Free Traffic Legal Advice

I'm sorry but it has now become even more confusing because you say your HR dept have told you "There's nothing more we can do. This is part of the contract that you have taken out with 'The leasing company' and you need to take this up with 'The leading Company' as there is nothing we can do because this process is not managed by 'Your employer"

I was under the impression that your company is the lessee/hirer of the vehicle and it will be they who have the contract with the lease company. What you have shown suggests that you have some sort of contract with the lease company, not your employer. Please correct me if I'm wrong in my assumptions.

The leasing company's "fines team" have evidenced their intellectual malnourishment in that response. You should feel at liberty to point out the following to them, in no uncertain terms:

As this was not a "fine" from an authority but an invoice from an unregulated private parking company and the liability for the invoice simply could have been transferred to the lessee/hirer as per the information in the NtK, the response from them is evidence that they are either stupid or too inexperienced to be dealing with these matters. A simple transfer of liability as advised in the NtK would have absolved them from any further liability or charges.

The PPC have no involvement in this. They have been paid and couldn't give a rats @rse about the plight of the OP. This is a contractual matter between the OP, their employer and the lease company. It would appear that the lease company acted recklessly by simply paying the charge, whether the contract with the lessee allowed them to do so or not. The lease company have a "Fines team" that are obviously stupid or simply plain ignorant about PCNs.

If the OP is a member of a union or professional association they should seek advice from them and also, if they have legal advice cover with one of their insurance policies, the should avail themselves of that. It should be legal advice from someone with experience of employment and contact law.

Thank you for the response once again. No, I have never taken out a contract with the leasing company.

We used another company when I got the car (never signed an agreement with them either) and my employer recently changed leasing company and moved all of the contracts over, a month in - they implemented this new fines process.

I'm not a member of any unions unfortunately, so it'll be on me to pick up any legal costs on this one. Feel like i've hit the end of the road and no other option.

I guess others would probably let this drop, but absolutely nothing stopping this from happening to me again (and others). Like I said, this is a huge company with one of the largest fleet of vehicles in the U.K. So it will be an absolute money spinner.

Having spoken with HR they informed me


'I would advise going back to *the leasing company* to check exactly what evidence they are lookking for. It is standard practice to pay fines, but there is still an appeal process through *the leasing company*. '


'*The employer* are processing instructions from *The Leasing company* in these cases and it would be for *the leasing company* to change the process if it is not applicable in Northern Ireland'

There was no clear signage to indicate that the car was parked contrary to any restrictions and the car was being used in line with my company car policy / agreement.

I'll await a response from my employer, but I think you only option that I have really is to get legal advice on this. I thank you for your responses and will come back and update once it is concluded.

My Company Car Policy

7.3 Fines
You are responsible for paying any parking fines/charges, congestion charges and fixed penalty
notices incurred by you or any other authorised driver whilst using your company car. These must
be paid promptly and if you don’t, or if the fine/charge is sent directly to 'The leasing company' as the registered
owner of the car, 'The leasing company' will pay on your behalf, and this will be deducted from your salary together
with an additional £12.50 plus VAT administration fee. Failure to pay any outstanding fines and
surcharges may result in disciplinary action being taken.
If you’re disputing any of these charges you must let 'the leasing company' know as soon as possible


Would the sensible move here to be request the leasing company to provide evidence that I was the driver of the vehicle are per Northern Ireland law?

Grounds for appeal
Unlike England and Wales, the Protection of Freedoms Act (PoFA) does not apply in
Northern Ireland. This means that the driver, rather than the registered keeper of
the vehicle, is liable for any private parking charges issued. The onus is on the
parking operator to issue the PCN letter to the driver of the vehicle. As the registered
keeper of the vehicle, you can appeal the PCN by asking the parking operator to
provide evidence that you were driving on the date of the alleged breach, if no
evidence exists, the PCN can be cancelled.
Also, if you feel there are extenuating circumstances involved in your case or that
the PCN has been issued incorrectly, you can appeal the PCN. Valid grounds for
appeals include signage being inadequate on site, errors with ANPR cameras, getting
a PCN for parking in a disabled bay despite having a valid blue badge or if you are an
employee within the grounds of the car park.

This is a private fine - apologies if posted in the wrong forum. Attached fine.

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