How do I sue car rental company for deducting monies from my Card for ALLEGED damage?

Aylesbury_Duck

FrankFalcon said:

Keep_pedalling said:

Was the parking charge a council or private one? If the former then the RK is responsible for paying it and no doubt your contract had a clause saying they could recover those costs from you. 

As for the tyre damage you need to send them a letter before action telling them that unless they provide you with proof that the damage occurred in you hire period then you will be taking court action to recover your costs.

If you don’t get a satisfactory response then you file a MCoL.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/money-claim-online-user-guide

Thank you so much for your advice.  With regard to the parking Ticket, we parked in a council Car Park and the machine was broken.  We took a video of the broken machine in case a ticket was issued in the future.  Indeed, the ticket was issued to the Car Hire Firm and they told me they were going to deduct the £60 from me.  I wrote back telling them not to do it because I was disputing it.  A few days later they sent me a poorly put together screen shot of the Ticket from NCP.  I could just about make out the ticket details and I disputed it with NCP showing evidence.  Either way, the car hire firm deducted the £60.

With regard to the tyre, the facts are as I have said.

Thanks again.

I don't think you'll get anywhere with the parking ticket.

As for the tyre, do as suggested above, insisting on evidence to suggest that the nail was picked up in your period of hire because the car wasn't used between you dropping it off and the nail being discovered.

Jenni_D

If NCP issued the ticket, are you sure it was a council car park?

How was the ticket issued? Something on the windscreen, or merely a postal notice to the RK (the hire company in this case)? If postal then the PCN must have been derived from an ANPR camera setup - council's are not allowed to use that method of enforcement for parking.

This is all sounding very much like a private invoice (Parking Charge Notice) rather than than a fine (Penalty Charge Notice) ... a pound to a penny that the hire company T&Cs don't properly cover them for paying and charging the hirer in respect of a parking invoice.

FrankFalcon

***MATTER RESOLVED***

Hi all

Firstly, thank you all for your comments.  Today, within 24 hours of me contacting the car hire company I have just received the following letter:

We are writing to you in connection to your recent damage claim, reference ******** THIS CLAIM

HAS BEEN CLOSED THEREFORE THERE IS NOTHING OWED BY YOURSELF AND A

REFUND HAS BEEN ISSUED- Thank you.

We can confirm that we are no longer pursuing the damage claim or repair amount from you for the

damage to our vehicle.

The reason I have posted this final post of this thread is because:

1: To thank the contributors to this post.
2: To let other people know that they don't have to accept situations like this should a Commercial Giant Company 'try it on'.

Seeing as the Car Hire company have been straight with the refund, I think it is fair that I do not mention them by name.  A quick look on Google tells me there are more than 5 huge UK car hirers.

Jenni_D

Have they also refunded/not taken the £60 parking charge?

FrankFalcon

Jenni_D said:

Have they also refunded/not taken the £60 parking charge?

I haven't yet received the money back to my card, so I can't say yet.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

born_again said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Years ago car rental company tried to charge me for damage (scratch) on a returned car, photos showed the car had been moved, once pointed out they dropped it. 

4 weeks is a long time to notify on something like this IMHO. 

@born_again OP mentions credit card, does Section 75 cover the extra charge as a separate thing or does it need to be linked to the payment for the car hire? 

Would OP get far with a chargeback? 

Sure the rental place could sue after a chargeback but then burden of proof would be upon rental company which makes OP’s life easier.

These days car hire co's do not seem to contest chargebacks. In my experience, but plenty customers call back asking what do we do we have got a debt co chasing for the money.
They just take the legal route to claim money back.

S75 is all down to the T/C & car hire co's have the likes of "Charges for parking covered" as I said above. 
Same with damage etc.
So no breach of contract &/or misrepresentation 🤷‍♀️

Thanks @born_again  

I see OP has got this resolved but in general I think the customer is better off with a chargeback and (maybe) being sued in a case like this.

If they'd reported the nail within say 48 hours it's a bit different but after 4 weeks the argument should be "anything could have happened in that time" and the car hire company, as the party making the claim, would need to show otherwise which is easier for the customer than proving they didn't get a nail in the tyre if making a claim rather than doing a chargeback.