Yahoo Finance $77 parking ticket Aussies urged to 'throw away': 'This isn't enforceable'
You might be inclined to pay up when you see one of these, but you should think twice before sending over your money.
An Aussie has been given a $77 parking fine in Brisbane and many are telling the driver to do one simple thing: throw the ticket in the bin. While this might sound outlandish because it's an act that could see you charged even more, there's a legal grey area when it comes to certain parking tickets.
The Brisbane driver copped the $77 fine and claimed they weren't even parked in the place the fine claimed.
"Partner parked in the Valley today on Acland Lane but notice is for Bridge St which is around the corner from where she was," they wrote. "Never seen this company before, is this legit?"
The Consumer Action Law Centre told Yahoo Finance that private parking companies can't fine you because they don't have the "statutory authority". That power is held only by authorised government bodies like the police or council parking inspectors.
"These companies have been issuing demands to consumers who fail to display a ticket on their car," the law centre said.
RELATED
Worker unknowingly exposes major loophole for free parking: 'Mission impossible'
Australia Post giving away $1 Bluey coins to customers who ‘pay in cash’
"The amount of the demand is usually around $66. This amount increases to $88 if the consumer fails to pay within 14 days. Should the consumer continue to ignore the requests for payment, the companies instruct solicitors or debt collectors and further sums are demanded.
"Eventually, court action is threatened for a sum in the region of $300."
Do you have a story? Email stew.perrie@yahooinc.com
Aussie driver urged to 'throw away' parking ticket
The Brisbane driver copped the $77 fine and claimed they weren't even parked in the place the fine claimed.
"Partner parked in the Valley today on Acland Lane but notice is for Bridge St which is around the corner from where she was," they wrote. "Never seen this company before, is this legit?"
The fine came from Parking Monitoring & Enforcement Services and the bottom of the ticket states you can add $43 to the final bill if you don't pay the initial $77 within 28 days.
But Aussies claimed you aren't forced to pay the fine.
"Not enforceable, throw away," said one person.
"File it away in the cylindrical filling cabinet, or do what I do and add it to the wall of honour. 100% not enforceable. The only parking fines in SEQ that I know are enforceable are BBC (and other councils) and UQ," wrote another.
"They can't enforce it unless they can get your details and take you to small claims court. They used to be able to get this info easily but it's been tightened up," added a third.
The Queensland government said payment notices or demands for payment from private car parking operators "are not fines" and the only way they can seek payment is if the company:
takes action through the courts
justifies their breach of contract claim with evidence
secures a ruling that you did not meet the terms and conditions of the contract.
Why don't you have to pay a 'fine' like this?
In reality, these penalties are not really "fines" even though parking operators will try to claim that you've broken a contract that was agreed upon when you entered the parking garage.
If you don't want to pay, the Consumer Action Law Centre's advice is to "do nothing".
The Centre said it's "unlikely" that a private car parking company will come after you for a one-off fine even though they threaten to do just that.
Melbourne-based traffic court barrister Sean Hardy added that a car parking company's argument that you've broken a contract with them is "flimsy".
"The contract cannot lawfully claim a sum that is greater than the reasonable loss suffered by the company as a result of the breach of contract," he said.
He believes that any reasonable loss wouldn't be more than $10.
Get the latest Yahoo Finance news - follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
