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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Anna Tims

I hired a black car and was then fined £60 for driving a white one

A dreaded penalty charge notice which can be issued to a blameless motorist.
A dreaded penalty charge notice which can be issued to a blameless motorist. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Alamy

My insurer recently provided me with a hire car from Enterprise after an accident. I soon received a £60 penalty charge notice (PCN) for driving in a bus lane in Aberdeen. Not only can I prove I wasn’t in Scotland, the photo on the PCN shows a completely different car. I’ve appealed against the fine, but Enterprise has already deducted a £35 administration fee for providing Aberdeen council with my details. The local branch can’t help, there’s no phone number for contesting the fee, and my email hasn’t been answered.
FF, Stoke-on-Trent, West Midlands

It doesn’t require a forensic mind to detect that you are blameless. The car pictured on the PCN is white. The car you hired was black. Aberdeen council has now admitted to me that it made an error in noting the registration. Enterprise refunded the fee after I contacted its press office. It says: “Where there is an alleged traffic violation we rely on the information being passed to us by the relevant authority being correct. Details received from the council gave the registration of the vehicle which the customer had hired.”

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