London Congestion Charge – an Olympic sized problem for hire firms
When a company hires out a car, the hirer should sign to say that they accept parking, speeding and the London Congestion charges. But that may not be enough! We are shortly to appeal Transport For London’s decision not to allow our client to transfer liability onto the errant driver on the grounds that:
a) The actual times (and not just the dates) of the vehicle going out and coming back were not recorded on the documentation – even though all contraventions fell between those dates, rendering the time irrelevant and;
b) Because, they say, there was no actual return date stated when the car was hired out (it was hired for the time it took to repair the customer’s vehicle). They say this meant it was an “open ended” agreement whereas in order to comply with the laws about transferring liability onto the hirer, there had to be a return date stipulated that had to be a date less than 6 months from the date (and presumably time!) that the vehicle was hired out.
We will let you know of how we get on with the appeal.
a) The actual times (and not just the dates) of the vehicle going out and coming back were not recorded on the documentation – even though all contraventions fell between those dates, rendering the time irrelevant and;
b) Because, they say, there was no actual return date stated when the car was hired out (it was hired for the time it took to repair the customer’s vehicle). They say this meant it was an “open ended” agreement whereas in order to comply with the laws about transferring liability onto the hirer, there had to be a return date stipulated that had to be a date less than 6 months from the date (and presumably time!) that the vehicle was hired out.
We will let you know of how we get on with the appeal.