Debt collectors before court

Debt collectors will soon be the first port of call for Porirua City Council as it tries to reduce the $90,000 it spends lodging unpaid parking tickets with the courts every year.

Traditionally, the council transfers unpaid parking infringement debts to the courts to recover after sending a reminder and final notice.

Figures provided by the council show it lodges about 3000 parking infringements – ranging in value from $12 to $675 – at the court each year at a cost of $30 per incident.

Under the new system, the fine will go to debt collection agency Dun and Bradstreet.

The council’s monitoring, compliance and customer manager Leonie McPhail anticipated the move would see a ‘‘substantial increase’’ in the number of infringements being paid prior to being lodged with the courts.

‘‘The lodging fee can be recovered through the courts. However, the overall success rate of collection for parking infringements is very poor with only approximately 50 per cent of infringements being collected.’’

She emphasised that people who got tickets could still first ask for them to be reviewed, and if that did not go their way then they could request a court hearing.

James Jefferson, the council’s policy, planning and regulatory services general manager, said the extra step was being added to help lower collection costs, reduce outstanding debts, speed up collection time and free up the court system.

‘‘The collection agency will work with individuals towards infringements being paid, as we appreciate that paying fines can be difficult for some.’’

Porirua is following in the footsteps of neighbouring Wellington City Council, which started a 12-month trial using debt collection agency Baycorp to track down debts from December.