The leasing company is sent the fine first, and once it has reassigned that fine to you it is your company's responsibility to pay it, appeal it, or pass it to the driver it relates to. Use this article to find out how a fine reaches you, how to work out which driver it relates to, and how to recover the cost from an employee.
This article is for the people at a loveelectric client company who look after the company's leased vehicles. It isn't written for drivers. It applies whichever funder a vehicle is leased through: loveelectric works with five funders — Lex Autolease, Novuna, Marshall, Arnold Clark and Arval — and the funder for each vehicle is named on that vehicle's Order Schedule. Everything below is the same for all of them; what varies by funder is the detail of how the leasing company handles a notice and what it charges you for handling it.
Who is sent a fine on a loveelectric leased vehicle first
The leasing company. It is the registered keeper of the vehicle, so every fine issued to that vehicle is assigned to the leasing company first — parking fines, bus lane charges and speeding fines alike. A fine doesn't come to you first, and it doesn't go to the driver first.
How a fine is reassigned to your company
Where it can, the leasing company reassigns the fine to you as the company that leases the vehicle. It asks the issuing authority to reassign the fine, providing the lease contract for the vehicle, and where the authority can do that it reissues the notice to you.
Not every fine can be reassigned. Some issuing authorities won't transfer liability at all, and some notices arrive too late in the process to be transferred in time. Where a fine can't be reassigned, the leasing company deals with the issuing authority itself and recharges you for the cost.
Who pays the issuing authority
You do, once the fine has been reassigned to your company. From that point it is your responsibility to pay the fine, to appeal it, or to pass it to the specific driver it relates to.
That is the same for a speeding fine as it is for a parking fine or a bus lane charge. The driver doesn't deal with the issuing authority unless you pass the fine to them.
How to work out which driver a fine relates to
Start from the registration number. Every fine carries the registration number of the vehicle it was issued to, so you can match the fine to the vehicle and then to your own record of who was driving it at the time.
If you can't tell which driver a fine relates to, email [email protected].
Where penalty points go
To the driver, personally, once you have identified them. Points attach to the person identified as driving the vehicle — not to your company, and not to the leasing company. The leasing company doesn't nominate a driver on your behalf.
How to recover the cost from the employee
Where you recover the cost of a fine from the employee who was driving, deduct the amount, including the administration fee, from the employee's net pay. It isn't a deduction from gross pay.
The 14-day period for a notice of intended prosecution
Where a speeding fine is issued, a notice of intended prosecution has to be issued within 14 days.
That 14-day period runs to the registered keeper of the vehicle, which is the leasing company. It is not a period that runs from the point at which a fine is reassigned to your company.
Who to contact about a fine on one of your leased vehicles
Who to contact, labelled by what each one is for:
You can't tell which of your drivers a fine relates to: [email protected]
You're not sure which funder a particular vehicle is leased through: [email protected]
Anything else about a fine issued to one of your loveelectric leased vehicles: [email protected]
If you have any more questions about fines on your company's leased vehicles, email [email protected].