NZTA refuse to provide information/clarification on apparent money owing to them.
D Dahya made this Official Information request to New Zealand Transport Agency
The request was partially successful.
From: D Dahya
Dear New Zealand Transport Agency,
Could you explain why NZTA have failed to provide notification of an apparent debt incurred by me (a member of the public) and then passed the debt on to a debt collection agency(Milton Graham) to enforce it. Who themselves are unable to provide that requested information because NZTA have,in turn, refused to provide that information to them?
About 2 months ago on receipt of this letter advising of the debt I immediately asked to for clarification and further information on it - despite repeated emails to Milton Graham they have not responded acknowledging the request or providing the information.
I would like to know if this debt has been registered my credit file?
I am unaware of any amount owing to NZTA, nor am I aware of any notification from them of this debt and so took reasonable steps to obtain clarification on it.
About 2 months ago on receipt of this letter advising of the debt I immediately asked to for clarification and further information on it - despite repeated emails to Milton Graham they have not responded acknowledging the request or providing the information.
I initially asked the debt agency for the following information to which I received no response at all;
1- Please place the account in dispute.
2- Provide the reason for this debt
3- When was the debt first created & when was it passed to you (Milton Graham)
4- Outline the steps taken by NZTA to contact me regarding this debt.
5- Copy of my file/all info on your system/records etc regarding this debt.
In July, on receiving no contact from them at all, my last email to Milton Graham I advised 'As I have not received a response to this email I will consider this matter closed and that you have reflected that in your records otherwise if you could provide a response by the end of this Thursday.'
After 2 months, since my request for information from Milton Graham, of no contact with me whatsoever I, once again , receive the identical debt letter.
I ask the following questions;
1- Could you please outline the process/steps taken to advise members of the public of any overdue amounts with NZTA prior to passing it on to a collection agency?
2- Are you required to send written/email notification of the amount owing prior to passing it to a debt collection agency for enforcement?
3- Why no notification of amount owing from NZTA was sent to me(member of the public) directly?
4- Why was the debt passed to a collection agency for enforcement prior to notifying me of the debt?
5- By passing it to a debt collection agency are you aware that it would affect one's credit rating?
6- Why have you refused to provide the requested information/clarification to your delegated debt agency on an outstanding debt marked for enforcement?
Your sincerely
D Dahya
From: Official Correspondence
New Zealand Transport Agency
Dear D Dahya
This email acknowledges receipt of your below correspondence.
Your correspondence has been forwarded to the appropriate section of Waka
Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, and a response will be provided to you as soon
as possible.
If you would like to contact us about this, please respond to us by email
at [1][email address].
Regards
_________ __________________________________________
Ministerial Services
Government | Engagement & Partnerships
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency
National Office / 50 Victoria Street
Private Bag 6995, Wellington 6141, New Zealand
_________ _____________________________________
[2]cid:image001.jpg@01D6074F.7AF118C0
[3]cid:image002.jpg@01D56496.5A7CD4A0 [4]cid:image003.jpg@01D56496.5A7CD4A0 [5]cid:image004.jpg@01D56496.5A7CD4A0
From: D Dahya <[6][FOI #13755 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 10 September 2020 4:42 PM
To: Official Correspondence <[7][NZTA request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - NZTA refuse to provide
information/clarification on apparent money owing to them.
Dear New Zealand Transport Agency,
Could you explain why NZTA have failed to provide notification of an
apparent debt incurred by me (a member of the public) and then passed the
debt on to a debt collection agency(Milton Graham) to enforce it. Who
themselves are unable to provide that requested information because NZTA
have,in turn, refused to provide that information to them?
About 2 months ago on receipt of this letter advising of the debt I
immediately asked to for clarification and further information on it -
despite repeated emails to Milton Graham they have not responded
acknowledging the request or providing the information.
I would like to know if this debt has been registered my credit file?
I am unaware of any amount owing to NZTA, nor am I aware of any
notification from them of this debt and so took reasonable steps to obtain
clarification on it.
About 2 months ago on receipt of this letter advising of the debt I
immediately asked to for clarification and further information on it -
despite repeated emails to Milton Graham they have not responded
acknowledging the request or providing the information.
I initially asked the debt agency for the following information to which I
received no response at all;
1- Please place the account in dispute.
