Australian National Car Parks

A new website (see Australian National Car Parks) explains driver's rights regarding "fines" from Australian private parking companies such as Australian National Car Parks.

In all states of Australia, shopping centres and other organisations often hire private parking companies such as Australian National Car Parks to enforce car parking arrangements on their land. Problems regularly arise from "pay and display" car parks, where a driver is required to display a ticket on their dashboard, even if parking in a 'free' spot, or free for a certain number of hours. If you do not display a ticket or overstay the free time, the private parking companies claim large sums of money for this that are out of all proportion to the costs of parking. However, by law, these private companies are not allowed to issue parking fines.

Only government bodies such a councils and police are allowed to issue fines. If you read a fine carefully, you will see they are claiming "liquidated damages". What this means is the parking company (such as Australian National Car Parks) are claiming you damaged their business by breaching the terms of the contract, and they are asking you to pay a certain amount (usually $66.00 or $88.00) to pay for this damage. They claim that by parking without paying, you damaged their business to the value of $66.00 (or some similar amount). This is what they call "liquidated damages". Australian National Car Parks works on this business model. Australian National Car Parks will threaten to take you to court over the fines, and will send you repeated warnings. According to the Unfair Parking Fines website (see Australian National Car Parks), there are various defences to these so called fines:

1. The signs at the car parks saying there is a fee for parking are often in very small print, or cannot be seen from some entrances or cannot be seen at night as they not illuminated). If the sign is not clearly visible, then you the contract is not enforcable.

2. The car park company can only fine the driver and not the owner (i.e. the owner cannot be fined if it cannot be proven that the owner was driving). The car park company will attempt to get the owners name and address from the road traffic agency in your state. However, if the owner says they were driving (or can't remember who was driving), then the case will not stand up in court.

3. The car park company (such as Australian National Car Parks), can only claim liquidated damages that are a reasonable estimate of the damage suffered as a result of the contract being breached — if a court finds the estimate is not reasonable it is defined as a penalty and becomes invalid. In the case of free parking (where you failed to obtain and display a ticket for that free parking), then it is difficult to see how there could be any loss to the company as the parking was free in the first place.

More information is available at http://sites.google.com/site/unfairfines

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Comments

This evening, I received a parking ticket issued by Australian National Carparks while parked at Mcdonalds, Stanmore.
I arrived at the restaurant to find a lengthy drive through line approx 10 cars deep, had already waited a few minutes just to get into the carpark given it was so busy,I decided to park and go in.
There appeared to be only a little wait inside the restaurant. I parked in one of the 1st parking spots as you enter the carpark, and did not see any signs for pay/display parking.
I text messaged a friend as I walked through the front doors of the restaurant at 7.41pm on my mobile, in fact commenting how busy it was! This I still have as proof!
Ordered food for my family, and was back in the car within 10min.
Upon returning home I found a nice parking ticket on the windscreen for $66 for parking offence at 7.39pm! Note the time! As brazen and cunning as they are, they obviously waited for me to park and then as soon as I stepped away to walk to the restuarant they put a ticket! Clearly knowing I was going into Mcdonalds!
At 7.30pm a night I would have never imagined parking policies in place, and anyone wanting to park in the carpark to go anywhere nearby? It is mainly residential & furniture distribution stores (not open!)

I am going to contest this, and refuse payment for the ticket they have issued me.

Can you provide any other advice on the above situation?

Mcdonald's will also be sent a letter with the above message!

Do nothing about it. Do NOT write to complain YOU were reported or you will provide thme with 'the driver'.
If you recieve anything in the form of a reminder, simply return it saying you have no idea who was driving at the time.
End of matter.