Parking fee demanded for wreck

Jess Winterbottom and Chris Ashforth are being pursued for parking fees for their stolen car. Photo / Sarah Ivey

A carpark company is hounding an English couple to pay after their stolen car was dumped in a parking space for three days.

Chris Ashforth, 27, had his girlfriend's car stolen from his work carpark in Parnell, Auckland, on June 1.

Later that day, police called to tell him the Subaru Impreza had been found written-off in a Tournament Parking carpark.

Police towed it from the carpark three days later and handed it over to his insurance company, AMI .

A week later, the couple received letters from Tournament demanding they pay $70 daily for three days the car was abandoned there - a total of $210.

"I just couldn't believe it. It was stolen, you know? It wasn't our fault. We thought they had made a mistake," Mr Ashforth told the Herald.

He and his partner Jess Winterbottom, 27, travelled to New Zealand in 2006 but decided to stay and became citizens two years ago.

The couple contested the fines and included a copy of the police report, hoping Tournament would understand they were not responsible.

"We thought it would just be sorted, you know? And that we wouldn't have that much trouble with it. We thought it would be worked out. But they're really pursuing it.

"It's just a kick in the teeth. First the car was stolen, then it was written off and now this. We don't even know which carpark it was found in."

Tournament persisted in trying to get Mr Ashforth to pay the $210, despite his protests, and told him to check with AMI Insurance to see if his policy covered it, but it did not.

The letters from Tournament said the company's revenue had been affected and therefore the couple were liable for the costs.

Last Friday, Tournament issued them with a final notice and said if they did not pay the fine, it would be handed over to debt-collection agency Baycorp tomorrow, which could negatively affect their credit rating.

"I know it's only $210, but it's not a small amount of money to us. We're quite new to the country and we're looking to get a mortgage in the next year or so. It's very stressful being told that your credit rating is going to be affected.

"It's now a matter of principle - I don't think we should pay and I'm determined that I won't."

Mr Ashforth also said he had trouble speaking to anyone at Tournament Parking and no one had returned his calls. His only contact had been through written correspondence.

"We really want to speak to someone and say 'human to human, surely we're not liable for this' ... but no one's spoken to us - it's unbelievably frustrating, we just go around in circles."

Tournament Parking did not return the Herald's calls.