Forgot to renew rego exemption, $50!

[jaykay]

Tried to renew rego exemption for a GSX400 that has been off the road for a few years - the online system said I couldn't renew until I paid $50.......
So I rang this morning to be told "as you didn't renew your exemption in time there is a $50 "fine", and it can't be renewed until you've paid"
Yeh right - it's this sort of thing that really annoys me.

What to do? Simple really, register the bike to someone else (my Ltd company in this case), and immediately fill in the forms for exemption from rego - total cost $9.20.

Now LTNZ have to chase me for the $50 - the question is will they take me to court (remember I've had no notification about a $50 fine yet)? or will they just put it in the too hard basket?

I'll wait and see, probably for a year or two!

[p.dath]

I'm guessing to register it in a new name you might have to do a change of ownership form or something - and I bet you wouldn't be able to lodge the form till you pay the bill.

Just my guess.

[Aaron_newrider]

They don't bother taking you to court mate - they just pass it on the the debt collectors and then it goes to bay corp.

Pay the $50, it's not like it's going to empty the wallet.

[Madness]

What a waste of $9.20

[Mully]

It's probably 3 months rego rather than a "fine" as such.

Although we got a letter when the on-hold for Miss Mully's rego was about to expire......

[davereid]

Good on ya mate.

Having to "put rego on hold" etc is just crap. If you arent using the bike, why should you you have to jump through a series of hoops just so you don't have to pay for a service you are not using ?

You may end up having to pay for it, just drag it out as long as you can. Make sure they end up sending you endless letters etc first.

As an aside, I don't put vehicles on hold any more, I put them on farm rego instead. It helps that I live on a smallholding with a few animals. $80 a year, and you can still use the vehicle as long as you are within a few km of the farm and on farm business.

The best bit is, you can just change it back whenever you want without having to pay back $$ if you havent been off for 3 months.

[CookMySock]

I don't put vehicles on hold any more, I put them on farm rego instead. It helps that I live on a smallholding with a few animals. $80 a year, and you can still use the vehicle as long as you are within a few km of the farm and on farm business. Do you have to manage some farm property for this to be legal?

Steve

[p.dath]

Good on ya mate.

Having to "put rego on hold" etc is just crap. If you arent using the bike, why should you you have to jump through a series of hoops just so you don't have to pay for a service you are not using ?
...

Consider the criminals amongst us and how they could abuse this for the cover of anonymity when committing a crime if registration was not required.

Also consider how this might affect insurance if there was no way of tracing the other vehicle - and you can bet that if putting a rego on hold was optional that some people would stop paying, but keep on using the vehicle.

It's important that we keep a track of NZ's fleet.

[jaykay]

Apart from the fact that rego itself is an anachronism, there is no real reason why an exemption should have to be renewed every year.

It would be far better to raise money for ACC, (which is what most of the rego is for) by adding it on to fuel costs. The present system has no benefits for safe driving, and subsidises vehicles that do a lot of k's and use lots of fuel.

Anyway, I await any demands for payment of the $50 with interest - if "they" are as successful at extracting the money from me as the police/courts are with speeding fines etc it could take a few years and cost more than $50 to collect.

[Taz]

Good on ya mate.

Having to "put rego on hold" etc is just crap. If you arent using the bike, why should you you have to jump through a series of hoops just so you don't have to pay for a service you are not using ?

.

What hoops? I just filled in a form and handed it over. Didn't cost anything. How simple is that?

[Subike]

You got out of that one crink a cheap as,
I recently had to pay $171 to keep the reg alive on a truck I have because I missed putting it on hold.
If I had left it another 3 mths, it would have gone off the register.
As I have three vechicles on hold, I have reminders in place, but missed one.
I wish it was only $50 like your
Drink a cup of concrete :calm:

[cheesemethod]

On a completely unrelated topic - what colour is your GSX400X?

[jaykay]

Orange and blue.

Not heard anything about the $50, and I doubt it will be chased. The annoying part was the refusal to put the bike on hold again without paying the money rather than the money itself.

As there is a system to get round the "fine" I used it, and if the $50 is chased I will ensure it will cost far more than that to collect.

[p.dath]

Orange and blue.

Not heard anything about the $50, and I doubt it will be chased. The annoying part was the refusal to put the bike on hold again without paying the money rather than the money itself.

As there is a system to get round the "fine" I used it, and if the $50 is chased I will ensure it will cost far more than that to collect.

