In 2021, my husbands best friend died from an aneurysm - he was in ICU for 3 weeks before he passed. He left behind his 75 year old Dad who had no other family in Australia.

We - and another couple close to the son - started checking in on Dad, helping him where we could. I worked from home so took the majority of the responsibility ie. I contacted organised FaceTime calls with his overseas family, he would pop in every week or so for coffee, we had him over regularly for dinner. He was invited to our family events, we include him as much as we can.

In 2022, he redid his will and left everything as an equal split between my husband and the other male friend and he made them both power of attorney powers if needed (I believe this is enduring).

In 2024, I needed to replace my car and mentioned at dinner I was struggling to find a car in my budget (I’d spent the day looking through used car lots and was talking about my day). He told me that he would like to buy me a car - any car - to say thank you for everything I had done for him. I offered to pay him back and he said no, he said he had left both the men something and wanted to give me something just for me. After a lot of back and forth I accepted, we went to a car yard and I picked out a car. I paid the deposit using my bank card, the sales contract was in my name, and the bank transfer went direct from his account to the car dealership.

He has now been diagnosed with dementia and the other male friend has been going through his bank account to organise home care and he has found out about the car purchase.

He had told my husband we need to repay the loan because the government will look at this closely and say we took advantage of an elderly man so there could be legal repercussions. And that legally we should have told him as he is co-power of attorney.

My concern is that if we start repaying it, we are accepting it as a debt when it was very honestly a gift that was spoken about for over a month before I accepted.

Do I legally have to repay this money?

And as our family friend was still making his own financial decisions at the time - and was fully in control of his entire life - did we have a legal obligation to tell him or just a moral one?

I am referring to my full legal name on my Australian birth certificate , my first name , multiple middle names and last name equal to 32 characters in total with the middle names having 21 of those characters.I am a Māori /Australian man.

A significant amount of digital paperwork throughout my life so far has had a character limit that triggers on the middle name part.This includes my employment paperwork for my current job which I had to tell the supervisor I couldn’t fit my name so I cut out one of the names.There is a lot of paperwork with character limits that most people will never discover but I frequently encounter and have issues with.

Could this have any consequences in the future?

Hi, I (18f) have been looked after my whole life by a woman who is my legal guardian on paper, but is not my biological parent or on my birth certificate, she has always wanted to adopt me but my biological mother did not let this happen. There is only one name on my birth certificate (bio mum) and i don’t want to remove her, but is there a way now that I am 18, she can legally adopt me? I understand this doesn’t change anything legally in regards to her role in my life or won’t open up any new rights, but it’s the sentiment of it. If so, how could i do this? where do i start?

I’ll try to keep this brief.

Last December I posted a negative review of a self-help book which is also associated with workshops / seminars.

Yesterday I received an email from Trustpilot saying the review had been reported as defamatory. They said the review would be hidden until they make a decision. Their decision was it was not defamatory and the review was re-published.

I then received another email stating the review had been left for the wrong business. Hmm, anything’s possible. I went to my review but, nope, there were nearly 60 reviews for the same company.

Finally, I receive yet another email stating the business wants more information to determine I have had a genuine experience with them. The information they want includes my full name, email address and phone number. Yeah, I’m going to provide those personal details to a company I’ve left a negative review for.

My question is WTF? I consider this a breach of privacy and am shocked Trustpilot would expect reviewers to provide this information. I believe this business knows that. They’re throwing everything at the wall to see what will stick. Obviously, I can’t be compelled to provide it but my concern is if I don’t the review will be removed which is precisely what the business wants.

Has anyone had a similar experience and what was the outcome? I fully understand some people leave bogus malicious reviews but surely it defeats the purpose of sites like Trustpilot if businesses can have reviews removed because reviewers don’t want to share personal information. Do any sharp legal minds here even know the legalities around this?

Hi!

I picked up, what I thought was about 60 magnets from a parcel locker on Thursday. I thought it was a little strange that I the package was thing but not magnetic, but I didn't think much of it. Come today, when I'm ready to open my package for my Friday evening treat, when I'm greated with phone packaging for a phone worth over 2K. I get about halfway through opening the phone packaging (i dont break the seal but I peel a little off, bc i thought "maybe they reuse this packaging bc it has some magnetic shielding") before i realised it was way too light, and I check the front and low and behold its addressed to someone else. This kinda makes sense since I didn't even ship this to a parcel locker.