2- Provide the reason for this debt
3- When was the debt first created & when was it passed to you (Milton
Graham)
4- Outline the steps taken by NZTA to contact me regarding this debt.
5- Copy of my file/all info on your system/records etc regarding this
debt.
In July, on receiving no contact from them at all, my last email to Milton
Graham I advised 'As I have not received a response to this email I will
consider this matter closed and that you have reflected that in your
records otherwise if you could provide a response by the end of this
Thursday.'
After 2 months, since my request for information from Milton Graham, of no
contact with me whatsoever I, once again , receive the identical debt
letter.
I ask the following questions;
1- Could you please outline the process/steps taken to advise members of
the public of any overdue amounts with NZTA prior to passing it on to a
collection agency?
2- Are you required to send written/email notification of the amount owing
prior to passing it to a debt collection agency for enforcement?
3- Why no notification of amount owing from NZTA was sent to me(member of
the public) directly?
4- Why was the debt passed to a collection agency for enforcement prior to
notifying me of the debt?
5- By passing it to a debt collection agency are you aware that it would
affect one's credit rating?
6- Why have you refused to provide the requested information/clarification
to your delegated debt agency on an outstanding debt marked for
enforcement?
Your sincerely
D Dahya
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From: Official Correspondence
New Zealand Transport Agency
Good morning D Dahya
Thank you for your Official Information Act request of 10 September 2020 regarding outstanding fees owed to Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.
In order to fully answer your questions, we need to locate the debt you are referring to and ensure we are providing details to the correct person. Please provide the following details:
• your full name
• your address
• your date of birth
• the debt amount, and
• the vehicle make, model and registration plate number the debt relates to (if known).
As your request has been made through fyi.org.nz, please bear in mind that your personal details may be visible until fyi.org.nz administrators remove them. If you prefer, you can send your response to [NZTA request email] and provide NZT-5345 as your request reference number. Please also let us know if you’d like our final response sent to a personal email address instead.
Regards
_________ ____________________________________________
Ministerial Services
Te Waka Kōtuia - Engagement & Partnerships
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency
National Office / 50 Victoria Street
Private Bag 6995, Wellington 6141, New Zealand
_________ _____________________________________________
show quoted sections
From: D Dahya
Dear Official Correspondence,
Firstly, yes, please forward any info containing personal information to my email address.
I cant see the email address you have provided so I will use 'info at nzta govt nz' instead.
Secondly, I will email the debt letter to the following email address ('info at nzta govt nz') and quote your request reference number NZT-5345.
Thirdly, the debt letter has the registration number of the vehicle in question on your system records which also contains my registered email address -which is the same email address you will receive the debt letter from-so that should be verification that you are dealing with D Dahya- former owner of the vehicle in question which will in turn confirm the person noted in the debt letter.
The reference/account number of the 'apparent debt is 8994348(Milton Graham) for the amount of $67(indicating I had the vehicle for longer than I actually had).
Update:
Since the FYI.org request I have looked further into the matter and have found;
- A letter from NZTA advising me of the matter
- An email from NZTA also advising me of the matter
Both of which I was not aware of -as they were received during the lockdown period and I was pre-occupied with other matters.
My point is, I was only aware of the debt when I received the debt letter from Milton Graham(Debt collectors) so my enquiry to them should have revealed the email from NZTA as I would then have looked for it in my email account earlier.
It should not have taken the account being passed to the debt collectors(during lockdown) for it to be brought to my attention.
This issue/complaint is about process.
i, There should have been atleast 2 letters to me -as is normally the case with overdue accounts.
ii, The Debt collectors should have been provided relevant information regarding the debt ie correspondence, emails etc so that they could communicate that to me- instead, because they did not have that information they could not provide it to me hence unnecessarily delaying the resolution of the matter.
Also, to highlight another matter, in addition, I have, each week, for the last 3 weeks, completed NZTA's online complaints form
(https://www.nzta.govt.nz/contact-us/comp...) asking NZTA if I find confirmation of the date I disposed of the vehicle would they review the initial amount- to which I have not received any acknowledgement /response to despite providing my email address.
Yours sincerely,
D Dahya
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D Dahya left an annotation ()
in October 2020 I eventually discovered the debt was a result of outstanding registration fees for a vehicle that was no longer in my possession. On providing confirmation of date of disposal of vehicle a customer advisor from Regulatory Services has advised the debt waived/account closed.
DDahya
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