By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
A DANDENONG tow-truck company has been convicted and undertaken to reimburse insurance companies over dozens of false salvage fee charges.
Time Nominees and five of its drivers initially faced 496 charges over the matter at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 19 October.
On a plea of guilty by Time, all but one of those charges were withdrawn by prosecuting agency VicRoads.
The court heard that Time wrongly charged a salvage fee on top of a towing fee at 55 accident scenes between 8 July and 9 September 2014.
On each occasion, the company invoiced salvage fees of up to $210 to the relevant car insurers, the court heard.
Time gave an undertaking to attempt to reimburse more than $6000 of wrongly charged salvage fees.
“I’m instructed that is difficult … but my client will make attempts,” Time’s lawyer told the court.
He argued there had “long been confusion in the industry” about what constitutes a salvage and how much should be charged.
According to the law, a salvage only occurs when a towed vehicle is not on a road or “road related area”, or it is embedded in a building or object that isn’t another vehicle, or it is overturned.
To illustrate the uncertainty, the lawyer said one of the non-salvaged vehicles had run off the road, knocked down a pole and became stuck behind the pole and a bush.
“The vehicle couldn’t be driven out of there even if it was still working. Yet, under the definition, that isn’t salvageable.
“The reasonable person walking along would say that sounds like a salvage.”
The defence lawyer noted the insurers had approved the invoice payments after viewing photos of the accidents.
Since the offences, the company had discussed the strict definition with VicRoads’s chief investigator, and improved its processes, the lawyer said.
It had lost four demerit points from its accreditation.
A subsequent offence would result in Time losing its towing licence for a month.
“Effectively it is a three-year probation,” the lawyer said.
Magistrate Jack Vandersteen noted the company’s early plea of guilty, no prior convictions, its co-operation with VicRoads and commitment to get more educated on the issue.
Mr Vandersteen accepted there was a gap between the ordinary usage and the statutory definition of ‘salvage’, but there was an obligation for the company to know the difference.
He said there was a need for general deterrence due to the charges being passed onto consumers’ insurance premiums.
Time was fined $3000 and ordered to pay $8000 of agreed costs to VicRoads.
