Challenge a tow & impound fee in Christchurch

Christchurch City Council.

The council that ordered the tow (and its towage contractor).

Act immediately, storage fees usually accrue daily. Recover the vehicle first if you can, then dispute the charges in writing.

Land Transport Act 1998 + the issuing council's bylaw

Councils have statutory powers to move and impound vehicles parked unlawfully (e.g. on a clearway). The underlying restriction and its signage must be valid (see the Traffic Control Devices Rule 2004), and fees must be properly and reasonably charged — challenge those on the facts.

Damage in the tow/storage — bailment & negligence (common law)

Whoever holds your vehicle (the towing/storage operator) is a bailee who must take reasonable care of it; if it was damaged in their custody, that supports a claim. This is the right basis for damage — NOT the Consumer Guarantees Act, which does not apply to a regulatory tow (there is no consumer service contract).

Owner liability for a STATIONARY vehicle offence — Land Transport Act 1998, s 133A (why 'I wasn't driving' does NOT transfer a parking ticket)

THIS IS THE SECTION FOR THIS CASE TYPE, AND ITS TEST IS NOT THE ONE PEOPLE EXPECT. A council parking ticket is a stationary vehicle offence (s 2: 'parking in any portion of a road in breach of any legislation'). s 133A(1) lets the authority proceed against the registered person, or a person lawfully entitled to possession, and s 133A(2) PRESUMES that person was the driver, person in charge and user of the vehicle. The only statutory escape is s 133A(4), and it is NOT 'someone else was driving'. The person must PROVE that at the time of the offence EITHER (i) they were 'not lawfully entitled to possession of the vehicle', OR (ii) 'another person was unlawfully in charge of the vehicle'; AND, as soon as practicable after becoming aware, told the enforcement authority IN WRITING; AND gave it a statutory declaration identifying that other person (full name, full address, and any other identifying particulars known) or establishing they could not identify the person after taking all reasonable steps. WHAT THAT MEANS IN PRACTICE, AND YOU MUST NOT SOFTEN IT: LENDING THE VEHICLE DOES NOT TRANSFER THE TICKET. A friend, partner, flatmate, family member or employee who borrowed it WITH PERMISSION was not 'unlawfully in charge', and their borrowing does not make the owner 'not lawfully entitled to possession' — the registered owner stays liable. Borrowing with permission is neither limb. So NEVER tell a user that naming the driver will get a parking, WoF/licence or tow notice transferred, never invite them to name a borrower, and never draft that submission — argue the other grounds instead. What genuinely fits limb (i) is that the user had PARTED WITH POSSESSION before the offence: they had sold the vehicle, or it was leased or hired out to the other person. What fits limb (ii) is that the vehicle was taken WITHOUT AUTHORITY — stolen, or driven by someone with no right to it (get the police report reference). Those are the only honest transfers here. HOW THE COUNCILS RUN IT: Auckland Transport sequences it — a notice issued to someone else must first be transferred TO the user before they can dispute it, so never lodge a dispute in the user's name on a notice issued to another person. Wellington City Council expressly permits a representative to act on this route; Auckland and Christchurch do not, so where the council does not permit it we PREPARE the transfer and the user lodges and signs it themselves. NEVER carry the s 133 wording across to this case type: s 133 governs moving vehicle offences and special vehicle lane offences, and its 'another person was driving the vehicle' defence has no application to a stationary vehicle offence.

Any transfer of liability — the limits on the statutory declaration (Land Transport Act 1998, s 44)

These apply to every transfer, under EITHER section, and none of them may be softened. (1) NEVER GUESS WHO IT WAS. Naming a person to an enforcement authority is adverse to that person, and the name must come from the user's own knowledge — never infer, deduce or 'best-guess' a driver, buyer or borrower from who usually drives the car, who lives at the address, or anything else. If the user genuinely does not know, the honest route is the limb of the declaration that establishes they could not identify the person after taking all reasonable steps — never a name they are unsure of. (2) THE DECLARATION IS SWORN, AND A FALSE ONE IS AN OFFENCE. s 44(1) makes it an offence to give a statutory declaration for any purpose under the Act containing information the person knows to be false or misleading, and s 44(2) sets the maximum penalty at a fine not exceeding $10,000 (the section is headed 'Contravention of section 14'). That exposure falls on THE USER, who signs it — not on us. So never encourage, hint at, or draft a declaration the user cannot honestly swear, and never present a transfer as a way out of a fine. (3) IT IS SIGNED IN PERSON, IN FRONT OF A WITNESS. Every published transfer form requires a wet-ink signature witnessed in person by a Justice of the Peace, solicitor, court Registrar or Deputy Registrar, or a Member of Parliament, and some authorities state in writing that they do not accept electronic signatures. An e-signature does NOT satisfy this — a witnessed declaration needs a person in the room. Tell the user that plainly, and never imply we can sign or witness it for them. (4) IT IS NOT UNIFORM, SO DO NOT HARMONISE IT. Six councils publish a transfer form and three publish nothing at all; the deadlines differ, and at least one council runs 56 days FROM THE DATE OF THE OFFENCE rather than from the notice. Work to the issuing authority's own published form and deadline — if you do not have them, say so and ask, rather than assuming the 28 days that applies elsewhere.

• Clearway / no-stopping signage or times were unclear or wrong
• You weren't actually parked unlawfully
• Storage or towage fees are excessive or wrongly calculated
• Your vehicle was damaged during the tow or in storage

Only raise what genuinely happened — a well-evidenced, honest request works best. Useful evidence: Photos of where you were parked and the signage / time restrictions; The tow/impound paperwork and fee breakdown; Photos of any damage to the vehicle; Receipts for fees paid.