It sounds obvious but do all of your vehicle suppliers, finance providers, leasing firms and rental company suppliers have your current address? In a post-Covid era, are you still occupying those offices regularly enough to ensure that you are getting all post promptly? In this article we highlight some easily actionable ideas to help protect you from the risks of PCNs.
Vehicle contracts commonly run for 6, 12 or 18 months up to 60 months even. There are a host of possible reasons why an address could become out of date. When the finance agreements were arranged, could your suppliers have used your registered address and not your trading address? If they used your registered address, has your accountant moved? Have you changed your registered address for some other reason such as a merger, change of ownership or name change? Have you changed or altered your trading name? If you are the registered keeper for any of your fleet, have the V5 records been kept up to date?
If suppliers do have the correct address, is it full and correct? In May 2023, OFCOM launched an investigation into the Royal Mail claiming that only 73.7% of First Class mail was delivered within the required one working day and 90.7% of Second Class mail is delivered within the three working day target. If your fines are being directed to a poor or incomplete address they could be further delayed meaning you have less time to process them so you could end up paying fines at increased prices.
What about fines that your suppliers are required to pay such as Humber Bridge, London Congestion Charge or Tyne Tunnel offences that are not assignable?
How are your suppliers notifying you about those fines? Some moving traffic violations are never assignable or only when the agreement length fits certain criteria. For example, many bus lane offences in London or the London Congestion Charge all rely on the length of the agreement to decide if they can be reassigned. Many suppliers use email to notify you about PCNs but do they always notify you when they pay the fine and subsequently invoice you?
Is your accounts team aware of who to notify about an invoice related to a settled PCN? Do they recognise the potential need to bill your client for the PCN? If your suppliers are using email, is the email address actively monitored? Could it belong to a former colleague whose email is no longer checked? Regardless of the number of PCNs you manage, we recommend establishing a dedicated email address specifically for suppliers to send PCN notifications and clarifying with suppliers which fines they will notify you about.
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