Not upheld: handling of penalty charges and denial of appeal opportunity complaint against Tesla Financial Services Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr A hired a car from Tesla and incurred seven penalty and parking charges between May and September 2025. Tesla paid these charges promptly without first notifying Mr A, which prevented him from appealing the charges. Mr A complained that Tesla should have given him the opportunity to appeal before paying. The ombudsman found that Tesla, as the registered keeper, was entitled to pay the charges promptly to minimize costs under the hire agreement terms. After examining each charge and Mr A's explanations, the ombudsman concluded that none of the appeals would have had a reasonable prospect of success, so Mr A suffered no financial loss. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Tesla, as the registered keeper, had automatic liability for unpaid fines and was entitled to pay them promptly to minimize costs. The hire agreement clearly made Mr A liable for such charges. While payment did prevent Mr A from appealing, the ombudsman examined each PCN and Mr A's explanations and concluded on the balance of probabilities that none of the appeals would have had a reasonable prospect of success. Therefore, Mr A suffered no financial loss from being denied the opportunity to appeal.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website