How to make the most of your supermarket chook

Dead chickens save drivers on car registration
1.00pm Friday July 28, 2006

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A dead supermarket chicken could save you up to $200 on your car registration, according to a Christchurch woman who has revealed an apparent loophole in vehicle rules. It would normally cost her more than $260 to register her diesel vehicle.

But if a driver goes to the Post Shop and asks them to change the vehicle's registration to a code 06, which is for a non-commercial hearse, then the cost drops dramatically - to just $58. Her friends told her the scam had been going on for years, so she went to a Post Shop to try it.

She told the man behind the counter her car was a non-commercial hearse because she carried dead chickens home from the supermarket. He said that was fine, stamped her $58 registration - and she says he told her there are many of non-commercial hearses driving around the affluent Christchurch suburb of Merivale.

Land Transport New Zealand is not amused. It says people who are classing their cars as non-commercial hearses to save on their registration are breaking the law.

Spokesman Andy Knackstead said people doing that were effectively ripping off ACC, accident victims, and the rest of the population who are paying the correct levies.

Mr Knackstead said if LTNZ discovered it was a widespread practice it may consider bringing in the police.

- NEWSTALK ZB

Darn ... I've just re-registered the car for the year. #-o Mind you, I don't think I would have the nerve, even though I do transport dead chickens from the supermarket too.

:icon_lol:

Just as well to stay out of it by the look of it.

Hearse count grows as car rego scam word spreads
29 July 2006
By KERI WELHAM AND NZPA

Frozen chickens are being cited in a scam that has car owners re-registering their vehicles as hearses. ? Land Transport New Zealand has pledged swift action against people making false declarations to get a cheaper registration fee ? $58 for a hearse as opposed to $183.

A Christchurch woman revealed the rort to a radio station audience yesterday, boasting that several friends had changed their registration with the excuse that their car ferried dead animals. Questioning revealed she carried frozen chickens home from the supermarket in her car.

Yesterday, as word spread, 40 people applied to re-register their cars as hearses. Last night LTNZ pledged to stop the scam.

About 1500 vehicles are registered under category 6 of registration criteria as 'non-commercial hearse/ambulance'. Such vehicles are exempt from ACC levies. Harbour City Funeral Homes owner Simon Manning was stunned by the scam. 'For God's sake. How ridiculous. It's insulting.'

He said a hearse was easily identified by the deck and rollers, which enabled a coffin to be positioned. He believed hearses should have a lower registration fee because they were seldom on the road. A six-year-old hearse at his Kilbirnie funeral home would have travelled just 40,000km.

LTNZ spokesman Andy Knackstedt said that if the scam was found to be widespread, police would be alerted. Anyone involved was committing an offence under the Transport Vehicle and Driver Registration Act, leaving themselves liable to a $1000 fine. They could also be voiding their insurance cover.

'The dictionary definition of a hearse is a vehicle used to convey coffins, not to convey groceries,' Mr Knackstedt said.

LTNZ would consult the Transport Ministry and ACC on how to stop the scam. It would also advise owners of the newly registered 'hearses' of the consequences of making a false declaration.

Hundreds of fake hearse owners warned of prosecution
1.00pm Wednesday August 9, 2006
By Cullen Smith

Hundreds of motorists who re-registered vehicles as hearses to dodge car registration fees could face prosecution. ?Land Transport New Zealand (LTNZ) has now written to more than 900 people, giving them until next week to re-register under the correct category or face prosecution.

After weeding out vehicles apparently registered to funeral homes, funeral directors and organisations providing a medical service using an ambulance, the LTNZ had detected 937 that appeared to have been wrongly licensed.

The scam came to light last month when a Christchurch woman claimed she and several friends had re-registered their cars under a category intended for non-commercial ambulances or hearses. She went on air on NewstalkZB, saying she paid just $58 to register her car by telling an agency she used it as a hearse to carry dead animals. The usual fee for an average private car is $183.

The woman said her definition of carrying dead animals was carrying frozen chickens home from the supermarket. ?She told the radio station several of her friends had done the same and other listeners called in to confirm that the ruse worked.

On July 28, the day the talkback show aired, 40 people re-registered their vehicles under the 'hearse' category. ?LTNZ spokesman Andy Knackstedt said people making a false declaration were committing an offence under the Transport Vehicle and Driver Registration Act and were liable to a fine of $1000. ?They may also be voiding their insurance cover.

Mr Knackstedt said LTNZ staff had found just over 1600 vehicles registered under Category 6 of registration criteria as a 'non-commercial ambulance, or hearse'. Such vehicles were exempt from Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) levies. Mr Knackstedt acknowledged that in the context of the 3 million vehicles registered in New Zealand, number of fake hearses was 'not huge'.

However, people abusing the system were ripping off ACC and fellow motorists. ?'All of those people are avoiding paying the ACC levy and they're required to do that by law,' he said. 'We all rely on ACC to cover our costs if we're injured in a crash.'

Mr Knackstedt said it was interesting to note that several owners who switched to Category 6 since the radio broadcast had re-registered correctly 'even before our letters went out', possibly after learning of the potential for prosecution. 'Carrying groceries or dead animals in your car does not make it a hearse', Mr Knackstedt said.

LTNZ plans to check the motor vehicle register again on August 16 and Mr Knackstedt said 'follow-up action will result for those vehicles still improperly licensed'.

- NZPA

I find it amusing about the ingenuity of the Kiwis. [smiley=icon_biggrin.gif]

Keep it up!!

Hundreds of fake hearse owners warned of prosecution
1.00pm Wednesday August 9, 2006
By Cullen Smith

LTNZ plans to check the motor vehicle register again on August 16 and Mr Knackstedt said 'follow-up action will result for those vehicles still improperly licensed'

- NZPA

If Al Sheepa owned a car, we would be registering it as a non commercial hearse as of August 17th ? [smiley=icon_mrgreen.gif]

Either that or a campaign vehicle. We need to register for the 2008 elections anyway ? [smiley=icon_twisted.gif]