Parking fine issued to a Hiyacar rental

Inkers2024

Hi there, I really need some input on a situation that I'm in with the company Hiyacar.  Am I right or are they in the wrong here?  

• I picked up a Hiyacar vehicle from the on street parking location and returned it the same day as instructed in the app.  The booking was closed successfully by them and I thought nothing more about it.
• The next day the road where I left the vehicle was closed. Two months later my credit card was charged £170 by Hiyacar for the vehicle incurring a PCN
• There are terms in there Tcs and Cs that state the hirer is responsible for any PCN up to 72 hours after they have dropped it off and completed their booking
• So in this particular circumstance, If I hadn't hired the vehicle it would still have been parked there to incur a PCN and been charged to the customer before me, or if hired again it would have been the next unlucky person to encounter this problem
• 72 hours after the booking is closed seems like a totally arbitrary amount of time to me, does anyone know where this comes from?
• Citizens advice thought this definitely constituted an unfair term in the hire contract and referred it to trading standards, although I haven't heard any more about it.
• Hiyacar advised I should have made contact with them at the time of drop off to discuss but nowhere in the terms does it say that I was obliged to do that.  They were happy to accept and close the booking.  
• There next very short advice was that I should take legal action if I wanted to pursue recouping my money.

Has anyone else encountered this mad policy and how did you deal with it?  All responses very gratefully received, even if it is to tell me that I am wrong in believing this fine is none of my responsibility!

Many Thanks

LDast

What exactly do the terms and conditions of the hire agreement say about parking charges from an unregulated private parking company. This was not a "fine" or a "penalty" for an "offence" issued by an "authority". Or was it?

A very care full read of those terms is necessary.

Gr1pr

Who did they say issued the fine or penalty or parking charge. ?  Council or private parking company. ? Or another entity?

400ixl

Was this rental in the UK?

Inkers2024

Hi, it was the council.  The road was closed by them the following morning.  Initially, Hiyacar said I should have disputed the fine with the council - But as they'd already paid it and left it so long to tell me I don't think that would be an option.  They wouldn't understand that I wasn't disputing the fine, as I believe the council were right to issue it, but that Hiyacar shouldn't have passed the cost onto me in this circumstance.  Thanks

Inkers2024

400ixl said:

Was this rental in the UK?

Yes, apologies not to be clear, this was in London

LDast

As this is not related to private parking issues, you should ask over on the Free Traffic Legal Advice forum, https://ftla.uk where they specialise in authority issued fines and penalties.

Inkers2024

Thanks I will post over there too (sorry not to quote reply to you also, my newbie membership doesn't allow to post links which you've shared above).  My thinking on this one is that the fine isn't in dispute to my mind.  My question was more around whether the 72 period of responsibility presents an unfair term in the hire contract to the customer.  The fine was issued to the 'owner or hirer of the vehicle' but during this time I would argue that I was neither and the owner of the car should have picked this one up.  Thank you

LDast

But your "dispute" is with the Hire company. If they've paid the penalty notice already, the council are not a party to the dispute. It is a contractual issue and the ultimate dispute resolution service is the small claims track in the county court.

You will be suing Hiyacar if you want your money back. Unfortunately, it is nothing to do with private parking.

Gr1pr

Maybe so, the hire contract that you signed will have clauses in it, so take a picture or screenshot of those clauses and add to your post in the council section or any hire section over on the FTLA parking forum ( contract law, wordings, meanings and clauses can be complex, nevermind the issues with council PCNs etc. )

The FTLA forum council or hire contract experts are who you need for advice, besides those you already tried like the. CAB & Trading Standards etc