Towing Issues: Towing - Private Property- legally allowed to be there., collision repair company, tow truck driver

Question
Hi

My husband was parked in a private lot that he was authorized to park in.  He forgot to place his permit on his dash. However, a member if his staff was outside waiting for another staff member to arrive to give him his permit.  This man saw the tow truck come. This tow truck was not called and was trolling looking for a tow.  The staff member saw the tow truck driver start to hoist up my husbands car. He ran over and said "hey this is my boss's car he is inside and is legally allowed to park here".  He ran inside and got my husband. By the time my husband arrived - he was nearly finished hoisting it up.  He would not listen to my husband and said he had already called it in, and charged him $80 for a tow. He never left the lot with my husbands car. After my husband paid he unloaded the car right there and left.  

We paid it, but I am furious at this man and his company. They are a collision repair company.  Do we have an legal rights?  Or are we just unfortunate and need to move on and consider as an unnecessary expense? We are in Utah.  

Thanks for your help!

Answer
Well, first of all, I have to say that after looking at the Utah rules for tow trucks it would appear that some of this is correct and some might be illegal..

For example, the part about not displaying the permit well that means the vehicle is fair game, even though it was a "known vehicle" and that the co worker was getting the vehicle owner.

Now according to the rules, if the vehicle is "not hooked up" then the tow truck driver is not able to collect anything, but if it is "mechanically connected" then it gets a fee for the services.

The rules are listed at the end of the question, and also will be a link to all the rules that I have on file.


Now as to the "drop fee" which you say your husband paid of $ 80.00, well that does seem a bit out of line, but I am not sure what fuel surcharge was used and if there is tax on towing fees in Utah. That part I would need to be there to find out those answers.  But it sounds real close as I see the rate is $121 per hour and 1/2 of that would be $60.50.  

Being a "collision repair company" or not does not mean that it is not a tow company, it still has to follow the rules, just like you have to follow any parking rules.

That is why I say part looks legal and some does not, I would be questioning the price of the drop fee, but like I said, I am not sure about the tax and fuel surcharge issue.

Good luck and hope this helped, but it seems that things were right.



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http://www.rules.utah.gov/publicat/code/r909/r909-019.htm


R909-19-12. Maximum Towing Rates. Non-Consent Tows.
(1) $121 per hour, per unit, when towing a "Light Duty" vehicle;

(a) An additional 15% per hour may be charged if the towed vehicle is used in the transportation of materials found to be hazardous for the purposes of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act and which require the motor vehicle to be placarded under the Hazardous Materials Regulations, 49 CFR Part 172, subpart F and the tow truck operator is hazardous material certified as outlined in the Utah Regulations for Towing Operations and Certification Manual.

(2) $200 per hour, per unit, when towing a "Medium Duty" vehicle;

(a) An additional 15% per hour may be charged if the towed vehicle is used in the transport transportation of materials found to be hazardous for the purposes of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act and which require the motor vehicle to be placarded under the Hazardous Materials Regulations, 49 CFR Part 172, subpart F and the tow truck operator is hazardous material certified as outlined in the Utah Regulations for Towing Operations and Certification Manual.

(3) $250 per hour, per unit, when towing a "Heavy Duty" vehicle;

(a) An additional 15% per hour may be charged if the towed vehicle is used in the transport transportation of materials found to be hazardous for the purposes of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act and which require the motor vehicle to be placarded under the Hazardous Materials Regulations, 49 CFR Part 172, subpart F and the tow truck operator is hazardous material certified as outlined in the Utah Regulations for Towing Operations and Certification Manual.

(4) If a tow truck apparatus is mechanically connected to a vehicle, the tow truck will therefore be in possession of the vehicle.

(a) If the owner, authorized operator, or authorized agent of the owner of a motor vehicle, which is in question, is attempting to retrieve said vehicle before the tow truck is mechanically connected, no fee(s) will be charged to the vehicle owner.

(b) If the owner, authorized operator, or authorized agent of the owner of the vehicle, which is in question, is attempting to retrieve said vehicle before the vehicle is removed from the property or scene, the maximum fee shall not exceed 50% of the posted rate schedule.

(5) As fuel increases .50 per gallon from the base rate of $2.00, a surcharge shall be allowed of 10% of the base rate. Conversely, if prices drop, they will decrease by the same amount.

                                                    TABLE
(a)  Fuel Surcharge
Fuel Cost                        Surcharge
$2                                   0%
$2.50                               10%
$3                                  20%
$3.50                               30%
$4                                  40%
$4.5                                50%
$5                                  60%
etc.