Lease company paid PCN debt and only sent me debt notice - DD now due

stingray751

Hi all,

TL;DR: lease company paid PCN debt directly without showing me PCN or NTH, about to take payment from me via direct debit. Should I cancel DD or pay and take them to court?

My lease company VWFS sent me a letter notifying me that they have "paid my recent fine" and are now invoicing me the "fine" amount plus an admin fee. They attached a copy of the Debt Recovery Plus unpaid parking charge letter, but no PCN/NTH.

They clearly haven't followed PoFA or BVRLA guidance, so they have admitted liability and I have now lost my right to appeal. I sent them the following email a week ago and received no response:

I am writing regarding your recent letter dated 12/5/26 re 'We've paid your recent fine' informing me that you have paid a parking 'fine' on my behalf and are now invoicing me £170 for the charge plus a £10 administration fee.

To date, I have not received a copy of the original Parking Charge Notice (PCN), nor any explanation as to why liability was not transferred to me as the hirer, which is the standard process under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (paragraphs 13 and 14) and is BVRLA guidance. Instead, the only document enclosed was a letter from Debt Recovery Plus, dated 29/04/26 ref xxx, which is not a PCN and does not constitute a statutory notice.

Having reviewed my hire agreement, I cannot identify any clause that authorises VWFS to pay private parking charges or debt recovery demands on my behalf, nor any clause that permits you to recharge such payments to me. In particular, Clause 4.4 requires me to pay “licence fees, taxes, insurance premiums, fines and other payments… arising out of the seizure of the Vehicle by statutory authorities.” As private parking charges are not fines and do not arise from statutory authorities, I do not believe this clause applies.

In order to understand the basis of the charge and your decision to pay it, could you please provide:

1. A copy of the original PCN issued to VWFS.

2. The date on which VWFS received the original PCN.

3. An explanation of why liability was not transferred to me as the hirer/keeper under POFA 2012 Schedule 4.

4. The contractual clause within my lease agreement that permits VWFS to pay private parking charges (as opposed to statutory fines) on my behalf.

5. The contractual clause that allows VWFS to recharge me for a payment made to a debt recovery agency rather than to the parking operator.

6. Confirmation of the basis for the £10 administration fee in this instance.

As I did not receive the original PCN, I was denied the opportunity to appeal or resolve the matter directly at the appropriate stage. I would be grateful if you could review the handling of this case and provide the above information so that I can understand your position fully.

Until this information is provided, I consider the invoice to be formally in dispute.

I then phoned them asking for an update. They said as it's a fine I have to pay but can appeal. I argued it's not a fine and certainly not issued by a statutory authority, and I've lost my right to appeal. They then sent me an authorisation letter to appeal against Congestion Charge Notices! 😖

As I pay for my lease via direct debit, this £180 is being debited from my account on Tuesday. Should I phone the bank and cancel my direct debit? Not sure how this will help me, as if I re-instate the DD to pay next month's lease they'll probably try to take it again

Are my next steps to issue a LoC to VWFS to claim back the £180 if they take it from me?

BTW, thanks to this forum I've successfully cancelled 3 PCNs over the years, one of which was cancelled just before the court hearing. Thanks in advance.

Coupon-mad

"Should I phone the bank and cancel my direct debit?"

No. Phone & block only that payment as 'unauthorised' because the lease firm has paid a scam (your agreement doesn't entitle them to debit you for this error on their part).

Gr1pr

As well as the above, open a dispute with them with the BVRLA , because i would have thought that VWFS are members, we have seen dozens of VWFS cases on here over the years, perhaps have a read of some of them

VWFS appear to have decided that an alleged debt from a 3rd party powerless debt collector is a fine, with no sight of the original paperwork, clearly they are either stupid or naive, they certainly didn't obtain good legal advice regarding contract law ( where words and contracts matter. )

Car1980

£80? Pretty clear that they've set up this system as a profit generator. Fleas upon fleas.

Most people won't differentiate between fines and invoices, so will just pay up.

stingray751

The bank can’t block that single payment as VWFS are taking it as part of my regular lease direct debit. So my only options are to pay or cancel the DD.

GrumpyDil

Hm, their letter says they will collect the payment 14 days from the invoice date so unless your payment falls on the same day I suspect it will be taken as a separate payment. If that happens I would do am indemnity on the extra collection and leave the usual payment to be collected as normal.

Car1980

You can dispute it with your bank after the event under the Direct Debit Guarantee. Your bank is obliged to refund the excess immediately.

Their letter specifically says they will take it by DD, but they can't set up a fresh DD without your permission, so they can't take payment in any other way other than increasing your DD for one month.

They have to give 10 days notice whatever, so they are probably using 14 to play it safe. But if it doesn't go out this month it will go out the next.

Coupon-mad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82008531#Comment_82008531

Is that what the bank said?

Cancel the DD and pay the lease firm directly for ONLY the usual payment and tell them to 'go swivel' for stupidly paying a daft Debt Recovery Plus threatogram and you aren't bailing them out for being stupid and not educating their staff that these aren't fines.

All they had to do was transfer liability to you. Their problem. Their error.

Car1980

Except presumably they will need to reinstate the DD for the car finance and they will add it on in future? Just cancelling a DD for a credit agreement isn't wise.

Gr1pr

A DD does not give anyone the right to pay scams and charge you money via an unauthorised transaction

They should be pausing debt recovery pending the outcome of any dispute, including the BVRLA or any suitable ombudsman

Perhaps a deadlock letter is in order. ?