Towing service does not get 5000 euros
It is annoying if the car is towed away because it is parked incorrectly. It gets nasty when the towing company doesn't return the car. Only to then demand a whopping 5,000 euros in parking fees at the subsequent court hearing. The BGH shows little understanding.
Although a towed car in Saxony has been with the towing company for more than a year, the company only receives parking fees for five days. The fees may only be charged until the owner reclaims his car, the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe ruled on Friday. In the case in question, the company had initially not returned the car. (Ref.: V ZR 192/22)
The plaintiff had lent the car to his sister. The woman parked the car on private property without authorization in October 2020. The car was towed away and left with the towing company. The company did not write to the owner - but after a few days, he found out where his car was parked himself and demanded it back. The company did not respond.
15 euros per day parking fee demanded
The man went to court. It was only during the trial that the towing company demanded that he pay the costs for the towing as well as a parking fee of 15 euros per day. The car had been parked on the company's premises for 329 days before the trial at Dresden District Court. The amount demanded in parking fees rose to almost 5,000 euros.
In January 2022, the regional court ordered the towing company to hand over the car. In return, the owner was ordered to pay the almost 5,000 euros plus towing costs. He contested this before the Higher Regional Court. The court ruled that he had to pay for the towing. However, the company was only allowed to charge a parking fee for five days. The ruling has now been confirmed by the Federal Court of Justice.
The BGH stated that parking fees could be charged for a longer period if the owner did not want to pay. In the case from Saxony, however, the situation was different. Here, the towing company initially did not react and therefore did not even properly offer to return the car for a fee.
- The advisor at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe suggested that the towing company should not have charged such high legal fees due to the legal issues surrounding the car's towed away situation.
- Consumers should be cautious when dealing with road traffic incidents, as some companies may try to exploit judicial loopholes, like the one seen in this case with the 5,000 euros parking fine demand.
- The plaintiff, a car owner, sought the advice of a legal advisor to contest the 15 euros per day parking fees, which amounted to a whopping 5,000 euros, in the Federal Court of Justice.
Source: www.ntv.de