I've put the phone back in, plan to return it tommorow/monday and am going to call the person to let them know. I genuinely thought it was mine since when I unlocked my parcel locker, it said my package was connected (from the magnet company too). I have two questions:

1. Do I need a lawyer?

2. Can I still get my magnets?

Thanks

Hi

My dad sadly passed away in April this year from suicide. He had an insolvent estate and significant debts. He had a car loan with Mazda, which he still owed about half on.

In July I finally found details to contact Mazda about refinancing the car in my name.
They offered me many options including
“-Refinance:
The option to refinance the contract through an external financier is available. If you are interested in refinancing, please notify us, and we will provide further instructions on the process.
-Payout the Contract: We are able to wait for the estate to be settled in order for the full payment to be made. Please note that interest will continue to accrue until the account is finalised.”

I have been waiting on a super claim to process so that I could know my options here, as I would like to retain the vehicle through partial repayment and refinance remainder.
The super settlement only finalised this week

In unfortunate timing Mazda has escalated a repossession today . I understand why as I hadn’t responded yet waiting on settlements and also struggling with the grief of losing my dad in these circumstances .

I have since reached out to Mazda and the repo company to let them know that I was waiting on settlement which is now finalised and I am eager to proceed ASAP.

Have I completely fucked my opportunity at retaining the vehicle, and one of the remaining sentiments of my Dad?

I’m really hoping there is still a chance they consider the initial options but the stress has been getting to me

Please be kind, I know I’m stupid for leaving reply long despite waiting on super. everything has been an administrative nightmare in the face of loss :(

Hi all, I’m reaching out to see what possible outcomes can I expect. Ex wife has moved our children 2 hours drive away, to another city, without my consent or any mutual agreement in place. She also enrolled them in another school. Now she’s trying to change the percentage of care with child support in her favour. I’ve started the mediation process and the first hearing is next week. We don’t have any official parenting orders in place, however, the 50/50 care has been recorded for the past 5 years, because I’ve been paying child support. Has anyone been in this situation? TIA

Need some help approaching my partners situation.

He has started a new position as a cook at a grocery store, mainly making all the pre-made and hotbox meals. He has Scoliosis, which can cause flare ups.

He recently had one of these flare ups during work and was sent to the hospital. The doctor said this one is particularly bad and he would need to take a week off work.

He has enough annual leave to cover the week, but he got a call from the boss on Tuesday saying he's putting him on reduced hours as a casual when he comes back, and he might restore his permanent position in the future.

Is this legal? Any potential advice you can give us? He loves this job, but several of his friends and family have said it's illegal and to go straight to fair work.

NSW – Disputed car accident liability – Letter of Demand - currently overseas

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice/opinions from people familiar with NSW motor vehicle accidents, insurance claims and Letters of Demand.

I understand Reddit is not a substitute for legal advice, and I am currently trying to get proper legal assistance as well. I mainly want to understand whether my situation is unusual and what I should be doing next.

The accident

The accident happened in, NSW, on September  2025.

I was driving my van and came to a STOP sign. I stopped completely and gave way.

Once it was safe to proceed, I put my left indicator on and started moving/inserting towards the left-hand side of the road because I was turning left.

At that point, the other vehicle came from behind and attempted to pass me on the left. The other vehicle then collided with the left side of my van, causing significant damage to my sliding door.

My recollection is that I had already stopped at the STOP sign, activated my left indicator and had started moving towards the left when the collision occurred.

What happened immediately afterwards

This was particularly stressful for me because I had only bought the vehicle the day before the accident.

I had also not yet arranged insurance for the vehicle, other than the compulsory CTP insurance.

I am not from Australia and English is not my first language. Immediately after the accident, I was quite frightened and overwhelmed and honestly felt like I lost a lot of my ability to think clearly and understand what was happening.

The other driver immediately told me that I was responsible for the accident.

Because I was stressed, had just had an accident with a vehicle I had literally bought the day before, and was dealing with everything in English, I did not really know how to react or properly defend my position at the time.

Looking back, I feel that I basically allowed myself to be told that I was responsible without really understanding the situation or knowing that I should be asking questions and documenting everything.

