Has Anyone Had Success in Getting a Waiver of a Parking Fine?

gcdollar on 29/09/2016 - 09:16
Last edited 29/09/2016 - 09:35 by 1 other user

Hi all,

Long story short, I got a parking fine yesterday. At the back of the infringement notice, there lists a few other options in addition to paying the fine in full by due date. One of the options is to apply for a waiver. How do I give a proper statement to get such waiver? Is it really going to be considered after the time and effort I put in writing? If anyone has had any success, please share your experience and tips. If it's a total waste of time, please let me know too.

P.S. option of election for court hearing - what is this about?

Thanks in advance.

Automotive

Comments

  • calisto on 29/09/2016 - 09:45
    +1

    We copped a ticket in Newtown for parking in a 2P zone without paying.
    My wife is pregnant so we tried pulling the pregnancy card, saying she was sick and had to rest before being able to drive again. Supplied medical certificate etc.
    They rejected it outright and demanded payment within 24 hours even.

    If you're happy to spend the 30 mins to draft a letter and perhaps supply evidence to support your claim for waiver, sure go ahead. Apparently the success rate is very slim however.

    Court is where you have judge determine the viability of your claim. I am not sure if you have to pay court charges if they find against you though.

  • fruit on 29/09/2016 - 09:48
    +1

    pulling the pregnancy card

    LOL

    • calisto on 29/09/2016 - 10:13
      +1

      I spose they get a lot of those excuses…

  • [Deactivated] on 29/09/2016 - 09:49
    +1

    Yes. I got a ticket for parking in a no parking zone, however their evidence clearly showed me parked in an unmetered area which disallowed overnight camping only.

  • Allan on 29/09/2016 - 10:07
    +1

    Depends on the council. Most don't let you get away with it. Doesn't hurt to write a letter and give it a go though.

  • Ryanek on 29/09/2016 - 10:17
    +7

    Applying for a waiver is for legitimate reasons, not a challenge. If you were in the wrong then pay the fine.

  • trilby on 29/09/2016 - 10:24
    +1

    Once got a ticket in my street where they had changed the time limit. Wrote explaining that no notice was given, took about 3 months but fine got waived.

  • Domingo on 29/09/2016 - 10:34
    +1

    I got one waived where I parked outside a friend's place and had the permit in my glovebox instead of hanging from the mirror. They let me off with a pretty stern warning letter to not do it again.

  • bigcliff on 29/09/2016 - 11:12
    +4

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxcWtCopXpI

    He offers good advice :P

  • Cheeper on 29/09/2016 - 11:17
    +1

    I got off one recently… received a final reminder in the mail.
    Easy one to get off as it was for an inner Sydney area and I had not been there.
    They checked their pics and found they had the wrong rego no.
    If you have a genuine reason for getting it waived then write to them, you have not mentioned one.
    If you were in the wrong then just pay up. It's a pain but such is life.

  • jellykingdom on 29/09/2016 - 11:21
    +1

    I couldn't get out of mine. Parked in a rear-to-kerb zone in the morning, with no clear signage (from the car). Explained it all, took photos, and they just said "No". They even used similar photos to 'prove their case' which i felt proved mine but they don't have any option to have another opinion

    Hence why only 9% of people get off the fine, says the back of the fine notice

    • foxmulder on 29/09/2016 - 15:46
      +1

      9 percent is surely much better than getting out of speeding or red light light tickets which is almost impossible to get out.

      • jellykingdom on 04/10/2016 - 09:13

        Yes BUT…you will get out of a speeding fine if you have a history of no speeding fines

  • doomsie on 29/09/2016 - 11:37
    +1

    Yes. Have had 1 parking fine and 1 accident fine and points returned. 10 years between each incident.
    1st parking one returned after overstaying parking limit near a hospital where I was in a meeting.
    2nd one was fine and 3 points after silly lady in car I ran into at low speed (5km/hr) went to hospital, so it was a mandatory report on me and charge for points/fine.

