Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hello! Any help on thid issue would be greatly appreciated - thanks in advance!

My vehicle is leased and today I received a copy of a PCN from the lease company.

They have paid the charge and added a £30 admin fee before contacting me or notifying me in any way of the PCN. Here is a copy of the PCN they forwarded to me (sorry for the bad quality - that’s on the lease company!)

The PCN is for not paying the £5 drop off fee at Heathrow airport. This is done online before or after the visit but the driver did not know this so did not pay. When they left the terminal and did not see any barriers (like at Stansted) they thought this parking charge didn’t apply. The signs are too difficult to read from the car especially at Heathrow, one of the busiest airports in the world, where there is a big queue of cars behind you all waiting to get in - it’s not possible to stop and read the small print of the fine when you drive in. So it wasn’t clear upon entry that payment needed to be made online. The driver said there is no way to pay on site, which is the normal way to pay for parking basically everywhere!

The driver returned the car to my address where the car is kept, a journey of over an hour, but on the way home had to stop on the side of the road multiple times for over 30 minutes for a poorly child. The journey took over 2 hours and was extremely distressing for the driver, so their mind was no longer on the Heathrow drop off charges. Probably not relevant but the driver thought it was worth mentioning as it definitely speaks to their state of mind in line with this Which article with info from a Barrister RE forgetfulness.

In terms of the lease car company, my agreement with them includes these two relevant clauses which I believe allows them to pay these charges and then reimburse them onto me?

5.1.5 pay on time all licence fees, charges (including congestion charges, tolls etc), taxes and other sums due relating to the vehicle or its use. We may pay the amount of such charges for you. You will then repay that amount to us on demand together with such sum as we consider reasonable to cover our administration costs connected with the charge. Our costs will be at least £30;

5.1.9 promptly reimburse us for all parking fines and other fixed penalties or charges that we have paid in relation to the vehicle. You will also pay us such sums as we consider reasonable to cover our administration costs connected with these payments. Our costs will be at least £30.

Thank you for any advice!

All the lease company had to do was follow the instructions on the Notice to Keeper (NtK) they received from APCOA that lets them simply transfer liability from them, the keeper, to you, the Hirer. APCOA would then have re-issued the PCN to you as a Notice to Hirer (NtH).

The lease company would then have no longer had any liability and that would have been the end of the matter as far as they were concerned. The Hirer could have used a very simple appeal as the Hirer (not as the driver) guaranteed to have had the charge cancelled because APCOA cannot rely on PoFA 2012 to hold the Hirer/Keeper liable. As long as the Hirer did not identify the driver, and there is no legal requirement for the Hirer/keeper to do so, to an unregulated private parking company, then that would be the end of the matter.

The lease company has simply gone and paid a speculative invoice from a private company. What if I had invoiced them £80 for the car being a colour that I did not like, would they simply pay it because, as far as they were concerned it was a “charge” and I would then be £80 richer?

The wording of “charges” in the agreement is crucial. What was received from them was not a “fine” or “penalty” and no “offence” had been committed. It was simply a speculative invoice from a private company for an alleged breach of contract by the driver.

The issue now is whether they have breached the contract with the Hirer. APCOA have been paid and are laughing all the way to the bank. It no longer has an anything to do with them.

You would need to sue the lease company for the money they have charged you. You need to show exactly how the lease agreement has worded their right to charge you for “invoices” from unregulated private parking companies”. Nothing whatsoever to do with “fines” or “penalties” for “offences” issued by “authorities” (not private companies).

It is not a "fine" and it was not issued by an "authority". I don't understand why you are not getting this. It was an invoice from a private parking company and they should not have paid it but followed the advice on the PCN on how to transfer liability from them to you, the Hirer.

You have no way of asking APCOA for the money back. They are laughing all the way to the bank.

Your dispute is with the Hire company and you will have to argue with them. They mention "fine" and "issuing authority". The PCN is not a "fine" and APCOA are not an "authority" of any kind. They are an unregulated PRIVATE parking company. By paying the invoice you have no recourse to appeal. It is not their problem anymore, it is yours and the Hire company  only.

It will all come down to the actual terms in your Hire contract. If it says anything along the lines of "We will pay any invoice received from any private company no matter for what reason and then charge it back to you and also charge you £30 for the privilege", then you are out of pocket.

If it only mentions that they will pay "fines" or "penalties" issued by "authorities" then they have breached the terms of the Hire agreement and you should sue them for the money to be paid back.

I don't know how much simpler it can be to understand.

So, what do the terms in your Hire agreement say, verbatim, about charges for parking from private companies?

Is the lease company a member of the BVRLA?

I don’t think I ever called it a fine, only a PCN.

No, you didn't call it a "fine". The lease company did, and that is a mendacious statement by them.

The OP is not versed in private parking or vehicle-hire law or lore and IMO there's no point going off about fines and authorities at such length.

OP, how do you want to play this?

If ultimately you were prepared to take on Santander then IMO you would need to write to APCOA and use their reply - probably that you're too late or that the matter is closed because the charge has been paid- as leverage with Santander.

Alternatively, you could just write to Santander pointing out their misunderstanding of the procedure. But IMO if push came to shove there's no substitute for hard evidence and a rejection from APCOA. 

As regards APCOA, you would reference the PCN and the email and appeal on the grounds that neither the keeper nor the hirer have any liability as regards the PCN and that you, as hirer, should have been issued with a Notice to Hirer. Also that as you are still within the 28-day appeal period you would expect APCOA to consider this matter and not simply reject because the parking charge has been paid.

...in effect give them the opportunity to counter every point in Santander's email thus putting you in a much stronger position should you want to challenge them.

My thoughts..

...in effect give them the opportunity to counter every point in Santander's email thus putting you in a much stronger position should you want to challenge them.

Some sort of response from APCOA would indeed counteract the nonsense claim from Santander that you can somehow appeal a charge they have already paid, and that, unless I am mistaken, was only ever issued to Santander.