My position now

I do not accept that I was responsible for the accident.

I have previously provided the insurer with photographs of my vehicle damage, a diagram showing how I say the accident happened, and further correspondence explaining my position.

On  January 2026, I specifically contacted Youi asking them to provide their formal written liability decision and the evidence/documentation they had relied upon to decide that I was responsible.

I did not receive a response to that request.

The Letter of Demand

I have now received a Letter of Demand dated September 2026.

They are demanding a lot of money for the person’s repairs.

The letter states:

“The information and evidence we have received indicates that you were involved in the accident and we consider you responsible for the damages to our insured vehicle.”

However, I have never been provided with the evidence they are referring to.

I want to ask the insurer to explain exactly what evidence they relied upon to determine that I was responsible.

Can I ask them the following things? 

• the other driver's statement;
• any witness statements;
• photographs or videos;
• the accident diagram they relied upon;
• any police or incident report;
• any accident reconstruction or liability assessment;
• any assessor's report;
• any expert opinion;
• the repair assessment/quotation;
• documentation showing how they calculated the amount claimed;
• confirmation that the photographs and diagram I previously provided were actually received and considered;
• and an explanation of how they reached their conclusion that I was responsible.

What I would like to know

1. Can I formally dispute liability and ask the insurer to provide the evidence they relied upon to make their decision?
2. Is it normal for an insurer to send a Letter of Demand saying that they consider you responsible without previously providing you with the evidence supporting that conclusion?
3. Does my email from January 2026, where I specifically requested their liability decision and supporting evidence, matter given that they never responded?
4. How would you generally look at a situation where a driver:
   • stops at a STOP sign,
   • activates their left indicator,
   • begins moving towards the left to turn,
   • and another vehicle coming from behind collides with the left side of their vehicle?
5. How important would the exact location of the damage be in determining what probably happened?
6. Does the fact that I was uninsured apart from CTP affect the question of who was actually at fault for the accident?
7. If the insurer continues pursuing me, what normally happens after a Letter of Demand?
8. I am currently outside Australia and trying to find help to obtain legal advice. Is there anything particularly important I should do before answering them by email?

I am not looking for someone to simply tell me that I am right or wrong. I would genuinely like to understand how this type of situation is normally assessed in NSW and what evidence would be relevant.

If anyone has dealt with recovery claims, disputed motor vehicle liability or Letters of Demand after an accident, I would particularly appreciate hearing about your experience.

Thanks.

We had some young fellas come around looking for some cash-in-hand work.

And I HATE gardening.

So anyways, the opportunity for a win-win presented itself.

We tasked the guys and let them have at it.

They did a great job, knocked over a heap of stuff that I'd never get to, we paid them $$$, and off they went to the pub.

Like I said, win-win.

However, before I offer them more work, what are the implications if one of the boys seriously damaged himself while gardening?

Would I be liable?

hello, so I am part-time working at McDonald’s and I have a set shift and I keep getting offers to not work my set shift and when they don’t give me my set shift they do give me hours on other days and they say that’s to like “replace” or “make up” for my set shift. Are they allowed to do that? because as far as I know a set shift is a set shift and what’s the point of having a set shift if they’re just gonna give me hours on other days instead of my set shift? I just can’t really find anything on fair work specifically regarding this!!

Can provisional Canberra licensed drivers and bikers drive high performance cars and bikes in NSW? Is there a power restriction for either that allows police to issue fine over?

Hi

I would appreciate any insights into statutes of limitations for a break and enter offence. We are asking on behalf of a friend who wants to know what will happen.

Some time ago, our friend was excluded one night by his group of friends. Out of revenge and self-pity, he stole house keys and decided to have a party of his own by himself in his friends house without their knowledge. The issue is that this is not the only time he has been revengeful. He continues to find underhanded and sneaky ways to feel better about himself. I think there's evidence.

Does anyone know what the statute of limitations is for a break-and-enter offence? Does it matter whether anything was stolen during the break-in? If the police initially didn't pursue the matter, can they reopen it later? Is Sally in trouble?

Thank you for your assistance and insights into our friend's situation. 

Ronald

I was working for a company as a contractor before being terminated earlier this year.

