WHEN CAN A HIRE OR LEASE COMPANY TRANSFER LIABILITY TO A DRIVER ?
WHAT WAS THIS ABOUT ?
We deal with numerous tickets issued to vehicles owned by a lease or hire company and as a result if the driver foolishly decides to ignore the charge after taking bad advice then we will contact the registered keeper.
Should this be a hire or lease company they will either pay the charge and cross charge their client or will sometimes send us the drivers details in order to transfer liability.
Following the case of Combined Parking Solutions -V- AJH Films that went to the court of appeal (see previous news item) we carefully check the hire agreement to establish if the hire company has the authority to transfer the charge.
The Protection Of Freedoms Act clearly states within Schedule 4, Section 13 the documents a hire or lease company must supply in order to transfer liability and one of the important features the agreement must state is the ability to transfer a parking charge, as many people are quick to tell us a charge on private land is not a fine or a penalty as only the council or police can issue these and they are correct.
It is for this reason the word ‘parking charge’ MUST be on the hire or lease agreement for us to transfer liability.
The hire agreement may compel the hirer to pay any charges the company may incur in paying such a charge on their behalf but this is a seperate legal issue between the hire/lease company and the hirer.
This was recently tested in court in the case of Combined Parking Solutions -v- Prestige Car Hire
Combined Parking -v- Prestige Car Hire
The court examined the content of a hire agreement in which is referred to penalties/fines and other issues (even a road charging scheme) but found the law requires a clear statement on parking charges to be included.
; See the JUDGEMENT transcript here.
As we have already stated just because the hire agreement does not give the hire or lease company the right to transfer liability it may still contain sufficient wording for the hire or lease company to pay on the hirers behalf and claim back any costs incurred and the court agreed.
Combined Parking Solutions yet again shows that their charges are 100% enforceable – contact us today if you require assistance in resolving your car park issues with a system that is proven to be 100% effective, legally enforceable and free to implement.
For more information and details on how Combined Parking Solutions can resolve your parking issues then call now on 0871 288 4606 or you can email us..