Pay your fines!

[ralf-nz]

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/18...senger-dunedin :
'A New Zealander now living in Australia was escorted from a cruise ship by Dunedin police and Customs officers...after it was found a man ... had left New Zealand in the 1990s without paying about $3700 worth of reparations'

[Sun777]

Somewhere the effort doesn't seem to balance the due amount. Police and Custom teams worked together plus another Sargent gives media briefing.....all for $3700. Seems like government spent more than $3700 on this whole adventure.

[Bozeman]

Somewhere the effort doesn't seem to balance the due amount. Police and Custom teams worked together plus another Sargent gives media briefing.....all for $3700. Seems like government spent more than $3700 on this whole adventure.

Of course the value comes in the publicity which will hopefully cause others to think twice about not paying their fines...

[James 1077]

And not sure if there is interest on these but 20 years compound interest could add up to significantly more than $3,700.

[Sun777]

And not sure if there is interest on these but 20 years compound interest could add up to significantly more than $3,700.

Exactly! Few days back one of my colleague mentioned that government prepares a bill inclusive of interest, inflation adjustment etc while collecting such dues. In this case $3700 seems to be actual amount (though details are not provide in the article) as with interest & inflation the actual amount could have been in few hundreds - probably I'm looking too much into detail .

[francis1962]

Had a parking fine when holidaying in 2009

Phoned Taraunga Municipal when I got home to pay it but was told not to bother as it was a small amount

They confirmed this by e-mail > kept e-mail just in case for when we arrive

Not being careful, just paranoid

[Jacqi B]

Not being careful, just paranoid

Very wise!

[Margarita]

I just received a letter for fines of $350. These fines were given in 2009 while I was happily living and studying in the UK half the world away. Can I just add that this is the first time I have ever heard or ever been contacted about said fines.

One a parking ticket for a period when i wasn't in the country and can prove i wasn't, I hadn't actually been for a year. I’ve been told apparently that's not an excuse even though my partner has told them he was driving the car, named as the co-owner and dealt with everything. He tried to tell them he would quite happily pay that part to them now should they do something about part two. (he himself never received any notice of any fine as they were sending mail to some random address that wasn’t the licensed address and neither of us ever lived at)

Other part made up of a ticket for not displaying the “correct licensing documentation” on the same car which had been reported stolen 3 weeks earlier. Again apparently not an excuse (those inconsiderate criminals) and when I pointed out that if someone from the council had done more than just slap a ticket on the windscreen my stolen car would have been found and I may have actually received it back I got told by the ministry of justice I should just get over myself and pay my fines. (yes those exact words)

They make everything so impossibly hard. We did the right thing by co-owning the car so my partner could deal with everything while In was away but because the fines were issued in my name they are mine to pay. He can do nothing (that wonderful data protection issue again) and when we tried to get the form 51 I need to contest the fines I get told that you can’t actually just get it online, sent to you or any other normal way. You have to go into the court house fill the form in and provide all the evidence needed there and then. Again in need to do it and my partner can’t. So not working any where near the court house I am looking at taking time off work and loosing money to actually go in myself and do it. No one will tell me what evidence I need to provide and when I ask the question get told “we can’t say if that will be what you need or not” which is just down right stupid because I have been told that if they say no to contesting it once then you can’t do it a second time.

I seriously wonder how many fines they dish out to people knowing they are easy targets and will pay just to save themselves the stress, pain and time of trying to do anything else.


Grrrrr I would say don’t get me started on fines but looks like you already did :lol:

[JandM]

That is all crazy. (((())))