LTSA not amused by dead chook discount

A vehicle registration scam involving a dead chicken has left authorities crying foul.

A Christchurch woman said yesterday she had been told if she were to have her vehicle reclassified as a non-commercial hearse, a hefty discount would come her way.

She decided to give it a go, and when re-registering her diesel vehicle told the Post Shop employee to make the change.

The woman said her car qualified as a non-commercial hearse because she used it to carry dead chickens home from the supermarket.

The employee reportedly said that was fine, and changed her vehicle classification.

The change reduced her vehicle registration - normally about $260 - to $58.

But Land Transport Safety Authority spokesman Andy Knackstedt said the woman could be up for fines totalling $1000 and might also have voided her vehicle insurance policy.

"The guts of it is that, as far as we are concerned, she is committing an offence.

"A hearse is a vehicle that is used to transport dead people in the funeral industry, it is not a vehicle you use to carry groceries home from the supermarket.

The woman could be fined for knowingly filing false details, Mr Knackstedt said.

He would not comment on the NZ Post employee who accepted the woman's description of her vehicle, but said it ultimately was of no consequence, as the onus was on the customer to provide accurate information.

Mr Knackstedt said the LTSA was looking at "possible solutions" to the scam, but conceded it might be necessary to tighten the wording of the appropriate regulations, to make sure others didn't try their luck.