    Both times I had not previously had any fines or points deducted.
    The key to it was to pay the fine by cheque with an accompanying letter stating I had a clean record but acknowledging that I was in the wrong. Each time the cheque was cashed, but money was returned via cheque and points returned within 2 months.

    I guess if you don't have a clean record, this won't happen.

  • JoFord63 on 29/09/2016 - 11:51
    +2

    I got booked by my local council years ago for parking in a "No parking during school hours" zone. The ticket was issued OUTSIDE of school hours … on a PUBLIC HOLIDAY … during school holidays.

    Having previously worked for the govt dept in the actual unit that processed infringement notices, I knew the drill i.e. I wrote to the govt dept, who then forwarded my letter to the local council for review.

    Having also recently worked for the local council in the actual unit that issued parking notices, I also knew what would happen there i.e. all letters got rejected without the unit head even reading them.

    So after all this, I filled out the court election and in due course a court date was set. The court threw out the matter a day before I was to appear. Clearly a bogus fine.

  • [Deactivated] on 29/09/2016 - 12:49
    +1

    I got mine cancelled. I asked a person leaving same location for their ticket. Then supplied this saying must have blown off dash.

  • Cave Fire on 29/09/2016 - 13:24
    +1

    Hi, are you in Brisbane? If it's a Brisbane council fine, you can submit a stage one dispute online. I think the correct term in the website is "disputing a parking fine". The form was a bit hard to find when I had a look at the website last year, but it's still there. If that fails you can go to stage two, which is the traffic ombudsman. There's also a call centre you can ring that handles the fines. I had someone use plates that I sold on a different vehicle that then got infringements. I rang up, the fines where put on hold while I sent my proof. Some where easy to overturn, depends on the situation.

  • altomic on 29/09/2016 - 13:56
    +1

    Years ago I got ticketed due to a dodgy meter that ran at 3 times the speed ( paid fror 2 hours, went back after 1.5 hours and the ticket had been written 45 minutes earlier. The lady who had parked next me at the same time(and had seen me pay for 2 hours) wrote a letter saying that, along with my own letter. The fine was waived

  • gcdollar on 29/09/2016 - 14:39
    +1

    So they actually take photos on the spot?

  • gcdollar on 29/09/2016 - 15:15
    +1

    I think I'm just gonna pay for it on the due date… and learn the lesson…:/

  • accountant4Jesus on 30/09/2016 - 08:42
    +2

    Joe Lycett the comedian had a parking fine. You can hear about how he got out of it here: http://youtu.be/2Gkiw7zpULo

  • lootenplunder on 30/09/2016 - 09:19
    +1

    I was once fined for parking in Bendigo when I wasn't even there. I emailed stating I'd gladly pay if they could provide photographic evidence showing my car and license plate in the alleged spot at the time of offence. Received a reply stating "out of goodwill, we've decided to waive the fine". In other words, they had no evidence to prove their magic conjuring of my vehicle. Ask for proof, you may get it waived.

  • Seraphin7 on 30/09/2016 - 09:40
    +4

    LOL … getting a council to overturn a parking fine! Councils need this sort funding to ensure they can take overseas "study tours" to ensure their methods of wasting ratepayers' money is state of the art.

  • ravinleague on 04/10/2016 - 09:19

    I've got mine while traveling back from Mel to Adelaide. Sent a letter to the Vicroads asking for apology and waiving off the fine as it was my first traffic offense. They agrred to consider my request if I can send them the driving history details from Service SA (Adelaide). the fine was waived of as it was my first offense and provided evidence of clean driving history.

    Your letter to them will have to very nicely and genuinly written,
    Agree for your mistake
    Provide a reason why you committed the mistake
    Ask for Apology
    Ask for Waiving explaining genuinly why yo deserve waiving off,
    first traffic Offense
    New to the city rules
    New family
    got kids
    etc…

    • gcdollar on 04/10/2016 - 13:24

      Thanks for sharing your experience.

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