NCP Edinburgh

[Mr Soft]

Hi guys

 

I got two 'Parking contravention charge notices' while parked in the Morrison Street car park opposite the Premier Travel Inn in Edinburgh. I got the second one while I was in the hotel querying the first one. They were £100 reduced to £50 if paid within 14 days. I am quite content to go the 'ignore' route.

 

However the car I was driving was a hired car. I did ring the hire company and ask what their policy was when contacted by these people. To be frank I did'nt get a definite answer from them. One person I spoke to kept referring to these notices as 'fines' then passed me to the legal department who kept referring to 'violations'.

 

My questions are -

 

1.Has anybody had these charges paid by the hire company and then been asked for the money by the hire company (or had your card debited?)

 

2. I know the general advice given here is do not write to them but should I write to NCP and tell them I was driving so contact me not the car hire company?

 

All advice appreciated.

 

Mr S

[crem]

I think I would write to the hire company telling them that you have received a parking INVOICE which is in dispute. Make it clear to them that this is not a legally issued PCN or FPN, therfore it is not a FINE nor did you commit any VIOLATION, and as such you categorically instruct them that no payment is to be made on your behalf and if they do, you will not accept any charge from them so it will be their look out.

 

You might like to tell them you will accept such letters being forwarded to you provided this is done free of charge. If they claim even this would be chargable, I would simply tell them they could bin them on my behalf then without a fee.

 

If you don't feel like you get a satisfactory response from the hire company and are still worried they might pay it (and add another 30quid onto the bill for their "admin") I would go as far as cancelling the card that you arranged the car hire on, (you just have to tell your card company that you lost/damaged it and need a new one).

[Mr Soft]

Hi again.

 

Thanks Crem, I will write a letter with the points you have suggested.

 

It was not my card that was used to hire the car, it was a travel company who are used by my employers.

 

I am still curious as to whether anybody else has had to argue the point with car hire companies.

 

I would have thought that this was a fairly common occurence and that the hire companies would have a clear cut policy.

 

Regards and thanks

 

Mr S

[maroondevo52]

Hi, Mr Soft.

 

I take it, you had to pay by machine, the one at the top of Morrison Street, you have to pay the guy in the booth, just wondered, as I'm sure both are owned by the same crew.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[lamma]

check what the hire agreement says about this subject - ALL relevant (and exact) wording please.

[Mr Soft]

Hi again,

 

MaroonDevo - after I got the invoices I had a look round and the entrance you mention (by the pay booth) is 50 Metres (ish) past a lowered kerb entrance with no signage at all, which is where I entered.

 

Also the entire piece of land appears to be divided by a few traffic cones, it sort of implies that when you park exactly opposite the hotel you are on

the hotels ground.

 

The pay booth doe's not appear to be manned, it seems like somebody comes around in a van, issues some 'tickets' then drives off to another site.

 

By the way, I was not the only person 'ticketed'. It was the weekend of the Edinburgh marathon and I advised another couple and a single guy that their invoices were just waste paper, however they all looked doubtful, I told them to look at the CAG site - they did not seem convinced!

 

I did my best, then went to the Spiders Web (I think)

 

Regards Mr S

[maroondevo52]

Hi,

 

I'm useless with parking stuff, I'll leave you in the hands of some caggers with far more superior knowledge on the subject, and yes, It would be the 'spiders Web'.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[Mr Soft]

Hi Lamma,

 

good point, I don't have the original documents but will certainly go in to the hire company on Monday and ask to see their standard hire agreement.

 

Many thanks

 

Mr S

[Mr Soft]

Just bringing this up to date.

 

Received an Email from work this afternoon asking me if I wanted to pay these 'parking fines' myself or did I want them deducting from my salary.

 

Also included were copies of the original tickets and an invoice from the car hire company asking for 2 x £100 for the tickets and 2 x £25 admin fees.

 

I rang the hire company to ask if these had already been paid by them - the answers I got were yes. then no, then maybe, then probably. I gave up.

 

So the only positive thing I did was send an Email to work 'insisting that they do not pay these invoices on my behalf.

 

Hopefully tomorrow I will find who, if anybody (Work, travel company, car hire company) has paid these. I do hope nobody has paid or else my arguments will be with the wrong people.

 

Mr Soft

[Mr Soft]

Short update:-

 

Another Email from work, surprisingly they said 'yes we'll pass this back to the travel company and you deal with them'.

 

Within minutes got a phone call from the travel company who agreed to pass this all back to the car hire company when I explained the situation.

 

Is this too easy so far? If I do get this passed back to the PPC, I will then have to explain to the car hire company what I think of their 2 x £25 admin charges.

 

Bye for now

 

Mr Soft