- It's a fine result
- By KAREN COLLIER
- 08/07/2014 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: MrSquiggle ( 8 articles in 2014 )
Law student scores victory after being slapped with fine while searching for change
A DRIVER slapped with an $88 unpaid parking ticket when he ducked away to get coins for a machine has scored a legal victory against a major car park manager.
John Vico put his foot down over the “liquidated damages” demand stuck to his windscreen in a city carpark as he walked three blocks to a convenience store to get the loose change needed.
The bill was almost six times the $15 he had intended to pay to park for two hours at Northbank in Flinders St.
He took on Care Park in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal - arguing the fee was an unenforceable penalty - and won.
“It’s a money-grabbing scam in my opinion,” the law student from Brunswick West said.
“The whole reason I pursued it was the principle, and to get the message out there to others to not just pay blindly.”
The tribunal supported his challenge after the company failed to substantiate its losses.
“In my view the $88 levied by CP is an ambit sum and bears no relationship or proportionality to the non-payment of $15,” tribunal member Silvana Wilson said.
Consumer Action Law Centre policy director Denise Boyd said it was “highly questionable” that consumers were liable for similar payment notices from Care Park or other private carparks.
But Care Park, which manages hundreds of carparks nationally, will continue to issue the breach-of-contract notices.
Spokeswoman Yolanda Torrisi said the tribunal order in May was “based on the specific facts of particular circumstances” when Mr Vico parked on September 8, 2012, rather than a broad ruling.
The company had not been asked to provide actuary evidence to the hearing, she stressed.
Ms Boyd advised: “Until operators demonstrate that the amounts they demand are justifiable and relate to their costs, consumers who have been issued payment notices should write back to the operator, cite this finding and advise that they won’t pay an unlawful penalty.”
VicRoads each year hands over personal details of tens of thousands of drivers to private carpark operators chasing debts.
A DRIVER slapped with an $88 unpaid parking ticket when he ducked away to get coins for a machine has scored a legal victory against a major car park manager.
John Vico put his foot down over the “liquidated damages” demand stuck to his windscreen in a city carpark as he walked three blocks to a convenience store to get the loose change needed.
The bill was almost six times the $15 he had intended to pay to park for two hours at Northbank in Flinders St.
He took on Care Park in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal - arguing the fee was an unenforceable penalty - and won.
“It’s a money-grabbing scam in my opinion,” the law student from Brunswick West said.
“The whole reason I pursued it was the principle, and to get the message out there to others to not just pay blindly.”
The tribunal supported his challenge after the company failed to substantiate its losses.
“In my view the $88 levied by CP is an ambit sum and bears no relationship or proportionality to the non-payment of $15,” tribunal member Silvana Wilson said.
Consumer Action Law Centre policy director Denise Boyd said it was “highly questionable” that consumers were liable for similar payment notices from Care Park or other private carparks.
But Care Park, which manages hundreds of carparks nationally, will continue to issue the breach-of-contract notices.
Spokeswoman Yolanda Torrisi said the tribunal order in May was “based on the specific facts of particular circumstances” when Mr Vico parked on September 8, 2012, rather than a broad ruling.
The company had not been asked to provide actuary evidence to the hearing, she stressed.
Ms Boyd advised: “Until operators demonstrate that the amounts they demand are justifiable and relate to their costs, consumers who have been issued payment notices should write back to the operator, cite this finding and advise that they won’t pay an unlawful penalty.”
VicRoads each year hands over personal details of tens of thousands of drivers to private carpark operators chasing debts.
Source: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/law-student-scores-victory-after-being-slapped-with-fine-while-searching-for-change/story-fni0fit3-1226980909071
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