Hire car company paid the parking charge & 'admin fee' (£136) before letting me know

[Redeye]

Hi,

I'd be most grateful if I could get some advice regarding a parking charge which occurred on 08-12-2018 in a private car park controlled by 'Parking control management (Uk) Ltd'.

I was in a hire car at the time and did not receive any letter from Parking control management Ltd regarding the alleged parking contravention. Instead, I received an email on 15-01-2019 from the car hire company (Sixt) with a letter (see attached) informing me that they had paid the invoice and taken the money from my card plus an admin fee (£136 in total) as per their terms.

In the past when I have had a parking ticket given in a hire car, the hire car company has given the Parking control company my address and details which meant I could defend the parking notice directly. This is a different car hire company than I usually use and it seems they have a different policy.

They said if I wish to contest it I need to appeal to Parking control management for 'compensation'.

In the past I have cited a failure to include a copy of the hire agreement or NTK with the PCN issuer's correspondence, and the charges have been waived as a result. In this case the PCN issuer has never sent me any correspondence so I guess I can't use that this time?

Any advice on the best way to play this would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

R

[ostell]

What does the hire contract say about parking invoices? It probably mentions fines and penalties.

You could always ask your bank to reverse the unauthorised transaction

[Redeye]

Hi Ostell,

I've copied their terms below. It seems they state that they can both send my details onto the parking company, and/or pay the charge and charge my card.

I am considering asking my CC company to reverse the transaction, they normally ask why and if I have exhausted all routes with the supplier so I just wanted to try and respond to Sixt first with a case.

It doesn't seem right that they can just pay the fine and take the money without giving me the opportunity to defend the claim first. Now they've paid it I imagine it is going to be more difficult to retrieve the money?

15 Speeding, parking and traffic fines and charges

15.1 You are responsible for all fines and charges issued as a result of you or any driver
using the Vehicle. Fines and charges could include: all parking fines or charges; toll
charges; towing charges; clamping costs; traffic fines or charges; speeding fines;
and any other charges or fines.

15.2 If a fine or charge is sent to us because you haven’t paid a charge or complied with
the law, we will take payment for:
(a) our administration fee which is notified to you at the time of booking and can
be found on our website at https://www.sixt.co.uk/rental-servic...alinformation/ to cover our costs of dealing with the fine or charge; and
(b) the fine or charge itself (if we have to pay it).

15.3 By signing the Rental Agreement, you give us permission to these payments. We
will charge them to your payment card.

15.4 By signing the Rental Agreement, you agree to us giving your details, as well as a
copy of the Rental Agreement to the authority or private company that has issued
the fine or charge if we consider they have a right to the information and the law
allows us to do so. We will charge you a processing fee for doing this.
SIXT Terms and Conditions for Rental of a Vehicle 11.18

15.5 If we are not able to lawfully pass on your information in accordance with clause

15.4, we will pay the fine or charge on your behalf and then invoice you for the fine
or charge, as our administration fee.

15.6 If you want to appeal, contest or dispute a fine or charge, we will give you the details
of the fine or charge and, the organisations who issued the fine or charge. You must
deal directly with the issuing organisations to get a refund and/or compensation.

[ostell]

15.2.b is the relevant bit. "(If we have to pay it)". The response to that is that they did not have to pay it. Indeed there will be instructions on the PCN on what to do to avoid payment. There is no chance of getting the money back once it is paid and every chance of not paying the charge. They should have followed the correct procedures, a procedure that their own trade association is well aware of.

It could also be held that you would not be liable for the administration charge as you would probably not be liable for the parking charge

You could also take them to task about calling PCM an authority when it is nothing of the sort, being a mere private company, the violation a mere alleged breach of contract and the PCN no more than an invoice.

Was there a windscreen ticket on the car?

The bank should be told that this was an unapproved transaction that Sixt made contrary to their term & conditions

[Redeye]

That's great, thanks.

No there was no ticket attached when I arrived at the car.

I will inform my CC company and hopefully they will reverse the charges.