You do realise being a Government agency that if it costs "far more to collect" that it is actually you indirectly that pays the difference in tax anyway ... :Pokey:

Either way, the Government wins.

[jono035]

You do realise being a Government agency that if it costs "far more to collect" that it is actually you indirectly that pays the difference in tax anyway ... :Pokey:

Either way, the Government wins.

Yep, the persons time you are wasting is paid for out of your own pocket. It's a tragedy of the commons problem really.

ACC costs on fuel would seem to be a good answer to me... Makes it scale better with number of kms driven too. There are arguments to be made either way, but when looking at it purely from a law-of-averages point of view it would seem logical.

I also like the 'rego-on-hold' system all things considered, if you keep on top of it then it doesn't cost anything to have a vehicle off the road while still allowing it to be easily put back on the road. The alternatives wouldn't seem to be all that great...

[davereid]

I also like the 'rego-on-hold' system all things considered, if you keep on top of it then it doesn't cost anything to have a vehicle off the road while still allowing it to be easily put back on the road. The alternatives wouldn't seem to be all that great...

The old system was better.

When your rego expired you did nothing, except stop using it on a public road. When you wanted to use it, you went and paid the fee and got a new sticker. No 3 month minimum. No forms. No fuss.

[jono035]

The old system was better.

When your rego expired you did nothing, except stop using it on a public road. When you wanted to use it, you went and paid the fee and got a new sticker. No 3 month minimum. No forms. No fuss.

Well, yeah, admittedly that would be better :p

[jaykay]

A new development:

I can't be bothered to go and get the first written notification about the "fine" for not renewing rego out of the bin.

Basically it's from Baycorp threatening various things that 'may' occur, with a demand for $67. I have no inclination to respond to an unsolicited invoice, so in the bin it stays.

I'll keep you posted.

[jaykay]

Just by coincidence and on something totally unrelated I was talking to the IRD a couple of days ago.

To put things into context (and for reasons not important) I have been involved with a large number of debt collectors over the last year - all of them chasing a Ltd company for money - amounts up to $20,000.

The IRD confirmed that these debt collectors have no powers whatsoever, and certainly no legal powers - and until a "debt" has gone through the court system there is nothing they can do. Only the original entity who is claiming money can take legal action - and as this takes time and more money they probably won't. Debt collectors letters that state you must contact them etc etc should be filed away and ignored.

Anyway, second letter from Baycorp asking for $67, usual threats, usual rubbish - binned.

But note, court imposed fines are a different matter.

[jono035]

Interesting, good to know. I'm currently getting hassled by Entertainment Collections limited for $65 or something. $20 of that is late fees from Video Easy that I was completely unaware of and which I have never been contacted about by the store itself, the rest is 'collection fee'.

Guess I'll just keep ignoring them. A good trick is to ask them if they are recording the call then when they inevitably say yes you ask them for a copy of the phone call as is your right under the Privacy Act. Generally results in a lot of umming and ahhing before they say they'll get their supervisor to call you back (which never happens). A couple of times I've had them just say 'Ok, hold on while I get my supervisor' and then just hang up on me. Amusing.

[CookMySock]

A good trick is to ask them if they are recording the call then when they inevitably say yes you ask them for a copy of the phone call as is your right under the Privacy Act. Generally results in a lot of umming and ahhing ..LOL good stunt.

Steve

[AllanB]

Sheeezzzzzzz ya tight-wad.

It will end in tears .........

[jono035]

Sheeezzzzzzz ya tight-wad.

It will end in tears .........

Steve - wasn't a stunt, was being abused over the fact that I hadn't responded to the invoice they mailed to the wrong address, so I corrected them over the phone and they said they'd send out another invoice.

Second phone call was particularly abusive so I asked to get the records of the previous call to prove that I had provided the correct mailing address and that it was their fault I hadn't got an invoice yet.

They haven't responded so I'm not paying the fine.

How would you feel if someone randomly rang up and says 'Video Rzy says you owe us money, pay now or your credit gets shat on' over something you've never heard of before... If it is a legit fine from Video Ezy then I will pay that. I will not pay their debt collectors fees over a fine I have never heard of. They could have called my landline or my cellphone (and left a message if they didn't get me on either one), e-mailed me, snail mailed me (although apparently they transcribed my address wrong) at any point during this and avoided this situation.

