Delayed refund leads to frustration

Summary

Sarah paid a fine for a traffic offence committed by her husband Paul. When paying, she nominated Paul as the driver so the demerit points would be issued to him. Paul received the same fine, which he also paid. Fines Victoria did not refund Sarah's payment, even after Paul made attempts to follow it up. Following our enquiries, Fines Victoria refunded Sarah’s payment.

What was the case?

Sarah received an Excessive Speed Infringement. Her husband Paul was driving at the time. Sarah paid the fine on time, then nominated Paul as the driver so the demerit points could be assigned to him. Paul received and paid for the same fine as Sarah. But the amount Sarah had already paid was not refunded.

Paul outlined the situation in writing to Fines Victoria, hoping to secure the refund. Instead, Fines Victoria treated his refund request as disputing the fine. He received a response affirming that an offence had been committed and it was correct to issue the fine. Paul agreed he had committed an offence. He called Fines Victoria many times to clarify that he was seeking a refund for the double payment. He was put on hold and gave up waiting.

Our enquiries

We made enquiries with Fines Victoria. They told us that refunds usually take up to six weeks to process. They acknowledged that Sarah’s refund had taken longer than this.

Outcome

Following our enquiries, Fines Victoria agreed to refund Sarah. They also committed to resolve the issues leading to delayed refunds.