This section explains the different things the courts can do – like seizing your possessions or taking your pay or benefit – if you don’t pay your fine by the due date.
This process can be used if you’ve been ordered by a judge in court to pay a fine (for example, after being convicted of a Category 1 driving offence) and you haven’t paid the fine within the allowed time, usually four weeks (28 days).
But the process can also eventually be used if the fine is from a less serious “infringement notice,” like a parking or speeding ticket. If you haven’t paid the ticket within the time allowed by a reminder notice, the fine then gets transferred to the courts for them to enforce. From there it’s treated as if you’d been given the fine by a judge in court in the first place – you’re given another four weeks to pay, and if you don’t, the courts can take action such as seizing your property.
Before the courts decide what action to take against you to enforce the unpaid fine, the court registrar can have you brought to the court so that you can have a financial assessment.
A court registrar can issue a warrant to seize your property (including a vehicle), in order to pay the fine. A collections officer or a bailiff may enter your premises, using force if necessary, and seize property belonging to you or in your possession.
If you can pay the fine when the warrant is produced, then no further action is taken.
If a bailiff or constable seizes property, they must provide a notice (in person, left in an obvious place, or by post or email) that:
If you owe money on the property that is seized, the company to which you owe the money will be notified, if they have registered the debt on the Personal Property Securities Register.
The seized property will be sold at public auction, unless the fine is paid or another person makes a claim to the court for the property within seven days of the property being seized. Auction, storage and carrying costs will be taken from any sale proceeds and then what is left will go towards the fine. If the full amount of the fine is not covered, you will still be liable for paying the rest of the fine.
If someone else owns the property, they can make a claim to the court to have the property returned to them. They may have to pay money to the court registrar to stop the property from being sold before a judge has decided about their claim to the property. If they do not pay security money, the property can be sold but the sale proceeds will be held until the judge decides about the person’s claim to the property. The defendant can be ordered to pay the owner compensation for losses caused by having the property seized.
The courts can sometimes seize a motor vehicle even if the owner is not the driver who incurred the fines. This can happen if the owner is a “substitute” for the driver, and the owner has been warned that the defendant has not paid their fines.
As well as seizing and selling your property, collections officers and the courts have these other options:
Note: Overdue fines and reparations can be added to your credit history, and this can make it harder for you to get credit (see: “ Credit reports ”).
The courts can use more serious measures to enforce your fine if:
The court registrar may make a report on your circumstances and refer the matter on to a District Court judge or community magistrate.
You can be summonsed to appear in the District Court for the court to decide what should happen about your unpaid fine.
A warrant can be issued for your arrest in certain situations – for example if you can’t be found or don’t come to court when summonsed.
Note: Any person affected by a decision made by the registrar under the fine-enforcement provisions of the Summary Proceedings Act (Part 3 of the Act) can apply to a District Court judge for the order or decision to be reviewed.
The judge or community magistrate will receive the report from the court registrar on the circumstances of your case and information about your financial circumstances. They can then use one of the following options (and sometimes a combination of them):
These other options can also be used:
The powers to sentence you to community work or community detention and to cancel (remit) some or all of your fine can be used together, so that the community work or community detention sentence replaces your fine. A community work sentence has often been used in place of unpaid fines (see below).
The court can take this action on its own initiative, or you can apply to the court to have your fines replaced with community work or community detention.
The judge or community magistrate can’t substitute community detention for your unpaid fines unless a pre-sentence report has been prepared for you ( see the chapter “The criminal courts” ) and the Sentencing Act restrictions on using this sentence are complied with.
The number of community work hours you’re likely to be sentenced to will depend not simply on the amount of your unpaid fines, but on all the circumstances of your case, including:
As a very general indication, the following outcomes were upheld or imposed by appeal courts in specific cases appealed from the District Court:
Yes. If you have unpaid fines of $1,000 or more or owe any amount of reparation, you may be stopped on arrival or departure at any New Zealand international airport. If a warrant has been issued you may be arrested.
The Ministry of Justice and New Zealand Customs match information, so that if you have unpaid fines, an alert will be raised at Customs when your passport is scanned.
If you are concerned about fines, you can call 0800 4 FINES (0800 434 637) to discuss your situation before departing the country.
If you are leaving New Zealand within 48 hours and believe you have overdue fines that may stop you from travelling, call 0800 PAYORSTAY (0800 729 677) at any time to pay by credit card.