[AllanB]

Thing is:

You put the rego on hold. Conditions of this are a fee if you 'forget' to continue. Agree or not this is the way it is. Write a letter to your MP if you disagree with the system and suggest a change.

Shit happened, you forgot, thus the $50 bill.

You are now in the process of being verbally abused by a debt collector and no doubt you'll continue to be bothered by them, plus in the future end up in court ........

Now, no disrespect intended, but IMO why add the stress and bother to your life now and in the future for $50? At the end of the day who forgot to to the registration before the expiry date?

I'll watch with interest and quietly admire your stubborn streak :yes:

[CookMySock]

Steve - wasn't a stuntYeh yeh I mean just the way you stand them on their head. It's awesome - fuck them one way, and then again another way. They will be wondering why they bother living, LOL. :first:


How would you feel if someone randomly rang up and says 'Video Rzy says you owe us money, pay now or your credit gets shat on' over something you've never heard of before... Yeh, I do what what you do, and tell them to get effed.

And for those who wonder why - it's great sport, and good for the soul to stand up for oneself.

Steve

[jono035]

And for those who wonder why - it's great sport, and good for the soul to stand up for oneself.

Hahahaha so very true

[davereid]

The IRD confirmed that these debt collectors have no powers whatsoever, and certainly no legal powers - and until a "debt" has gone through the court system there is nothing they can do. Only the original entity who is claiming money can take legal action - and as this takes time and more money they probably won't.

Im not an expert here, Winston is your man, but I think.....

The original entity can authorise the debt collector to manage the court side of things, and almost certainly your contract with him allows him to do this, as well as charge all the fees on to you.

The debt collector pays a fee (about $100) to lodge the debt with the court, which will hold a hearing to establish that you owe the debt.

Once the court has agreed that you owe the debt, you may find that the debt now includes all the court fees, the $100 lodgement fee, and the $100 an hour the debt collection company has charged for managing the debt as well as fees from a security company for serving you the paperwork.

However... the "Once the court has agreed that you owe the debt" bit is very important.

If you have disputed the debt, the dispute has to be settled before this occurs.

So, if you disputed returning the video late, or disputed any other material facts, then you may well have a case.

You dont have to go to the disputes tribunal, but you have to have said "This matter is in dispute... the DVD was scratched... R18 but Im only 12.. returned on time, your clock was wrong... etc etc"

[FROSTY]

Orange and blue.

Not heard anything about the $50, and I doubt it will be chased. The annoying part was the refusal to put the bike on hold again without paying the money rather than the money itself.

As there is a system to get round the "fine" I used it, and if the $50 is chased I will ensure it will cost far more than that to collect.
Sorry to say this but its YOU that it may cost heaps.
The unpaid rego gets refered to baycorp --Baycorp put a markup on it so $50 becomes $80
Best of all you get a collection lodged against your name which will stay there untill you pay it.
Three of those and a first tier finance co wont be keen to finance you if you ever wanna pay off a bike.
Dude trust me--pay the $50 its more hassle than its worth not to.
Incidently the $50 is NOT a "fine" its payment for the continuous rego from between when the exemption ran out and you went to put it back on exemption.

[kwaka_crasher]

The unpaid rego gets refered to baycorp --Baycorp put a markup on it so $50 becomes $80
Which you're not obliged to pay.

Best of all you get a collection lodged against your name which will stay there untill you pay it.
Three of those and a first tier finance co wont be keen to finance you if you ever wanna pay off a bike.
But who'd be silly enough to finance a depreciating purchase?

[Sidewinder]

Tried to renew rego exemption for a GSX400 that has been off the road for a few years - the online system said I couldn't renew until I paid $50.......
So I rang this morning to be told "as you didn't renew your exemption in time there is a $50 "fine", and it can't be renewed until you've paid"
Yeh right - it's this sort of thing that really annoys me.

What to do? Simple really, register the bike to someone else (my Ltd company in this case), and immediately fill in the forms for exemption from rego - total cost $9.20.

Now LTNZ have to chase me for the $50 - the question is will they take me to court (remember I've had no notification about a $50 fine yet)? or will they just put it in the too hard basket?

I'll wait and see, probably for a year or two!

just photo shop one! its easy to do on microsoft paint even,
just print it out on photo paper and it looks all good. fine for check points just ya fucked if you get pulled over and they do a check on you and vechile

[davereid]

Which you're not obliged to pay.

