Charge for traffic fine from car rental company

[paulnumbers]

Hello Lemons,

Wonder if I could get some practical advice.

I rented a car in the UK in June 2016.

In November 2016 I received a charge on my credit card of £115.00 from said company. I reported it the same day to my card company and requested a charge back and also contacted the car company the next day (0871 number). After a long wait I was told there was a traffic fine, but they could provide no further details.

I've now received an email stating there was a traffic fine of £65 and an admin fee of £50, but still no specifics info on the traffic fine. They don't appear to realise I've charged it back and say that the invoice has been paid.

If there was a genuine traffic fine, then I should pay it. I'm less than thrilled about paying a £50 admin fee though. No doubt it's in their T&C's.

What should I do from this point? Let sleeping dogs lie? Request evidence of the fine? Invite them to take me to court?

I must admit I'm a little annoyed by their "charge first, ask questions later" policy but reluctantly accept I should pay them if the fine is genuine.

Any comments appreciated.

Paul

[Lootman]

I had a very similar situation a few years ago. I apparently picked up a parking ticket with a hired car. I say "apparently" because no ticket was on the vehicle, but a week or two later I received a letter from the hire company with a copy of the citation.

My counter argument was that the car hire company had denied me my right to defend myself against the ticket by paying the fine immediately. I could and would have fought it had it been my own car. In so doing they failed to act in a manner that allowed me to minimise my liability, and I refused to pay the fine.

They did the usual thing they do and pointed to the small print which, personally, I never regard as material anyway (*). And they stated that in the absence of a cheque they would charge the credit card I used for the hire. Which they did.

I then refused to pay the credit card charge for the same reason. After some back and forth, the charge was removed. Whether the car hire company or the credit car issuer ate the cost I don't know. But I also don't care.

Your right to your day in court to fight your case should never knowingly be taken away from you and, on that basis alone, I think you should fight this.

(*) Over the years I've had a fair amount of success with repudiating what is contained in small print. Many people think its definitive but it isn't, at least in my experience. You can always argue that the terms are unreasonable, are not enforceable as a matter of public policy, or that you signed under duress.

[paulnumbers]

Hi Lootman,

Thanks for that, makes sense.

I'll email them and ask them for the original ticket so that I can dispute it.

Paul