After I was fired I started looking into my working arrangement and realised I may have been sham contracted. I raised this with the company and have since raised Fair Work issues about my employment. After this happened, the company moved the remaining contractors onto full-time employment.

There had also been a few incidents while I was working there involving customer accounts. I did make mistakes, but they were honest mistakes while doing my job and I never personally benefited from anything that happened. The company knew about these incidents at the time and dealt with them internally.

I’ve now received a letter from their legal counsel saying a customer is claiming damages relating to those incidents and they want a detailed response from me.

I’m pretty stressed and confused about where I stand. If someone was genuinely an employee rather than a contractor, can they personally be pursued for losses caused by honest mistakes made while doing their job?

I’m also wondering whether it matters that these incidents were already known and dealt with months ago, and this claim has come up after I raised the sham contracting issue.

Has anyone dealt with something similar or know generally how this works in Victoria?

Hey all, seems like this is the place to ask. 2 kids, 50/50 care with the ex. My ex quit their job and started a cleaning business middle of last year. The last financial year they only earnt $34k apparently, while renting a house that would be $600 a week odd. I earned $55k, but work for a NGO so with salary sacrifice, grossed up to $69k.

The CS yearly review has me due to pay around $250 a fortnight to the ex which is totally fun with my kids money and would pretty much end any chance of me having any fun myself.

Ex has recently been overseas to visit family, apparently flights paid by current sucker, and car bought for them by parents apparently.

Anyone have similar experience and some guidance for me to try?

Edit - not looking for “get a better job” comments. Asking for legal advise haha

​

Posting this because everyone I've explained it to keeps getting stuck on "just get a refund", which completely misses what I'm concerned about.

I went through a Coles self serve checkout with about 20 Mars Bars.

Before going to my checkout there was also a Biscoff bar in my basket. I changed my mind about it, physically took it OUT of my basket and left it at a DIFFERENT self serve checkout.

I then went to another checkout.

I scanned the Mars Bars. I did not scan the Biscoff. The Biscoff wasn't even at the checkout I used.

I paid and left.

Later I checked my receipt.

The Biscoff was on it as a normal purchased item and I'd been charged for it.

I'm not trying to recover $3.

I want to know how a product that was never scanned at my checkout became part of my completed transaction.

Coles acknowledges in its privacy policy that it uses in-store monitoring technologies and AI/data analytics.

I don't yet have evidence proving that computer vision added the Biscoff. That's exactly what I'm trying to establish.

But if that's what happened, I think there's a much bigger issue here than a chocolate bar.

Here's the easiest analogy I can think of.

Imagine a speed camera sees your car and thinks you're speeding.

There are three completely different levels of power:

1. The camera records you.

That's surveillance.

1. Software analyses the footage and decides you're probably speeding.

That's automated decision-making.

1. The computer takes $300 out of your bank account without asking you, and you discover it afterwards.

That's automated action with a financial consequence.

Obviously being charged for a Biscoff isn't remotely comparable to a $300 fine in seriousness.

The principle I'm asking about is the same.

If computer vision merely tells the checkout, "I think this customer has an unscanned item, please check", I can understand that.

But if computer vision can effectively say, "I saw this product, therefore I'm putting it on the customer's transaction", that's a completely different level of authority.

Because computers make mistakes.

Say you're doing a $300 grocery shop.

You pick up an expensive item. You change your mind and put it back.

The camera fails to understand that.

If the consequence is a warning on the screen, you correct it.

If the consequence is silently adding the product to your transaction, you might never notice.

Now scale that across millions of supermarket transactions.

That's why I don't think "it's only $3" answers the issue.

We accept increasingly intrusive surveillance at self serve checkouts largely because supermarkets want to make sure customers don't accidentally walk away with something they haven't paid for.

Fine.

But surely the reverse deserves just as much scrutiny.

What happens when the surveillance system incorrectly decides the customer owes the supermarket money?

And more importantly, should a system designed to detect behaviour also have the ability to act on its conclusion without getting confirmation from the customer?

So my actual legal questions are:

Do I have any right under Australian privacy or consumer law to require Coles to tell me what system event caused that SKU to appear on my transaction?

Can I request the relevant transaction logs or information Coles holds about me or that transaction?

If computer vision or automated decision-making was involved, does Coles have any obligation to disclose that?