Once it has been to court, you invariably have to pay it, as the debt collector will add his costs to the judgement he seeks from the court.

[jaykay]

Just and update, which is total silence.

No contact of any sort from Baycorp.

Friend of mine had a similar thing a few years ago, nothing ever happened - and the "debt" ceases after five or six years.

Even if this debt is somehow processed through the courts (and remember someone has to put time and money into this process), the court system for collecting money appears to be in chaos.

Another friend hasn't been chased for a speeding fine in nearly three years, another one has two fines, 2 1/2 years a 1 1/2 years old, and my personal only other one is over a year old.

However the MoJ rang me about a speed camera one from last April, (for a car registered to a company), what am I going to do? Nothing.

[p.dath]

Just and update, which is total silence.

No contact of any sort from Baycorp.

Friend of mine had a similar thing a few years ago, nothing ever happened - and the "debt" ceases after five or six years.

Even if this debt is somehow processed through the courts (and remember someone has to put time and money into this process), the court system for collecting money appears to be in chaos.

Another friend hasn't been chased for a speeding fine in nearly three years, another one has two fines, 2 1/2 years a 1 1/2 years old, and my personal only other one is over a year old.

However the MoJ rang me about a speed camera one from last April, (for a car registered to a company), what am I going to do? Nothing.

If your debt has been handed over the the court, and you're not paying it, then don't try leaving the country. And be real careful about getting pulled over ...

[jaykay]

If your debt has been handed over the the court, and you're not paying it, then don't try leaving the country. And be real careful about getting pulled over ...

The debt can't be handed to the court, it's an alleged debt not a fine.

Getting pulled over is irrelevant, got handed a $230 ticket in Timaru a couple of weeks ago. Usual rubbish about having 28 days to pay, and no mention of a ticket from November 2008 which has yet to reach court.

[red mermaid]

You will find NZTA pretty unforgiving, as far as money owed goes, and they will most likely pass the debt to Baycorp for recovery.

[jaykay]

Just checked with a friend of mine, either Dun and Bradstreet or Baycorp chased him for about $300 for back rego. This started around 2004, he never responded at all, and as far as we can work out the debt is probably stature barred. (only valid for six years).

The best advice to follow with ANY debt collection company is to simply ignore them - do not respond to any letters, if they phone.....hang up.

[bogan]

I also like the 'rego-on-hold' system all things considered, if you keep on top of it then it doesn't cost anything to have a vehicle off the road while still allowing it to be easily put back on the road. The alternatives wouldn't seem to be all that great...

But why can't it just be like the warrant system, go and put 6/12 months on and it starts from that day (or when the current one runs out), once it runs out you can get fined. I got hit for 8 months bike rego cos I mis-interpreted the rules, If i had rode in that 8 months I would have been fined, so why the need to back pay, I got absolutely no service out of it.

[jono035]

Yeah, it's a bit tricky and it's by no means a perfect system but having to specifically put your rego on hold would seem to be a reasonable way to make the system less prone to abuse. It also allows the cops to use a little more discretion when they pull someone over whose registration isn't current (happened to me on the bike a few months ago).

A good half way point would be if you could turn in your registration ticket for either a refund or 'credit' for when the vehicle goes back on the road.

[Kickaha]

But why can't it just be like the warrant system, go and put 6/12 months on and it starts from that day (or when the current one runs out), once it runs out you can get fined. I got hit for 8 months bike rego cos I mis-interpreted the rules, If i had rode in that 8 months I would have been fined, so why the need to back pay, I got absolutely no service out of it.

That is how it used to be

[ukusa]

The best advice to follow with ANY debt collection company is to simply ignore them - do not respond to any letters, if they phone.....hang up.

yep, remember doing that in the old days of the TV licence. They used to send baycorp letters (in the fire), ring (sorry he doesn't live here), they even came round home, told them I didn't have a telly & to f**k off. Never heard from them again, that was probably nearly 10 years ago now.

[Scuba_Steve]

I have a 170$ one for a car & 200$ one for a van (ahh so much cheaper then) both with baycorp. I havn't & refuse to pay both, simply put I'm not paying for something (and they are well aware) I did not, do not & cannot use! If I use the road I pay for it.
All it means is a tranish on your credit record, so if thats not a worry to ya dont pay it, why should you pay for something you didnt use?

[jaykay]

An update.

Nothing has happened, no letters or phone calls.

Only another 5 1/2 years to go before it drops off the system.