would have been no need to even appeal if Enterprise hadn't already paid.

I would appreciate any guidance on what to do with this. I've read other threads, such as the one below, about the BVRLA and the MOU between the BLVRA and the BPA, still wonder what to do next.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6313102/lease-car-company-already-paid/p1

 Many thanks!

 

Coupon-mad

They are suggesting you got a windscreen PCN but you didn't.  They received the first PCN and should have passed it onto you.

Costco can still ask for the sum to be refunded but whether the PPC will remains to be seen.

Chargeback the money. Do not pay Enterprise for their blunder.

Gr1pr

Get a chargeback because you are correct, its neither a fine or a penalty, just an invoice 

Check if they are BVRLA members, if they are complain to the bvrla and invoke the tribunal option ( or whatever it is called. ) because they failed to comply with the BVRLA memorandum of understanding, if they are members 

As keeper they do have the right to pay the parking charge notice, but passing it on to you without you being able to appeal it is a different ball game, one that all these companies have to learn. 

Half_way

If the terms say parking ticket, this could cause issues.
However this could well be an unfair term if the entity issuing a / the ticket is unregulated.

There would be nothing to stop an unscrupulous entity be that an un regulated parking company, a corrupt employee, or even you or me issuing a "ticket" and then getting paid 

Dewi99

Thank you for the comments so far....

This was not a windscreen PCN, it was based on ANR. The first I heard of it was when Enterprise emailed to say they had already paid the charge.

I just emailed the parking company and repeated my request for a refund, and if they reject it I may ask Costco if they can step in.

Enterprise Car Club are a member of the BVRLA, and has a link to their website for making complaints. I just looked into this, and there are a few simple checks before raising a complaint - there must have been a final decision on the matter from the rental company, and no dispute raised with a bank or credit card.

Because of this I won't request a chargeback yet.
I'll also refer Enterprise to the BVRLA MOU before raising a complaint with them.

It's very worrying that Enterprise would pay a speculative charge like this without any questions.

Coupon-mad

This was not a windscreen PCN, it was based on ANR. The first I heard of it was when Enterprise emailed to say they had already paid the charge.

I know.

Hence why I mentioned that, which is what Enterprise are wrongly saying. Pick them up on it.

Dewi99

Coupon-mad said:

This was not a windscreen PCN, it was based on ANR. The first I heard of it was when Enterprise emailed to say they had already paid the charge.

I know.

Hence why I mentioned that, which is what Enterprise are wrongly saying. Pick them up on it.

Thanks - I just picked this up with them and copied in their complaints email to escalate this within Enterprise. I also referred to the BVRLA guidance.

Dewi99

Hi Everybody,

I received a reply from Enterprise, which I've pasted below.

We reference to our Terms and conditions; we pay for fines as soon as they are received to avoid further charges.
Despite this being paid, you maintain you right to appeal. To appeal, your letter of authority is embedded in our letter that we have sent you, which will allow you to appeal the fine despite it being paid.
Please appeal via post and attach our letter to your appeal to the issuing agency. Kindly emphasize on your letter of authority as the vehicle is a rental.
We are not able to put charges on hold pending an appeal outcome, however if your appeal is successful, please forward confirmation of cancellation and we’ll be happy to refund or waive the charges.

I'm just looking at raising a complaint with BVRLA. It states that complaints can be raised when there's been a breach of the code of conduct:
https://www.bvrla.co.uk/resource/bvrla-rental-code-of-conduct.html

It states:
Some charges may arise after the rental agreement has been closed – parking or speeding fines and their related administrative fees, for example. In such cases the customer must be provided with supporting evidence and made aware of the amount before their nominated method of payment is charged.

There's also The BVRLA Guide to Road Traffic Offences
https://www.bvrla.co.uk/guidance/road-traffic-offences.html
https://www.bvrla.co.uk/static/uploaded/61b3298b-a918-499b-9ac8b8bea2b726a0.pdf

It's a bit more detailed and gives several options for what to do with Parking Charge Notices, including:
Pay the charge and recharge the customer who had the vehicle on hire or lease at the time the breach occurred. 

Does this mean that the code of conduct hasn't been breached?

Gr1pr

All I am going to comment on is the following based on their reply above 

ECC replied and specifically mentioned FINES, they didn't mention Private Parking Charge Notices 

Magistrates issue fines, no magistrates or authorities were involved here

As for the BVRLA wording, if the hire or lease contract mentioned private parking charges, then they would have a point 

LDast

1. You get a chargeback on your card that was used to take the payment and you let them dispute it all the way to court if necessary. That, or 2. sue them yourself for the money.

They are 100% in the wrong and it would be like taking sweets from a baby they were stupid enough to let this go all the way to court.

Option 1 is the easiest.

Coupon-mad

They are wrong AGAIN!

Because they paid the scam you can't appeal.