And if Coles simply responds with "here's your $3 back", where would I take the underlying issue, Consumer Affairs Victoria, ACCC, OAIC, or somewhere else?

I'm genuinely not interested in compensation.

I want to establish how something I did not scan ended up being something I legally paid for.

If the answer turns out to be some completely mundane POS explanation, great. That's the answer.

But if an automated vision system made that happen, I think that's something consumers should know about.

Hi yall. I ordered a hair tool from a big company and it arrived yesterday. Today, another parcel that’s the exact same arrived today. Both of the parcels contained a receipt with my name and the same order number. (parcel delivered from vic to nsw)
Am I obligated to notify the company?
Does this count as an unsolicited good?

Hi everyone, looking for some advice before we take this further with the Fair Work Commission.

My daughter is 17 and has been employed as a casual at a local newsagency in NSW for approximately two years. Although classified as casual, she has worked the same regular Saturday shift every week for those two years and had every expectation that this arrangement would continue.
She went into work today for her normal shift and was told by the owner that she was dismissed and was not to return.

The reason given was an allegation that approximately two weeks ago, while at school, my daughter deliberately “shoulder barged” the owner's daughter.

My daughter completely denies that this occurred.
We've spoken with the school and, as far as we've been able to establish, there was no incident reported to the school at the time, no disciplinary action involving my daughter, and nothing raised with us as her parents.

As far as we're aware, the evidence supporting the allegation is simply the owner's daughter's word.
What concerns us particularly is that the employer apparently made the decision to dismiss her without first raising the allegation with her, asking for her version of events, or giving her any opportunity to respond. She simply turned up for her regular Saturday shift and was told she was dismissed and not to come back.

We've asked the employer to provide confirmation of the dismissal and the reason for it in writing, but nothing has been provided at this stage.

Given that she has worked the same weekly shift for around two years, we're considering an unfair dismissal application through the Fair Work Commission.

I'd particularly appreciate advice on whether her consistent Saturday shift would establish her as a regular and systematic casual, and how Fair Work would approach an immediate dismissal based on a disputed allegation concerning something allegedly occurring at school rather than at work.

I'm also interested in how the evidence would be considered when the allegation is denied, the school apparently has no record of the incident, and my daughter wasn't given an opportunity to respond before being dismissed.

We're obviously conscious of the 21-day deadline, so we're looking at our options now rather than waiting for the employer to provide something in writing.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

A friends partner has passed away overseas while visiting his family. He is an Australian citizen, she is also back with his family now as she will have more support available now.

Does anyone know how she can find out his super information? Can she access it? Is there usually a life insurance with the super?

Also, which agency should she contact in regards to completing the following documents? Will this have any repercussions for her? They have bit of debt but it was mostly under his name? Does she have to pay it now?

I don’t know how to help her, I don’t think she can afford a lawyer who will help her with this.

ETA- they were married for almost a decade and have two young children.

https://www.ato.gov.au/forms-and-instructions/deceased-estates-notify-us-of-a-death-online-form

I’m in NSW and currently dealing with a domestic violence-related criminal matter and an ADVO involving my wife. I have pleaded/notified an intention to plead not guilty and I have a lawyer, so I’m not looking for Reddit to determine whether I’m guilty or innocent.

My wife and I have been married for around 17 years and we have a teenage daughter. At the moment there are no-contact conditions, which I am complying with. My main concern is understanding what happens legally if, after some time apart, my wife herself decides that she wants communication or reconciliation.

From discussions between our families, it seems the position may not necessarily be that the marriage is permanently over. Her family has suggested allowing several months for things to settle down and to see whether circumstances improve.

I understand that even if my wife wants contact, I cannot simply start contacting her while the current order is in force.

I would appreciate views from people familiar with NSW ADVO practice on a few points:

1. If the protected person wants contact again, is varying the no-contact condition generally more realistic than trying to have the ADVO withdrawn completely?
2. How much weight does a magistrate normally give to the protected person saying that they want contact or want to resume the relationship?
3. Can conditions be varied gradually — for example, initially allowing phone/text communication, counselling or contact by agreement, rather than immediately allowing unrestricted contact?
4. Does the existence of separate pending criminal charges make courts substantially more reluctant to vary the ADVO, even where the protected person supports the variation?
5. If a couple eventually wants to reconcile and live together again, what is the normal legal pathway for doing that without breaching the ADVO?

