It’s a  jungle out there.
And for those of you hunting down your cars final resting place in those suburban supermarket car parks, you better watch out. For lurking behind every concrete pole and tree are those charming patrol people, ready to pounce the minute you break their car park company’s rules. But let’s cut to the chase. Do they have a right to ‘fine’ you if you don’t pay a fee; don’t put a ticket on your dash; or overstay their limited period of grace?

Well, the first thing to put straight is they don’t have any right to ‘fine’ you.  A few years ago a private car park operator, ACE Parking Pty Ltd, was hauled over the coals by the Victorian Supreme Court for using terms on their parking tickets that misled consumers about their rights.  The Court also found that requests for payments issued by ACE mimicked fines issued by the local council, using terminology like ‘offence’, ‘breach’ and ‘fines.’ What scallywags indeed! It is important to know that private car park operators do not  have a right to ‘fine’ consumers. Unfortunately, that hasn’t stopped these private car park companies from continuing on their merry way.  These days, when you get back to your car and find a ticket  on your windshield, it will still have the look of a ‘fine’ but it’s really just a claim for ‘damages’ because you broke the contract.

And what contract was that I hear you say?  Well these companies have signs placed here and there around the car parks which have longwinded terms that you must agree to in order to park your car. I tried once to read one  that was placed very conveniently at the car park entrance, but was advised by the driver directly behind me to “get a bloody move on”. The terms are normally written in print so small that even the meanest optometrist would not use them to check your distance vision. For example, if you stay too long in the car park, or don’t have your ticket displayed, this supposedly  breaches the contract. The amount for payment on the ticket stuck on your window is supposed to represent the loss (or liquidated damages)  suffered by the company.
However, many unhappy consumers receiving these demands have wondered exactly what sort of grand loss was really suffered by these companies. One angry parker, Mr John Vico, took the matter concerning his ‘fine’ to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Vico v Care Park Pty Ltd).      Mr Vico  wanted some clarity about whether his $88 ticket for ‘damages’  for not having a ticket was indeed fair.  In this case, the maximum cost he would have paid to park there was only $15.  The hearing was presided over by Mrs Silvana Wilson who stated that: “The sum of $88, when compared to the sum of $15 was “out of all proportion”, it was “extravagant and unconscionable”, it was “in the nature of a punishment” and it was not “a genuine pre-estimate of loss”. The end result was that the car park company was told to reverse out of the Court and never try sneaky exaggeration about ‘damages’  again.  Perhaps if they’d only asked for the $15 the Court might have said, “that’s fair enough”! Now this doesn’t mean that if you get one of these tickets you can just throw it in the bin.

But here’s some pointers that may help you:
Forgot to put the ticket for free parking on your dash and got ‘fined’?
You could ignore this ticket as you haven’t really created a situation where damages are owed.
Overstayed your welcome by an hour or so and got ‘fined’?
Once again, there really isn’t any loss or damage the car park operator has suffered so you really don’t need to pay the ticket.  It’s up to you.
Constantly using the car park every day for your parking and never paying?
For example, your windshield might look like this…

I’m afraid you’ve been rather naughty and have caused ‘damage’ to the car park operator by hogging the property it uses as its business… so you won’t have a strong case for not paying the damages demanded. Finally, do keep in mind that it is quiet a chore for these private car park companies to find out your address details to send follow up notices when you don’t pay.  Often with first time offenders, they just don’t bother chasing you. To make things even worse for them, in Victoria, as of 26 August 2015, there are restrictions on private car park operators accessing your name and address from the VicRoads registration database. Without your name and address they will not be able to issue demands for payment. And definitely don’t write to them and give away the details of your address.
That’s exactly what they want you to do.  Let them do the chasing!
And remember, if you are getting hassled for amounts that don’t seem fair you can always talk to Consumer Affairs.  You may be even entitled to take your complaint to your local small claims tribunal or Court. Oh and one final thing, that parking ticket with the red writing I have pictured here…It’s been 20 months since I got (and ignored) it and I never heard another thing from them.
I guess in some jungles, the bark is a lot worse than the bite!

