The RHA gets £3,000 fine waived for coaches member

Jenna Rush is the Managing Director of North East Coach Travel. She recently purchased a used coach with a private registration. When the owner wanted to keep the plate, she opted to have the original registration put on the coach before getting a private one herself. This small action would lead Jenna to unfairly receive several fines totalling to £3,000…

“Unfortunately, the system didn’t update quick enough. I carbon tested the vehicle to see if it was acceptable for different clean air zone standards. It was, and I sent away the certificates proving that to the proper authorities who accepted it.”

When North East Coach Travel then used the newly bought coach to drive into a large city on three occasions, Jenna received three different fines, amounting to £3,000. When Jenna tried to resolve the situation the licence plate situation led to confusion from the authorities:

“When I tried to pay the charge, the system said, ‘We don’t hold any particular details for this vehicle’. There was nothing I could do.”

When trying to pay for the fines, Jenna wasn’t considered the proper authority to talk to, despite being the managing director of a limited company. They then wrote to her asking if she was a representative of her own company.

“I responded informing them this is a limited business; I am the managing director. They then wrote back to me and said ‘No, we are not prepared to deal with an unauthorised representative. As far as we’re concerned, the appeal’s now being closed, and you must take the charges.’ It was so, so awkward.”

It was at this point Jenna got the RHA involved…

“I don’t think operators out there appreciate what trade associations can do for you. I rang Andy Warrender, RHA Manager for Coaches, and I told him ‘Look, I’m kind of banging my head against a brick wall here and I don’t really know which way to turn. I don’t want authorities to demand £3,000 when I know I don’t need to pay this.”

Following the call with Jenna, the RHA immediately got to work. Every few days RHA representatives gave her updates about the penalties and how close they were to being waived. After some time passed, Jenna then got a letter saying that her fines were gone.

“I don’t think all firms understand what trade associations can do for you. I didn’t realise the RHA would get so deeply involved. I didn’t realise that they would fight in my corner as much as they did. I was really impressed. I would definitely recommend them.”