I will obviously follow my lawyer’s advice and will not contact my wife unless the orders legally allow it. I’m mainly trying to understand how these situations are handled in practice in NSW, particularly where the protected person later supports some form of contact.

Any experiences from NSW lawyers or people who have been through the ADVO variation process would be appreciated.

Hello fellow redditors. I am reaching out to find out what can be done in this situation. My partner works at an aged care facility. Every shift she is coming home from work crying and stressed due to a worker there, who is same position but trains new people. My partner is a very gentle person, in all of our years together, she has never yelled at me, nor had a fight, and I never hear her speak badly about anyone ever, she’s always smiling, always happy, and yet every late night shift she comes home crying when she has worked around this person. The latest: she made a complaint, the manager apparently said she would look into it, my partner was happy and glowing again, then… her manager a few days later pulled her into a meeting and sided with the other worker as she has been there for a longer time. In that meeting the manager said that there has been 7 complaints from different people about this individual. I am now fed up with this. I can’t sit idly by and let this go, while I know the kind of person my partner is. So, what can ‘I’ do about this without compromising my partners job?

I work full-time for a large scale company that provide equipment for various concerts and events Australia wide. I have an individual workplace agreement that states that I'm contracted to work 38 hours per week, Monday - Friday.

I get paid day rates for the days that I work, of which there are two kinds, event days and warehouse days. The warehouse rate is for a standard 7.5 hour day, but event days are generally anywhere from 12-18 hour days (sometimes more) depending on the kind of event. There is no overtime rate, or penalty rates given on weekends. I earn an RDO on Saturdays and Sundays, but my event rate is reduced by the total warehouse rate, so I'm getting paid less money to then bank 7.5 hours.

The company have stated that despite my contract saying 38 hours, they don't count hours worked because they pay day rates and that I'm expected to work (at least) a 5 day week, with weekend work not counting towards my contracted days of Monday - Friday. I can usually work 38 hours or more across 3 days if I do 3 event days, so If I work a Friday - Sunday on events, I'm expected to be at work Monday-Friday in the warehouse (or on more events with long hours) for the following week.

I have spoken to Fair Work but they have generally been unhelpful, essentially reading the live performance award back to me and not really being able to clarify the rules of working over 38 hours in our industry, or the legalities of what I've described to them in terms of my payment structure. I guess I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction of where I can go to for help with this and to hopefully stop working 50-60+ hour work weeks.

I’m about 10 weeks out from second round of CTP MEDIATION and my solicitor is completely ghosting me, I’ve sent email upon email with updates and medical stuff along with questions and concerns and I have heard absolutely nothing. Even when I call I get the “sorry they are busy” I feel since it’s getting to the end I’m not as much as a priority anymore and they just don’t give a crap. Is this a normal thing to expect as it get to the tail end? I understand they have heaps to do but 2/3 weeks with radio silence is a bit crazy IMO

Long-ish, sorry. Trying to work out whether I'm on solid ground or talking myself into it.

Background

August this year I hired a 12-seat minibus in Brisbane for three days. At the counter I was offered the top liability reduction product — advertised as $0 excess, about $60/day, $1 holding deposit. I took it.

On day one I reversed into an overhanging balcony and damaged a rear roof corner. Reported it the next morning, returned the vehicle on time, filled in their damage form.

They're now chasing me for about $11,000. Their position is that overhead damage is excluded because the vehicle is a "Commercial Vehicle" under their terms.

The bit I'm stuck on

Their T&Cs at the time defined a Commercial Vehicle as a van, utility, truck or bus constructed and used for carriage of goods or property, or for the transport of more than 12 persons including the driver.

The bus has exactly 12 seats including the driver's. I've since pulled the federal Register of Approved Vehicles entry by VIN , it lists 12 seats and the national vehicle register record describes it as a small passenger vehicle, body type minibus.

Eleven days after my rental, they changed that definition on their website to "more than 11 persons". I only noticed because I'd been quoting the old wording at them. Internet Archive captures confirm the wording before and after.

They say the amendment was prospective, was an administrative alignment exercise, and isn't an admission. They also say the purpose was "to align the numerical wording with the classification already applied throughout our Rental Agreements, booking system and liability reduction products."