[ostell]

With no windscreen ticket then they have to deliver the PCN within 14 days. I can't really read the dates on the PCN but it could be that the date of event to the date given is more than 14 days and therefore there could be no keeper libility, ie Sixt had no liability in this matter and therefore an even stronger reason to not charge you.

[Redeye]

Good point - It looks like they only sent the letter to Sixt on 09-01-19 and the alleged contravention took place on 08-12-2018 so almost a month later.

Although the letter does state that they did affix the ticket to the windscreen and take a photo of it.

[Redeye]

So this is still going on and I'm feeling pretty unjustly treated right now and wondering what my options are to take it further. Update below....

1. I requested a chargeback from Metrobank which in itself was not as straight forward as you'd think. Metrobank customer services are the worst I have ever come across and they were very reluctant to protect me.

2. The chargeback for £136 was eventually granted on 26th March 2019 and refunded to my card. Great.

3. On 24th May I went into a Metrobank branch and canceled my credit card completely (just in case Sixt tried to re-charge me).

4. Well Sixt did try and re-charge me, and on the 18th June I got a letter from Metrobank (see attached) pretending they were giving me a new card because my one was 'old'. No mention of my credit card account cancellation on 24th May. Also, the card I did have previously before canceling the account was only a couple of months old and had the same expiry date as the new one they sent me (08/21). This underhandedness infuriated me the most. Surely they can't re-instate a closed account to make a disputed debit?

5. Another thing to note is they re-instated my account and took the money on the 14th June (4 days before the date on the letter they sent with a new card). It seems like they thought this through and wanted to take the money before I knew and/or could do anything about it.

I've since been into the Metrobank store to ask for clarification and proof that my account was canceled on 24th May. The guy on the counter was baffled as to why the paperwork was 'not there' although he did say the account looks like it was canceled on 24th May and he would have to get back to me once he'd spoken to head office to get the 'missing' paperwork. Not feeling confident that I am going to get the proof, even so I want to hold Metrobank and Sixt accountable for their actions.

Does anyone know the best route to take to have them answer the questions and explain why they did what they did?

I was thinking maybe small claims court with added costs for all the time it's taken to try and stop them taking my money. I believe that involves a money claim though so would I have to send them an invoice first then claim once they don't pay it?

Not sure if this is still in the right forum now but any advice or ideas much appreciated.

Many thanks

R

[charitynjw]

Could you clarify the status of that admin payment?
Has your account been debited again re the £130-odd?

[Redeye]

Yes, Metrobank reinstated my credit card after I had canceled it, then allowed the £136 charge from Sixt car hire to be taken again after it had previously been reversed back in March.

[charitynjw]

Yes, Metrobank reinstated my credit card after I had canceled it, then allowed the £136 charge from Sixt car hire to be taken again after it had previously been reversed back in March.

Have you complained/sought clarification of 'why' with Metro?

[Redeye]

They sent me a letter (see attached) on 25th June after I had called them about it. They failed to even mention the fact that they re-instated my card which is what my complaint was about on the phone.

They just stated that the merchant (Sixt car hire) provided details of the signed agreement therefore they redebited my account. This was my first complaint of course as I never denied signing the agreement. The whole point was what the terms and conditions actually said, and I disagreed that they could debit my account without authorisation rather than pass my details to the parking company which is normally the case. It's like they did not read my previous letter as they have not addressed the specific question of what the t's and c's say.

[charitynjw]

IMHO
Sixt is at fault.
They did not have to pay...the notice to registered keeper is out of time.
(See https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga...dule/4/enacted
Particularly paras 13 & 14)
If that is the case, Metro have misdirected themselves as to Sixt's liability (Ref Sixt's T&Cs)
Basically, Sixt chose to pay....they certainly didn't have to do so.
Metro have indicated a further complaint route via the FO. That's probably the easiest route to take.....a letter plus Sixt's T&Cs & a copy of PoFA 2012 Schedule 4 (or at least a link to it.)

[Redeye]

Thanks very much for the advice. I will try that route and hope the FO see it that way.

I'll post here with any updates.

Thanks

[charitynjw]

Highlight the fact that Sixt chose to pay....they did not have to.
That being the case, they can do so with their money, not yours!