Attention! Company Car Drivers - Easy Targets!

rila75

Hello, Great forum.

I drive a company car. Recently I received a letter from my employer informing me that £93 will be deducted from my salary. They have forwarded me an invoice from the Car Leased Company for: £75 Parking Charge Notice (Which the leased company has paid) from City Parking Enforcement Ltd. - for parking in a free Lidl Car Park + £18 Admin charges.
Do I have any options to get my money back?

1. The Leased Company did not informed me about the fine, but just paid it (On what grounds I have no idea)?
2. The Leased Company did not give me any chance to contest the fine.
3. The Leased Company have no means to know who the driver of the car was
and it is the car driver that is responsible for the "Breach of contract" not the registered keeper.
Has anybody had similar problem and is there a way to get my money back, which were completely unlawfully taken from me?

The PCN is a complete joke, with wrong time on it (from 17:53 to 13:35 on a same date) and of course I never received it. Any advice will be highly appreciated.
:wall:

Debt_Free_Chick

I suspect that the Leasing Company is the Registered Keeper, so the issuer of the ticket traced them via DVLA.

Is the deduction from salary unlawful? Depends on what's in your terms & conditions of employment or the terms of the car scheme.

I think it's going to be difficult to contest it and win. The fine's been paid and I don't see the issuer refunding it now.

The fact is that the Leasing Company is owed the money. Either you pay it or your employer does. Getting your employer to pay it is going to be down to some careful negotiation, I think. Worth upsetting them for £93?

peter_the_piper

Please put this on http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?act=SF&s=&f=30 and they will help you and your company avoid this in the future.

rila75

Many thanks to all here for the invaluable advices. I will speak with my company and keep post the results here.
Thanks:confused:

RadoJo

I would be tempted to take your employer/lease company up on this as well - they acted on your behalf without your authority, and now they have left you in a position where you cannot do anything about it with the parking company. It sounds to me as though the ticket itself could have been dismissed through lack of consistent timing, so for them to 'accept' it on your behalf is pretty cheeky! The only thing which might override that (as a previous poster says) is if there is a specific clause in your contract about this matter.

pinkshoes

It's the same with company cars, and they automatically bill you for any speeding tickets or parking fines, then you have to pay it plus an admin fee, with no chance to contest it.

My collegue got one for supposedly parking on a double yellow, which is ridiculous because the CCTV cameras are clearly visible on the named street, and he wouldn't have had any need to stop as he parked in the car park! (car park ticket as evidence!).

He just had to cough up!

sarahg1969

pinkshoes wrote: »

It's the same with company cars, and they automatically bill you for any speeding tickets or parking fines, then you have to pay it plus an admin fee, with no chance to contest it.

It is usual for the terms of a lease to include a fee for payment of parking
fines, etc.

However, the OP has not been the subject of a fine - rather an invoice - and
I have no doubt that most leasing agreements do not specifically include
invoices. They refer to fines only.

I can see from the OP's post on pepipoo that this is the case in her
situation. In the circumstances, she has been the subject of an unlawful
deduction from her wages and needs to ask for it to be repaid.

DaisyFlower

Most company car handbooks/contracts/employee handbooks will have a clause saying parking fines etc can be recovered from wages. Speeding fines are different as you have to nominate the driver due to the points. Parking goes against the car and not the driver.

Therefore if it does state this is not an illegal deduction.

sarahg1969

DaisyFlower wrote: »

Most company car handbooks/contracts/employee handbooks will have a clause saying parking fines etc can be recovered from wages. Speeding fines are different as you have to nominate the driver due to the points. Parking goes against the car and not the driver.

Therefore if it does state this is not an illegal deduction.

You're wrong, I'm afraid, because the OP has NOT been fined. She's received an invoice for parking on a private car park. The terms and conditions of her lease (posted on pepipoo) specifically do not include invoices. They state:

"You are personally liable for the payment of any fixed penalty notices, car parking fines, speeding penalties and other fines that may arise as a result of breaches of the Highway Code, Local Authority by-laws or other traffic regulations."

This clearly does not include any liability for invoices. It relates to fines only.

I trust the OP will not mind me copying the above.

Regards.

Sarah

Blacksheep1979

no the op has not been billed for parking - the car rental firm has and they've payed, unfortunately you've probably signed an agreement to pay any cost incurred by you for the car

sarahg1969

Blacksheep1979 wrote: »

no the op has not been billed for parking - the car rental firm has and they've payed, unfortunately you've probably signed an agreement to pay any cost incurred by you for the car

The terms from the OP's lease are shown in my above post. They do not refer to parking invoices. Only fines.