Your rights when dealing with airlines
The diversity of airlines and travel options means that more people than ever in history now fly commercially either for work or leisure. Experiences of airline travel vary – well they do for me at least. Sometimes it is a pleasant (or at least not terrible) experience with enjoyable in-flight entertainment, a polite person seated alongside (or even better a vacant seat), no turbulence, and seamless transitions from the terminal to aircraft, and successfully ending with baggage collection.
Other times some of those elements fail, resulting in a less than enjoyable experience, or worse, an accident. As a customer of airline services, it is important you are aware of your rights and how to assert them. This applies to minor issues such as finding out who to complaint to when your baggage is lost, to very serious instances relating to the airlines’ liability for injury or loss of life.

How you’re covered under the law
∗ The principle law regulating airlines’ responsibilities to passengers in Australia is the Civil Aviation (Carriers’ Liability) Act 1959 (Cth) which, for international travel, gives effect to the international Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air (“The 1999 Montreal Convention”). It also controls airline responsibility for domestic flights.
This legislation sets out when an airline (called a carrier) is liable for:
♦ the death of a passenger;
♦ any injury suffered by you as a passenger;
♦ and the destruction, loss, or injury of your baggage.
However, there may also be circumstances when you might have an issue with an airline’s service that doesn’t necessarily fall under the legislation.
This could involve:
♦ flight delays or cancellations;
♦ telephone or internet reservations;
♦ customer service at the airport or inflight;
♦ baggage services;
♦ fees and charges;
♦ safety and security;
♦ airport lounge facilities;
♦ frequent flyer program terms and conditions;
♦ discrimination,
♦ services for customers with specific needs;
♦ and requests for refunds.
In such cases, we generally recommend passengers make a complaint directly to the airline, at the time of the issue or incident, if possible.

How to make a complaint
All Australian airlines have information on how to deal with disputes in their ‘Customer Charter’ or similar document. The customer charter is an outline of the airline’s commitment to the customer and should be found on their website. Most accept complaints or feedback in the ‘contact us’ section of their website. If your complaint is unresolved after: you have already tried to resolve your complaint directly with the airline; you have sought a review of the response; you have allowed for the timeframes specified in the customer charter; and the complaint is related to an event or circumstances that occurred within the last 12 months, you can lodge a complaint with the Airline Customer Advocate.

This is an industry based scheme to facilitate the resolution of complaints from customers about airline service provided by the participating Australian airlines (Jetstar, Qantas, Rex, Tiger, Virgin Australia). Once the Airline Customer Advocate receives your complaint they will review it and follow up with you if they need to clarify any details. They will then assign your complaint to a case manager at the airline concerned. The case manager may contact you to attempt to resolve the complaint directly with you but they have a responsibility to prepare a written response to you that will first be reviewed by the Airline Customer Advocate. You will receive a response within 20 working days.

Still not satisfied?
If you are not satisfied with the outcome, the Airline Customer Advocate will advise you about alternative avenues for dispute resolution. This is a useful avenue for passengers to adopt when they feel underwhelmed with their airline’s service, or feel unfairly treated. There is a lot that can be done by way of “self-help” without involving a lawyer, when dealing with an airline.
The Legal Eagle would like to thank our supersonic advocate and lawyer Joseph Wheeler for this piece.
For further guidance, drop him a line at Australia’s Air & Space Lawyers (IALPG): .

*These days there seems to be nothing more morbid than the death industry.

Whether it’s those pesky TV ads for funeral insurance, the questionable practices of the few companies that control the funeral industry, or the sheer hide of utility and telcos in charging grieving relatives to have a deceased relatives name removed from a household bill, it all seems geared at taking advantage of worried or fragile people.
Woody Allen’s character in the 1975 movie Love and Death has a sanguine approach to the end of our days. “The key here, I think, is to not think of death as an end, but think of it more as a very effective way of cutting down on your expenses.” And so indeed it should.

 However today’s world prepares us for death with a completely different philosophy. Perhaps Benjamin Franklin’s age old saying, “that in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”, should be reconfigured to include the additional certainty of “ridiculous death expenses”.

