Security-tech firm Forecourt Eye has issued a robust denial after the Association of Fleet Professions (AFP) accused it of issuing Penalty Charge Notices to company drivers who fail to pay for fuel.
The AFP’s chair, Paul Hollick, said fleet drivers used to get ‘no means to pay’ (NMTP) notices if they forgot to pay for fuel, with this being treated as “essentially an invoice” from forecourt operators and that “fleets have been happily paying them for years without any issues”, Fleet News reports.
Hollick added, though, that “we’ve started seeing these PCNs [penalty charge notices] in the last 3-6 months, which use the same kind of approach as private parking operators”. He called this “an unwelcome development”, and said the AFP is “looking into the legality of whether this tactic can even be applied to fuel.”
Two AFP members named Forecourt Eye, with Lee Jackson saying: “It appears that fuel stations are increasingly using Forecourt Eye to outsource the recovery of these debt payments, which is perhaps an understandable move. Dealing with drive-aways is no doubt a pain for them.”
Jackson said “this is bad for fleets” as “a PCN differs from a NMTP because it is a fine with statutory force, plus there is an administration fee of £20 added.”
Fellow AFP member Patricia Latham claimed to have received “several” PCNS caused by ANPR cameras misreading number plates or by vehicles using cloned plates, adding that in the latter instance “the PCN will be withdrawn if you can provide Forecourt Eye with a police crime number”.
Forecourt Eye managing Director Michelle Henchoz criticised the AFP, saying its statement “contains a number of factual inaccuracies about Forecourt Eye and our services”.
Henchoz said that “Forecourt Eye does not issue Penalty Charge Notices, nor do we operate under any statutory penalty regime”, adding: “Referring to our correspondence as ‘PCNs’ with statutory force is factually incorrect and conflates ordinary civil debt recovery with private parking enforcement, which is a completely different legal process.”
The company said drive-offs “cannot be dealt with through the NMOP process”, and asserted that ANPR systems don’t automatically instigate the debt-recovery process, with Henchoz explaining: “Every unpaid fuel case begins with a report from forecourt staff that fuel has been dispensed and not paid for.”
Henchoz said Forecourt Eye “would have welcomed the opportunity to discuss these matters with the Association of Fleet Professionals before its statement was issued”. She offered an “open invite” to meet with the AFP and Paul Hollick “so we can better understand the concerns raised by their members and work together on practical solutions”.
