Vehicle towing and you!

[armthehomeless]

Ever had your car towed and been told you have to pay an exorbitant amount for its return? You may not have to, and you should fight it!

A Brisbane-based lawyer has been researching the laws impacting on how tow trucks operate. He says that whilst "...it's not illegal per se, it's not legal either."

"With visitors' parking, your relationship is with the body corporate. Motorists have no contractual relationship with the tow truck company...they have no legal or contractual basis to hold or put a lien on your vehicle."

"To test it, someone needs to be actioned in court, but nobody's done that, everyone just pays. It is committing (a) tort of conversion", he said.

If you leave your car in a customer car park (and don’t hand over keys or receive a ticket), there is no transfer of possession to the parking lot owner, merely a licence to leave the car on the car park. If, however, you receive a ticket or hand over your keys, you are granting a bailment to the parking lot owner. If they give your car to another person without your permission, they are breaching the terms of the bailment, and you can bring actions against them in conversion and detinue. If you do not receive a ticket or hand over your keys, you cannot bring an action against the parking lot owner, but you can still bring an action in conversion or detinue against the tow truck company.

Conversion is the act of taking the goods. Detinue is the act of keeping them once you have been requested to return them. If you send a legal request to the tow company, and they ignore you, it is not taken initially as a refusal to comply, unless a reasonable time has elapsed.

If your car has been towed, you should send a written request to the tow company, requesting your vehicle be released. To ensure the letter stands up in court, be sure to include the date, time and place of the alleged conversion, a detailed description of your vehicle, and a specific request for its return at a specified place and time. If it’s just a vague, "return my vehicle" request, it won’t stand up in court.

If the tow company does not release your vehicle (or they ignore your request and a reasonable time elapses), you can bring actions in conversion and detinue. You won’t have to pay any fines to the tow company, but you would have to pay a filing fee at court. As the alleged conversion and detinue have happened “off-highway” (ie, not on a public road), the tow truck company is the one who has to prove they were entitled to take your vehicle and keep it.

Although this article is from QLD, the torts of conversion and detinue are Australia-wide. Exact details for any case would depend on the circumstances of the case and jurisdiction.

See the attached article for more information.

NOTE: This article is commentary only. You should seek your own legal advice before taking actions based on the above content.

[armthehomeless]

A big thanks to my better half for her help on this

[CharlieBrown]

I saw this on A Current Affair last night, and Brunswick Central was the arguement.

It does appear from the outset, it's a cashcard game for them.

[AlanC]

Your partner must be a lawyer Rowan!

[MattMPS3]

I have heard, and I have no legal backing behind this statement, that if you park in a "No parking, or your vehicle will be towed" area of a shopping car park for instance, and the sign has no contact information should your car be towed, the act of towing is illegal, and constitutes theft, i.e you come back and find an empty space where your car was, you have the right to assume that your car was stolen, not towed, and therefore the police will file a stolen vehicle report, and charge whoever authorised the towing with theft.

[tricache]

I still think its easier to rip the sign down and park there

[Oldhead]

Great info Rowan, many yrs go i threatened a tow truck firm with a class action ,re illegal possession ,when tyre clamping was rampant. Didnt pay them at all,just got media involvement .

People do need to be advised of there rights. Heaps of scams about.