Today’s Funeral Industry
Gone are the days where local ‘mum and dad’ funeral businesses could be relied on in the event of the passing of a loved one. These days, the funeral industry in Australia is dominated by just a few big players that own the lion’s share of most of the recognisable names in the funeral biz. The industry in Australia is dominated by one listed company, InvoCare. You may not know of Invocare, but you will certainly have heard of its brand names like Gregory & Carr Funerals, Boland Funerals, White Lady Funerals, Metro Funerals and Simplicity Funerals. Invocare reportedly controls up to 80% of the funeral market on the east coast of Australia. InvoCare’s former chief executive officer Andrew Smith described pricing in the industry as “inelastic” – because only 15% of us are inclined to shop around when someone dies.

In a 2017 article on the funeral industry in 2017 on the website The Conversation, two factors contributed to difference in the overall price of a funeral- whether the funeral was provided by one of the brands owned by the large listed corporation and whether the operator had prices online. The finding was clear that if an operator did advertise prices online, consumers were likely to save somewhere between $1000 and $1500 for the same product. However, the problem is that most well-known funeral brands and consequently most of the market in Australia, didn’t provide prices online.

Any Regulation?
The ‘basic funeral’ is regulated in NSW and Victoria which in essence means that funeral providers have to offer this product and give a breakdown to interested consumers of each item provided in the service.
For example, in Victoria the legislation (Funerals Act 2006) states that: A funeral goods and services price list— (a) must include a description and total price of the funeral goods and funeral services offered by the funeral provider; and (b) must include a list of any service fees that may be charged by the funeral provider; and (c) must reflect the maximum price that a funeral provider charges for the funeral goods and funeral services; and (d) in relation to the basic funeral service offered by the funeral provider, must contain— (i) a description of what is included in that service; and (ii) the total price of that service. (3) A funeral goods and services price list must either— (a) contain the full range, description and price of all coffins available for purchase; or (b) include a price range for the coffins available for purchase and advise that a coffin price list is available. Unfortunately, such basic prices never include the expensive and emotional inclusions like flowers, limo cars and death advertisements.

Whether you’re an executor organising the funeral, or a family member, set yourself a budget for these items. For those who wish to move beyond the ‘basic’ packages, the emotive decision that often comes with the picking of a coffin can be fatal for the hip pocket, with reports of big mark-ups on a wholesale price of a coffins and caskets between 300% and 500%.
Consumers wishing to avoid these costs may wish to take note of the fact that under the Australian State Burial and Cremation Acts & Regulations, there is no legal reason prohibiting the use of cardboard coffins (or caskets) for funerals, whether burials or cremations, anywhere in Australia except of course that they must be sturdy enough to contain the body. One company in Australia, with the apt name “Leaving Lightly”, actually specialises in making these types of coffins. Why not buy one in advance, leaving instructions with your executor for it to be used at your funeral.

Fair Trading?
At the end of the day, funeral companies are providing just another service, and as such the Australian Consumer Law and the rules relating to fair trading in this country apply to funeral services and products. This allows you an avenue of recourse when things go pear shaped. A great example of this is the code of conduct established by the Office of Fair Trading in cooperation with the Queensland funeral industry. The Code provides a guiding principle of ethical and responsible behaviour which recognises the importance of clients’ wellbeing with a focus on minimising the potential harm that can arise from using an unscrupulous provider. Complaints of problems can be made directly to the Office of Fair Trading. And this avenue could also be used Australia wide, even when no code exists.

Arranging a funeral shouldn’t be a death defying maze of confusion and emotional persausion/blackmail. Whether you’re planning ahead for your own funeral or you’re an executor or next of kin, set a budget, shop around and look for transparency when it comes to prices.

Funeral Insurance
Finally, if you’re looking at taking funeral insurance think about the two following things when it comes to finding the very best insurance provider:
Consider their reputation
It is no secret that much of an insurance companies success is built on the reputation that is built from their past clients. Applicants should take the time to read up on the company and the experience that other people have had with them in the past. Consumer forums and review websites can also be handy here.
Am I Going to End Up Paying More in the Long Run?
It is crucial that all applicants assess what they are actually going to end up paying in premium payments over the life of their policy.  Some policies will only require the policyholder to pay premium payments until they have reached the sum-insured, ensuring no more is paid then the insured would have paid in the first place.
It is of utmost importance to determine how much you could potentially end up paying over the life of the policy and if possible find a policy that will cap premium payments once they have reached the sum-insured.