kneel
Mon, 5 Sep 2016 - 11:30
I am new to this site so hello to all.
I am in a situation where I have been unfairly fined for parking but, as I own a company car, my company have paid the fine prior to sending me the fine.
Here is the scenario I am in:
I belong to a gym in the centre of Newport, South Wales, where they provide free parking for 2 hours. The parking was being run by a company called Smart Parking Ltd. Upon entering the gym, we would have to use a console to enter the registration of the car, which would then validate parking for 2 hours.
Back in February, this console was periodically broken (or at least without power) so no one was able to enter their registration plates to validate their cars. The gym staff were aware of the situation and said that they have been in contact with Smart Parking but that we could continue to park.
Never though anything more about this until I received an email from my company telling me that I had received a parking fine and that 'it is company policy to pay these fines as soon as we get them to mitigate our liability', and also to pay the reduced amount within 14 days (otherwise the fine increased to £100).
I spoke with my gym who say that they had over 100 members with fines. They told me not to pay and that they would contact Smart Parking about this.
A couple of weeks later we received an email from the gym saying that Smart Parking had accepted it was their mistake and cancelled all fines and any debt recovery letters recalled. I have contacted Smart Parking about this several times and they just state that as I have already paid the fine, I have accepted liability. They told me to put it in writing and they would see what they can do. I have written several letters and emails but get zero response.
When my company initially sent me the fine, they told me that they would be deducting the £60 from my wages. I did manage to get them to hold off doing this as I was sure I would get the £60 refunded but, alas. They have now deducted £60 from my wages.
As I mentioned, I have a company car which is on lease through Lex Autolease. My company has told me that the car is registered in Lex's name and that the fine goes to them first, who then pass it on to my company, although the name and address on the parking fine is my company's name and address.
Do I just accept this charge? If Smart Parking have accepted fault then is there any way I can get reimbursed? I am unsure ofhow to continue with this so any advise would be much appreciated.
Many thanks
Jlc
Mon, 5 Sep 2016 - 11:36
Pursue the gym again in the first instance.
However, getting a refund will be like getting blood from a stone. One option is to send Smart a Letter Before County Court Claim telling them that the charge must be refunded (and the reasons why) and that if they fail to do so then you will issue a claim to recover the charge.
Dennis Basher
Mon, 5 Sep 2016 - 11:43
That's really shoddy behaviour by your employer. They should have understood that charges such as this one from Smart are not fines, they are merely speculative invoices issued under Civil Law for alleged breach of contract or trespass.
Lex (as the vehicle's registered keeper) will have passed on your employer's company's details to Smart, who in turn will have reissued the Parking Charge Notice to your employer. If your Fleet Management Department had paid any attention, they would have seen that Smart weren't even seeking to hold your employer liable for the charge - they were just asking for the driver's details.
Your first step will be to get hold of a copy of your employer's Company Car Policy to see what it says about dealing with Private Parking Charge Notices (as opposed to fines and penalties).
The Rookie
Mon, 5 Sep 2016 - 12:13
If that is what your company wrote then
1/ They could mitigate their liability COMPLETELY by naming the driver
2/ It wasn't a fine so by their own wording it shouldn't have been paid.
I'd invoke the company complain procedure straight away, I'm also with JLC in this case and get onto the gym, Smart is presumably their agent so they are liable for the agents actions, I would be threatening THEM with the court action jointly with Smart.
Lynnzer
Mon, 5 Sep 2016 - 12:18
QUOTE (Dennis Basher @ Mon, 5 Sep 2016 - 12:43)
That's really shoddy behaviour by your employer. They should have understood that charges such as this one from Smart are not fines, they are merely speculative invoices issued under Civil Law for alleged breach of contract or trespass.
Lex (as the vehicle's registered keeper) will have passed on your employer's company's details to Smart, who in turn will have reissued the Parking Charge Notice to your employer. If your Fleet Management Department had paid any attention, they would have seen that Smart weren't even seeking to hold your employer liable for the charge - they were just asking for the driver's details.
Your first step will be to get hold of a copy of your employer's Company Car Policy to see what it says about dealing with Private Parking Charge Notices (as opposed to fines and penalties).
That would be the correct way to do it. However having some experience of rubbing my employers nose in it, it doesn't pay.
My next job soon afterwards wasn't one I particularly enjoyed.
I would go with the Letter before Claim option then if needed go with a full actual claim.
