Australian Recoveries & Collections

In Victorian Parliament on 14th June 2011, Mr Michael O'Brien, the Victorian Minister for Consumer Affairs, said he will ask his department, Consumer Affairs Victoria, to look into complaints about a debt collection company called Australian Recoveries & Collections.

The complaint was raised by Victorian Member of Parliament Mr Robin Scott (member for Preston) who said he sought "an investigation into the actions of Australian Recoveries and Collections Pty Ltd, particularly those of Mr Craig Brugman, who has been writing to constituents in my electorate demanding payment of a private debt to third parties which has been resolved". Mr Scott said that "in these cases, the private car parking agency that made the original claims has acknowledged in writing to my constituents that there is no debt outstanding". He said further that "My constituents were therefore surprised to receive letters of claim which made statements such as ‘This account is now severely delinquent and has therefore been referred to Australian Recoveries Pty Ltd for immediate recovery’ and advising that the company expected the constituent to attend to this urgent matter and looked forward to receiving payment. In this case, the amount was $173". Mr Scott also said "this is a serious matter, as I am sure the minister would agree. People should not receive claims for payment which have been resolved and in reference to which they have received written confirmation. I ask the minister to investigate the actions of the debt collector, which appear to be a bit of a shakedown of innocent constituents."

Mr O'Brien said that Australian Recoveries & Collections Pty Ltd acted as a debt collector for Australian National Car Parks. He said that Australian Recoveries & Collections had "apparently caused distress by continuing with demands for money". In summing up, The Minister for Consumer Affairs said that "private car parks have a right to operate, but they have to operate within the law and they do not have the power to issue fines. Anything they do which tries to persuade consumers — their customers — that they have the right to issue fines is completely wrong. This government will not accept it and will ensure that appropriate regulatory action is taken to prevent that from happening."

A full transcript of the Hansard coverage of the Pariliamentary session can be found here