Free Traffic Legal Advice

Please post up.a scan or photos of the copy PCN. Just redact your name & address. If this is a "private" Parking Charge Notice then your topic needs to be moved to the correct sub-forum.

In that case you need to click on the "report to moderator" button and ask for the topic to be moved to the "Private Parking Tickets" forum.

Smart are laughing al the way to the bank thanks to the lease company paying the charge when, in NI, there is no keeper liability.

OP, you now have to sue whoever plundered your wages. It's not (not so) Smart Parking. Your claim will be under breaches of the CRA 2015 and other contract law. You will need to show that your original lease has no reference to private invoices (this was not a fine or a penalty which are different matters entirely) being paid and then charged back. What clause is there in your employment contract that allows your employer to garnish your wages for someone else's mistake?

This could be quite complex legally and perhaps you would be better off getting advice from someone who is legally trained.

Just so the OP understands what should have happened... Smart Parking have no idea who the driver is. They get the keepers details from the DVLA and sent an NtK to the keeper, the lease company.

The lease company only has to tell Smart that the vehicle is leased to your company and send a copy of a statement signed by or on behalf of the vehicle-hire/lease firm to the effect that at the material time the vehicle was hired to a named person under a hire agreement, a copy of the hire/lease agreement and a copy of a statement of liability signed by the hirer/leasee under that hire agreement and that would have transferred liability to your company.

However, Smart will not have included copies of those documents which means that they could not rely on PoFA to transfer liability from the unknown driver to them, the hirer/leasee. Not only that, because the alleged breach of terms of parking occurred in NI, again, there is no keeper liability and PoFA does not even apply there. The lease company could have simply ignored the NtK and nothing would have come of it.

However, because your company has named you as the driver, you became the liable person in all this. Even though the lease company and your company could not be liable, you became so once your company threw you under the bus. The problem now is that the lease company paid the charge and then charged back to your company who have decided that they have the right to garnish your wages for the sins of others.

Check your employment contract carefully and seek advice from a qualified legal professional. Unfortunately, this is no longer just a parking charge issue.

I have received a copy of a privately issued PCN from the leasing firm that my company use.

So the PCN was issued to the leasing firm who paid the charge. Yes?

My initial lease was with a different company, they transferred the lease over to this new company recently and last month implemented the new policy that they will pay fines on your behalf and apply an Admin fee. This is taken out of my salary.

Secondly, I never signed any agreement with the leasing company that allowed them to make payments for fines and deduct them from my salary - there is also nothing in my contract of employment which states this.

OP, let's get the facts absolutely clear pl. I suggest using the terms leasing company, your employer and you

The leasing company's agreement for this vehicle is with who, your employer or you? Logic dictates that it should be your employer, otherwise your salary wouldn't enter the equation, instead you'd be sent an invoice by the leasing company.

I won't go into what flows from this until we know who's who.

Let's take this one step at a time.

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.

OP, you posted:

..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?

Why? If nothing else this would seem totally premature because:

You also posted:
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.....

...If you’re disputing any of these charges you must let 'the leasing company' know as soon as possible

Then from the leasing company:

If you can provide us the relevant evidence my fines team are still able to put in a dispute on your behalf."

So, you have contacted the leasing company as per your company's Car Policy and you've had a response(dated when we've no idea).

Action this response and exhaust all internal methods before you even contemplate legal remedies.

Let's also put this in context: what sum of money is in dispute?

NB. your company's policy, and one by which it would seem you are bound, is that you are fully responsible for penalties etc. incurred while 'your company car' is allocated to you. Therefore it doesn't matter who was driving, under this policy you are held liable. That there might not be 'keeper liability' in NI is not the issue for the leasing company IMO. They have a contract with your employer who have agreed the manner in which such matters would be handled. Nowt to do with PoFA and ping-ponging the niceties of who was driving.