Good job it was rare, then...
When money is no object, sometimes you forget about things. Hedge fund owner Bertrand Des Pallieres forgot all about his Maserati Coupe and didn’t even notice when it was towed.
Mr. Des Pallieres kept his Maser in London for when he visited the capital, so he’d have his own wheels to get around in.
However, he was so busy he failed to notice that the car had racked up 65 congestion charge penalties, dozens of parking fines and even a whacking great fine for driving without road tax.
Mr. Des Pallieres, who runs the £170million firm SPQR Capital, said: “It just all got on top of me and I didn’t have a PA to deal with it. It took me some time to realise the car had gone. It must have been some time around late July.”
He now has a new PA to help him deal with it, but it’s still proving a hassle to sort. He added: “It’s not only a matter of paying; it’s getting all the paperwork done.”
He was lucky, though. Tim Cowan of NCP Services, which towed the car, said: “Had it not been such a rare car it would have been disposed of within seven to 14 days.”
Good job he’s on top of it now then – otherwise it would’ve cost him a fair bit more than £5,000…