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Good day, I have a two part question.

Part one:
My mate rents an apartment in town. His apartment comes with a carpark. He allowed me to use the carpark and sent my licence plate number to the landlord to make sure my car gets included in the list of vehicles allowed to park there.

However the notice to the towing company arrived a day late and my car was towed. BUT no one, including the landlord, bodycorp, or the my mate authorised the tow. The towing company told me they decided to tow my car at their own free will.

I have requested the Tow Authority form but the company refused to give it to me saying that they only give those out to Police officers. They charged me 280$ for the tow which seems excessive because the travel distance from the carpark spot to their car yard is only 5 minutes.

My question is can the towing company decide to tow my car at their own free will, OR do they require a direct order to come from either the Landlord, or the person renting the carpark.

I have read Land Transport Rule: Operator Licensing 2007 and in Section 10.10 it says that the Tow Authority form must be signed by the owner or a representative of the owner of any land or a building, if the vehicle is being towed from his or her land or building that is not a road. If this person is not available, the driver of the vehicle recovery service vehicle must record the name, address, and contact telephone number of the person who requested that the tow be undertaken.

Does this mean the Tow company may was not authorised to tow my car? If yes would this stand in small claims court?

Part 2:
My second question how can I argue in small claims court to receive a discount because the 280$ seems unfair. My car has been towed before a similar distance in Auckland city and it only cost 120$ to retrieve it.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Alex

Hi there,
From what I understand is that the tow company can sometimes have a contract with
the landlords to keep the carpark clear of unauthorised cars. And don't require permission for each individual tow.

If you collect all the evidence of the landlord notification ect. And present your case at the small claims/disputes tribunal. This costs $45 and is not usually easy to be successful.
I would ask to see the contract as evidence of his permission to tow your car.

AS for your previous towage fee, it may have been a council towing contract in which the charges are regulated.
Private hired towage firms seem to be able to charge what they like, with little chance of dispute.