Green Motion 'Admin Fee' re Parking Penalty

[Marion389]

Hello. Can you helo me, please? This query may have apoeared before, but I am a new member requiring assistance.

I hired a car in April from Green Motion and after the end of the hire period was sent an email telling me that they had been contacted by ParkingEye because I had parked on a car park without paying.

The company whose car park it was have cancelled the matter and I have no problem in that respect. However, Green Motion have charged me £84 as an admin charge, an horrendous amount, and my question is, has anyone encountered this situation and were able to reclaim/cancel the £84.

Thank you so much for your help.

[ostell]

A regular occurrence with hire companies but Green Motion take the biscuit for the amount.

Look at your hire contract and see what it says about liability for the charge. If it says it is for fines, penalties etc then they gave not met their conditions for the charge. PE are a private company and cannot issue penalties. What was received was no more than an invoice.

Post up those conditions from your contract for people to give some opinions. If they haven't met the conditions then take it up with them and demand a refund. Failing that then then dispute the transaction with your card issuer.

Some hire companies cancel when a charge has been cancelled but I believe Green Motion is not one of them

[Marion389]

Thank you for your response. I don't have the rental contract now, but have found this on the internet:

"Congestion Charge, Speeding Fines, Parking Fines, Dart Charge and other Penalty Charge Notices

If Green Motion are informed of any traffic offence a Management Charge will be charged to the client. This will usually be no less than £84.00 including VAT."

Could you comment on this wording? Thank you.

[charitynjw]

Thank you for your response. I don't have the rental contract now, but have found this on the internet:

"Congestion Charge, Speeding Fines, Parking Fines, Dart Charge and other Penalty Charge Notices

If Green Motion are informed of any traffic offence a Management Charge will be charged to the client. This will usually be no less than £84.00 including VAT."

Could you comment on this wording? Thank you.

A private parking charge notice is not a penalty charge.
It is a civil alleged breach of contract, so Green Motion are unjustly enriching themselves & could also fall foul of breach of contract.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unjust_enrichment

[charitynjw]

[ostell]

So the conditions in their T & Cs for which they can claim the £84 do not cover the issuance of an invoice, purely penalties and offences etc.

First a letter to them requesting a repayment of the £84 that they had not been entitled to claim from you as their T & Cs had not been met. Point out that the invoice had, in fact been cancelled.

If that does not work then your card company for unauthorised transaction.

[Sambaben]

Hi - I have a similar issue with Green Motion (£84 admin fee despite the original PCN being cancelled)... can you advise how this ended up being resolved?
I would hope the admin fee was eventually cancelled!

[Sambaben]

Hello. Can you helo me, please? This query may have apoeared before, but I am a new member requiring assistance.

I hired a car in April from Green Motion and after the end of the hire period was sent an email telling me that they had been contacted by ParkingEye because I had parked on a car park without paying.

The company whose car park it was have cancelled the matter and I have no problem in that respect. However, Green Motion have charged me £84 as an admin charge, an horrendous amount, and my question is, has anyone encountered this situation and were able to reclaim/cancel the £84.

Thank you so much for your help.

MARION389, can you confirm if this matter was resolved in your favour?

[Sambaben]

A regular occurrence with hire companies but Green Motion take the biscuit for the amount.

Look at your hire contract and see what it says about liability for the charge. If it says it is for fines, penalties etc then they gave not met their conditions for the charge. PE are a private company and cannot issue penalties. What was received was no more than an invoice.

Post up those conditions from your contract for people to give some opinions. If they haven't met the conditions then take it up with them and demand a refund. Failing that then then dispute the transaction with your card issuer.

Some hire companies cancel when a charge has been cancelled but I believe Green Motion is not one of them

I have a similar situation to MARION389... I was contacted by Westcountry Rentals Ltd on behalf of Green Motion almost a year after the hire period.
I received a 'Letter Before Action requesting payment of an £84 (???) admin fee relating to a parking charge notice / traffic violation.
It turns out the alleged PCN / traffic violation was cancelled, but Green Motion is still insisting payment of the £84 admin fee as they have apparently "suffered operational costs in-house".
I do not have a copy of the original hire agreement, but I did find this Clause (15) in their current Terms + Conditions;
14. Fines, Penalties and Administration Charges
It is the responsibility of each hirer to cover the cost of any parking fines and traffic violations including but not limited to unpaid tolls and Congestion Charges. When fines or traffic violations occur and a Green Motion location is involved in administering the violation, a management fee will be charged. This is a non-waiverable fee.

Can you offer any advice on the above?

[ostell]

Again their T&Cs do not cover invoices from private companies.

[Sambaben]

Again their T&Cs do not cover invoices from private companies.

Dear Ostell,
Please be advised since my last post I have been contacted a further two times by Fleetworks (on behalf of Green Motion) with the following message;

"As per our previous notifications we have now instructed professional debt recovery service agents to follow this up. They will be in touch with you directly... if you require any further details including a copy invoice then please request this from us now."

With regard to your post, I'm not sure why invoices from private companies is relevant? In one of their earlier e-mails they stated the following guidance;

The issuer has cancelled the PCN? Do I get a refund on the Admin Fee? 
Unfortunately, even if a ticket/fine is cancelled we will still have incurred a cost. Historically many clients have successfully recovered the balance from the issuer if a PCN was issued incorrectly.

[Andragon]

Sambaben, what happened after all, did they really try to get the "debt" out of you?