Renegades winning Kiwi parking wars
Car park companies have no legal right to impose fines, and some motorists know how to play the system, writes Nicole Lawton.
WHENMark Reimer, a retired cab driver from Christchurch, gets a $65 ticket from Wilson Parking, he responds by sending a picture of his middle finger to the company.
Another Kiwi spoken to scrawls ‘‘no contract’’ on the ticket, before sending it back. Others write strongly worded letters contesting the amount of fines.
They are among a growing group of Kiwis at the front line of a stand-off with the private parking company.
Fines imposed by Wilson and other carparking companies are not backed by legislation.
‘‘What they are doing is bluffing,’’ Reimer said. ‘‘There are not too many people who can pull the wool over my eyes.’’
Wilson Parking is New Zealand’s largest parking company. Last year it took more than $2 million from 68,400 Kiwis who broke their parking rules.
And the company has revealed that their parking officers who are performing well are rewarded over and above their regular pay cheques.
It did not disclose the amount it gives to officers who deliver.
‘‘This is not commission as that would only encourage a raft of ‘borderline’ notices,’’ Wilson Parking spokeswoman AnneMarie Petersen said.
The private business controls 300 parking lots across the country, from Auckland to Invercargill, boasting enough space to park 40,000 cars.
Parking costs range from just $1 per hour in places like Palmerston North, to $16 per hour in the coveted Auckland CBD.
But overstay in one of their pay and display parks and you risk copping a ‘‘breach of contract’’ notice with a $65 enforcement fee.
Authorities such as Consumer NZ and the Automobile Association feel that a $65 fee is unreasonable, and the situation should be judged case by case.
‘‘What Wilson’s do is that they try and pretend that they have some authority to fine you if you overstay your parking,’’ said Consumer chief executive Sue Chetwin.
But because that right is reserved for police or the council, Wilson issue a ‘‘breach of contract’’ notice, with an ‘‘enforcement’’ fee.
Chetwin said the cost of any breach notice had to be reasonable, and people should always challenge them. ‘‘Car parking companies have no legal authority to impose fines.’’
Notices are enforceable, she said, but the charges were debatable. ‘‘If the parking costs $3 an hour, then it’s unreasonable to be charged $65 for being a few minutes late.’’
Mark Stockdale, AA spokesman on parking penalties, said there was no streamlined statutory process to pay a breach notice as it is not a legal penalty.
He recommended offering to pay a reasonable amount based on the hourly rate, and appropriate admin costs.
Wilson issued more than 100,000 breach notices ranging from $30 to $65. About 70 per cent were given because people failed to pay buy a ticket and around 30 per cent for late returners.
In the same year, Wilson said it waived about 40 per cent of breach notices under a goodwill policy. ‘‘We do allow a standard 10-minute grace time plus an additional 15-minute period if the parker provides us with a valid reason for being late,’’ Petersen said. ‘‘We do not like enforcing people.’’
The people who violate Wilson parking rules and pay fines, are paying for the Parking Enforcement Service (PES) officers’ wages, she said.
‘‘The cost of operating our enforcement business equates roughly to the cost recovery received from paid breaches ’’
The money recovered in breach fees in 2017 paid for 65 PES officers, five appeals officers, seven manager’s wages, related training, alongside 25 petrol vehicles and costs all the way down to postage, printing and uniforms.
But when slapped with the $65 breach notice a handful of Kiwis refuse to pay up.
Mike Reimer of Christchurch says he, like thousands of other privacy-concerned motorists, has opted-out of letting the New Zealand Transport Agency share his registration details from the Motor Vehicle Register with 2000-plus companies, including Wilson Parking, who therefore do not have access to the personal details – including names, addresses and dates of birth – listed with his family’s cars.