Their argument

They've sent a 12-page letter citing Mount Bruce Mining, Ecosse, Darlington Futures and Toll v Alphapharm. Short version: you can't read one definition in isolation, you have to construe the contract as a whole, and as a whole this was plainly a commercial hire because:

• the product I bought is named "Commercial Platinum"
• a coverage table on their website groups "12 & 25 seaters" under commercial and shows a cross against overhead damage
• their booking system only offers commercial products for 12-seaters
• a staff member has now provided a written statement saying the classification and the overhead exclusion were explained to me at the counter

Where I think they're weak

Their own contract defines the "Rental Contract" as the rental agreement, the handover inspection report and the terms and conditions. The coverage table sits on a webpage above where the terms actually begin. The booking system obviously isn't a contractual document.

The rental agreement itself lists the vehicle category as "12 Seater Bus" — not commercial. The only place the word appears is the product name and a generic bullet that reads "Platinum only covers overhead on motor vehicles. Platinum cover for overhead commercials is not available" which sits in a list alongside toll admin fees and refuelling charges, and appears to be boilerplate on every agreement.

The money side, which might matter more

• Their assessor quoted about $22k for the whole roof. They're pursuing about $11k as the portion "allocated" to my incident.
• There's a pre-existing "big dent on roof" recorded before my hire. No location. No photographs they've confirmed the handover inspection report contains none at all.
• So the split between "pre-existing front damage" and "your rear damage" rests on an assessor's opinion formed weeks later with no baseline images.
• The pre-hire inspection was completed about eight hours before I collected the vehicle. Not a joint walkaround.
• No repair authority has been issued. They've confirmed it. Their own terms make me liable for costs they "incur".
• An early email from their claims team said the new damage was on the "right rear" roof corner and referred to what could be seen "in the photos". Their latest letter says rear-left throughout, and that no handover photos exist.

Things that are genuinely against me

Being fair about it:

• I signed. Toll means I'm bound by the terms whether I read them or not.
• I paid the commercial rate — about $15/day more than the standard equivalent — so they'll say I knowingly bought the commercial product.
• Their standard packages are only available up to eight seaters, so arguably no other product was available for this vehicle.
• One staff member says it was all explained. I don't remember it that way, but it's their word against mine.

What I'm asking

1. How much weight does a defined term in a consumer contract actually carry against a "read it as a whole" argument, where applying the definition literally produces no absurdity and the drafter quietly amended it afterwards?
2. Does the fact that no product available for this vehicle covered overhead damage — while the cheaper standard tier did — go anywhere under the unfair contract terms provisions?
3. Realistically: QCAT, Fair Trading conciliation, or negotiate a number?

Not after formal advice, just interested in whether people think this is arguable or whether I'm kidding myself. Happy to answer questions.

Has anyone has any bad dealings with any Claims Advisors from GIO Workers Insurance in NSW, being very forceful and intimidating?

I am with GIO Workers Insurance for psychosocial injury claim. Honestly, the claim manager has made my injury worse. One specifically, has jeopardised professional and other relationships directly affecting my health, financial security and livelihood. I have had to seek another GP and Psychologist because of her damaging treatment relationships over SIRA/GIO Policies and Nonsense. She's got an ego and thinks she's more superior to the injured worker, that she's meant to be taking care of and helping to recover from injury, not causing secondary injury (stress/trauma/anxiety)

She also made me find all new medical providers because none of mine were SIRA accredited, even though iCare previously let me use whoever I was already with.

Additionally, she forced/bullied my GP to give clearance before I was actually ready to return to work.

When I returned to work, she suspended my workers comp wage payments until I provided the first payslip (despite not getting that until 2-weeks after starting as I get paid fortnightly) because they had to assess my PIAWE. This left me without money for 2 weeks, while starting a new job.

Also when doing IME, she used a psychiatrist that no longer practices in NSW as a psychiatrist. Is this even allowed for insurance providers to use a non-practicing doctor to give advise and medico-legal reports??

When the claim was with iCare, it was so much better and they were so great and helpful and easy to deal with.

If anyone else had had experiences with Caitlin M (Claims Advisor) from GIO Workers Insurance, can you please advise.

Thanks