Even if you do this, you need to make your employer aware of the situation in respect of private parking tickets.
kneel
Mon, 5 Sep 2016 - 12:55
Thanks for your comments so far.
I forgot to mention that my gym has since severed their contract with Smart Parking as they were, in their words, 'useless'.
I will check my company car policy and see if it mentions anything about private parking tickets.
I sent Smart Parking a letter in June, explaining the situation and asking for the £60 to be refunded. I then sent an email in 3 weeks ago stating that I had not heard anything and that if nothing was done in the next 3 weeks that I would start legal proceedings. Would I still need to send a Letter Before Claim?
The Slithy Tove
Mon, 5 Sep 2016 - 13:03
QUOTE (kneel @ Mon, 5 Sep 2016 - 12:30)
When my company initially sent me the fine, they told me that they would be deducting the £60 from my wages. I did manage to get them to hold off doing this as I was sure I would get the £60 refunded but, alas. They have now deducted £60 from my wages.
Check your employment contract. They probably can't do this (it wasn't a fine, remember), so it amounts to an unlawful deduction. As Lynnzer says, you will have to tread very carefully on this if you want to retain a good working relationship with your employer. It all depends on their size and how their HR department works. When a previous employer of mine failed to pay certain payments in my contract, or attempted to withhold some pay, it only needed a concise, polite email to HR quoting the relevant part of the contract or Employment Handbook for them to climb down (never any formal admission of error, but the money appeared in the next payroll run).
Jlc
Mon, 5 Sep 2016 - 13:19
QUOTE (kneel @ Mon, 5 Sep 2016 - 13:55)
I forgot to mention that my gym has since severed their contract with Smart Parking as they were, in their words, 'useless'.
I presume soon to be your 'ex' gym.... ;-) Even though they may no longer have a contract they did at the time - they would be jointly and severally liable too...
QUOTE (kneel @ Mon, 5 Sep 2016 - 13:55)
...Would I still need to send a Letter Before Claim?
Yes. (Unless your previous letter covered all the bases - i.e. what your cause of action is and what they need to do by when.
Gan
Mon, 5 Sep 2016 - 13:20
The bicycle shed mentality of some employers annoys me more than almost any other feature of the parking industry
It's your employment contract that you need to check, as well the company car policy
Deductions from your salary are unlawful unless you've agreed to them in writing
I would go for the Letter before Claim approach
By the time Smart contacted your company they would have known that their system had failed
It was also reasonably forseeable that a company would act as yours has done
Throw in that if you are forced to raise a grievance with your employer that jeopardises your relationship with your company, you will hold Smart liable for all costs including any employment tribunals
It's worth contacting Lex and asking if they paid it and passed on the invoice, or simply passed on your company's name
Also worth asking if they could pass any future parking tickets to you personally to deal with and keep your employer out of the loop
Your HR department and/or Fleet Manager needs educating
If Smart didn't send a copy of the lease agreement, your company has never had any liability
The Rookie
Mon, 5 Sep 2016 - 14:56
Worth a read
https://driver.lexautolease.co.uk/Login/FAQQUOTE
Private Parking
On receiving a Private Parking notice we will follow the customer’s policy and either pay or nominate. If the customer’s policy is to pay the fine we will send a cheque to the issuing Private Parking Company and recharge the full amount to the customer. Depending on the policy, this could incur an administration fee.
If the policy is to nominate company address details, we will provide these details to the Private Company. Once the address has been received the Private Parking Company will transfer the liability into the customer’s name and issue them with a fresh notice. It then becomes the responsibility of the customer to either pay, appeal or nominate further. Depending on the policy, this could incur an administration fee.
If the policy is set to nominate driver address details, due to the Data Protection Act we are unable to provide these details to a Private Parking company. In these instances we will pass the notice directly to the customer’s address with a covering letter advising the customer to take action by either paying or appealing. Depending on the policy, this could incur an administration fee.
If, after 28 days, the customer has failed to make payment or appeal, the liability will be transferred back into Lex Autolease’s name - as the owners of the vehicle. Lex Autolease will then make contact with the customer giving them five working days to respond; if no response is made Lex Autolease will pay the now higher fine amount and fully recharge this to the customer.
All appeals can be made directly to the Private Parking Company should you wish to do so.
ostell
Mon, 5 Sep 2016 - 17:11
Have Lex passed that load of rubbish in front of their legal department?
The Rookie
Tue, 6 Sep 2016 - 08:36
It was probably written by Gladstones for them!
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