A recent small claims dispute has been resolved between a Victoria resident and the City of Victoria.
The resulting decision from the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) found that the City has to reimburse the resident’s towing fees, but does not have to pay additional fees the resident believed they were entitled to.
In February of last year, the applicant, Pacific Arnold Lee Thompson, had their vehicle improperly towed by the City and sought $4,900 for the towing bill, damages and time spent on the dispute.
However, the City of Victoria’s legal representation argued that City offered to pay back the resident’s towing fees, but saw no proof that they needed to pay anything beyond that.
The events that led to the improper towing were that the City received two separate complaints about the resident’s vehicle, which had a flat tire and was presumed to be abandoned because of a large accumulation of debris under its tires.
VicPD attended the resident’s address to look into the vehicle’s state and an officer arranged with the resident that the flat tire would be fixed within two-days.
However, a different officer looked into the vehicle’s state later that day and made immediate arrangements for towing.
The vehicle was towed and the resident was billed $266.10 as a result.
As evidence during the CRT proceedings, the resident provided a voicemail recording in which an officer acknowledges that there was miscommunication and said that the towing bill would be reimbursed.
The City’s legal representative said during proceedings that multiple offers were made to reimburse the towing bill but the resident wanted to be reimbursed for additional damages and for “time I missed from life in general.”
The resident sought an additional $4,633.90 from the City for damages, time spent retrieving their vehicle and time spent on this dispute.
According to the CRT decision, no submissions or evidence explaining what additional damages were suffered was made and no evidence was submitted to explain why the resident would be entitled to compensation for time-spent retrieving their vehicle.
Ultimately, the CRT decided that the only additional compensation the resident was entitled to was pre-judgment interest on the $266.10, equal to $17.84.
The City of Victoria must now pay out $283.94 for the interest and initial towing fee.
