I hired a black car and was then fined £60 for driving a white one
My insurer recently provided me with a hire car from Enterprise after an accident. I soon received a £60 penalty charge notice (PCN) for driving in a bus lane in Aberdeen. Not only can I prove I wasn’t in Scotland, the photo on the PCN shows a completely different car. I’ve appealed against the fine, but Enterprise has already deducted a £35 administration fee for providing Aberdeen council with my details. The local branch can’t help, there’s no phone number for contesting the fee, and my email hasn’t been answered.FF, Stoke-on-Trent, West Midlands
It doesn’t require a forensic mind to detect that you are blameless. The car pictured on the PCN is white. The car you hired was black. Aberdeen council has now admitted to me that it made an error in noting the registration. Enterprise refunded the fee after I contacted its press office. It says: “Where there is an alleged traffic violation we rely on the information being passed to us by the relevant authority being correct. Details received from the council gave the registration of the vehicle which the customer had hired.”
The registered keeper of a vehicle is liable to pay any fines and car hire companies are the registered keepers of their fleet. But they can pass the responsibility to the relevant driver, provided the customer signs an agreement to accept responsibility for PCNs incurred while they are at the wheel. The complication is that the registered keeper has to appeal against any fine issued. Enterprise is now appealing on your behalf, but not all hire companies are willing to take on the hassle.
AW of Bristol was as startled as you to receive a PCN after driving on the Tyne tunnel toll road in a car hired from Europcar. He paid the £1.90 charge by phone and a
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