Channel 9′s A Current Affair program has run a series of reports over the last few weeks about the methods Australian National Car Parks (ANCP) seem to be using to intimidate people into paying “fines” for failing to get a ticket at public Car Parks they manage.

It was alleged that ANCP take advantage of the fact that people are often unaware that they need to get a ticket – even though the car parks are clearly signed as “2 Hours Free Parking”.  It seems that if you fail to get a ticket (even if you stay for less than 2 hrs) ANCP staff have been issuing ‘liquidated damages’  demands for $66 – which quickly escalate to $88 and then $163 if you don’t pay in time – in some cases followed by a NOTICE OF INTENTION TO SUE.

However, as a private company, ANCP does not have legal authority to administer fines.

What the law says:

A DRIVER using a private car park enters into a contract with the operator to abide by the terms and conditions stated on signs (which must be prominently displayed).

Under contract law, parties are not entitled to impose penalties for breach of contract but can seek “liquidated damages” – which are defined as 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.

If damages are sought by a private car-park operators but resisted by the driver the issue may end up in court, however, the company then has to demonstrate how the damage it suffered equals the damages it is seeking.

There is considerable doubt whether ANCP could justify the $66 damages they have been demanding.

But It’s all happened before :

This is certainly not the first time this type of practice has been reported.

In April 2007, The Age (Crackdown on car parking ‘bullies ) reported similar practices by Australian National Car Parks and highlighted that a number of Victorian Councils had banned (or were considering bans) on ANCP operating within their regions.

Moreland Council, which includes Brunswick, Coburg and Pascoe Vale, accused Australian National Car Parks of bullying behaviour, and Darebin Council, which includes Northcote and Preston, had asked the company to stop handing out tickets.

At the time ANCP was being investigated by the NSW Office of Fair Trading and had also been reported to Consumer Affairs Victoria.

In 2006, then NSW fair trading minister Diane Beamer urged drivers to “exercise extreme caution” in ANCP car parks because the company could have been engaging in “improper, misleading and deceptive conduct”.

In October 2008, the Herald Sun (Supermarket shoppers not legally obliged to pay parking fines ) reported that tens of thousands of Victorians had paid up for shopping centre parking fines that they were not legally obliged to pay.

On 10th October, Consumer Affairs Victoria issued a state-wide alert warning motorists that Care Park Pty Ltd had no power to issue fines or impose penalties at “free” supermarket car parks.  Also at that time Australian National Car Parks was at the centre of a case designed to test the legality of its demands, and a third company that issued demand notices – Parking Infringements Victoria – was under investigation by Consumer Affairs.

A Facebook group called The People vs Australian National Car Parks -  has been established with the aim of helping with information and advice.  There are also plenty of active forums discussing the issues, but consensus seems to be that if you do get issued with one of these demand notices – don’t panic and don’t lose sleep over it – simply throw the notice away.

We will be watching the program closely – and probably collating a list of money making tips on this blog.

In the interim, here are a few links to more information about the program :

• Money for Jam :TV Tonight – Australia’s leading TV blog is chock full of breaking news, programming, ratings, gossip, advance guides and reviews for both free to air and subscription viewing. The site that all the TV journos read!
• Money for Jam – Things I learned from Money for Jam: – If your workmates all make lunch for the boys instead of buying take away you’ll save enough money in a year to fly to Disneyland. – If you fill out online surveys you can get paid quick cash on …
• Money For Jam Premieres Wednesday, September 2 at 8pm – Money For Jam is an inspirational new series for the whole family that’s all about ideas on how to put more money back in your pocket.

As you are probably aware the saying “money for jam”  means easy money. Your “bread and butter” relates to your regular income and “the jam”, is a bonus on the top – quick cash that makes life so much sweeter.

Money For Jam promises to offer plenty of easy advice and money-making tips to leave you feeling excited about just how easy it can be to save and make your money go further.

The series is to be fronted by by two respected financial experts, Effie Zahos (editor of Money magazine) and Paul Clitheroe (Australian money guru), along with well-known TV presenter Shelley Craft and AFL legend Shane Crawford.

Look out for episode one, where Effie will show you how to get a bonus worth nearly $3,000 a year. Shane meets a man who has turned his love of beer into a business. Five tradesmen take Shelley’s lunchbox challenge. And there are words of wisdom from money-man Paul Clitheroe. Plus the “Super Scrooge of the Week” segment with the scroogiest ideas to save a buck.

Remember on your quest to either make or save money, that advertising your office, parking or storage space through Spaceout also gives you a great opportunity to get Money for Jam.

With no high-finance talk or financial jargon, Money For Jam is full of simple ways to make money… for jam.

Premieres Wednesday, 2 September at 8.00pm on WIN

You Can Help Us Promote SpaceOut

We love it when SpaceOut makes it into the news – and in fact it is important for the ongoing growth of our service.  The higher our profile, the more people get to hear about our service, the more visitors we get to the site, and the faster our members are able to rent out their spaces, or find a space that meets their needs.

We regularly get contacted by the media wanting to talk to our members – but we are not prepared to pass on member details without your permission.  So if you are a SpaceOut member and have a story to tell, or are willing to talk to the media, please let us know, and we will put you in touch – and as a thank you we may also do a feature post on you or your space on the blog – or maybe even offer you an enhanced listing.

The Today Tonight Story

I think the TT report was a great piece, and whilst SpaceOut’s primary focus is Storage, we were still mentioned on the TT website, which generated a reasonable amount of traffic and some extra members and listings as well.  The story also featured some great comments from Matt Mitchell of Findacarpark (a great service that focuses exclusively on Car parking Spaces).

In case you missed the story … here it is.., I think that it is definitely worth a look :