Crown Collections

So you've received a payment demand from Crown Collections? This page and surrounding links explains how to get-off these fines..

Crown Collections are the debt collection company that chases fines for Care Park. So why, you ask, do Care Park have a separate company to follow up on its debts? Why doesn't Care Park just send out its own reminder letters? Well, research by the debt collection industry has shown that people respond quicker if they receive a letter from a different company to the one they are alleged to owe the debt to.

Crown Collections letters of demand

See this letter of demand from Crown Collections. I have an issue with this letter from Crown Collections. It shows a charge for Legal Fees of $77.00. However, the person who recieved this letter had not received a letter from Care Park lawyers. They did receive a lawyer's letter a couple of weeks after this letter from Crown Collections. So why is there a charge of $77.00 on there at this stage?

The other issue I have with this letter of demand from Crown Collections, is that it that the vehicle owner who received it had sent a letter of denial to Care Park some 45 days earlier. Once a company has received a letter denying a debt, they are not legally permitted to send you further demands for money. Page 24 of the ACCC Debt Collection Guideline states the following:

"If a person you contact about a debt claims that:

- they are not the alleged debtor or

- the debt has been paid or otherwise settled

and you have not already confirmed their identity and liability, you should suspend further collection activity (including credit report listing) until the debtor’s identity and ongoing liability have been confirmed. If you continue with collection activity without properly investigating claims that a debt is not owed, you are at considerable risk of breaching one or more of the legal prohibitions of the Commonwealth laws if the debtor is not in fact liable for the debt".

In Victoria, there are also specific provisions in the Victorian Fair Trading Act that prevent a debt collector from contacting you with more demands after you have asked them not to contact you again.