Who bears the costs if the car has to be towed?

Reading time 6 Min.

The tow away can through the Police or by someone commissioned by the parking lot owner Towing company take place. What stays the same is the question of Reimbursement. What applies to being towed by the police, what applies to being towed from private property? Even with one Empty run, so if you are on site before the tow company, costs can arise. When it comes to costs, there are differences between official towing by the police and towing from private property or from the supermarket parking lot.

Towed by the police

If the police tow away, it will be after the Police law in the respective federal state acted. The towing can therefore be carried out depending on the federal state look different. However, the following principles must always be observed:

1. Principle of necessity - the measure must be necessary. If a police purpose cannot be fulfilled without towing, then it is necessary.
2. Proportionality principle - The measure must not disproportionate be. It must be possible to achieve the desired success with it.

A car does not always have to be complete be towed. It only needs to be moved as far as is absolutely necessary. So if there are enough suitable places nearby, the car has to go to them be moved. However, this is not the case when the vehicle is needs to be opened. In this case it is allowed not unattended be parked in another parking lot. In this case, the car needs to be on one official depository be turned off. In these cases the costs are borne by Holder, the driver should not be found. Incidentally, the costs fall zusätzlich about possible fine proceedings.

Handelt es sich um eine Empty runbecause the wrongful parker came back before being towed, the costs are allowed only in certain cases to be reclaimed. First of all, the tow truck has to be specially for this car have been requested. If there was already a tow truck near the wrongly parked car, then it is allowed not extra another tow vehicle can be requested and billed. In addition to the towing costs, it can also be Additional Costs (special expenses). These are incurred in connection with towing and they can vary in amount. This is due to the different administrative fees charged by the municipality.

In addition, there are also different prices at the towing companies, which are then after Day of the week and time of day vary. The costs are also on an official custody parking lot higher than when towing on the towing company's premises. Incidentally, the towing fees must also be paid if the administrative offense procedure is due to the parking violation was discontinued. Only that is decisive Danger situationthat existed at the time of towing. This also applies if the owner or driver is involved in the dangerous situation is not at fault.

Towing from private property!

Towing can also occur when the vehicle is in the parking lot a supermarket or restaurant is turned off, although the offer not used should be taken. The parking spaces are intended for customers, so the operator naturally has an interest in keeping the parking space free. If you simply park your vehicle there, you have to expect the possibility of towing it.

This also applies to private property. If this is blocked by a wrongdoer, it can be towed. For example, the Munich District Court (Az .: 472 C 8222/18) has decided. The private parking lot has to be used be adequately signposted. The costs are limited by the need for economic efficiency. In the case mentioned, costs of around € 635,00 were requested from the Munich District Court. These resulted from a long towing time (2,5 hours), a deployment outside of the regular opening times and additional costs. The court then tried unsuccessfully to get one to determine the local price. Since this did not succeed, the cost was estimated and calculated on a reasonable amount lowered. A basic amount for towing was on 230,00 € fixed. In addition, there was a surcharge of 15% for work on Sundays and at night, as well as stand fees. Including the VAT due, this resulted in a reimbursement amount of 344,75 €. Almost half of the amount actually requested.

And in some parking lots, wrong-way parking is systematically being made searched. These are specially commissioned service companies. These are instructed by the owner to find illegitimate parkers and to lock the parking lot at any time monitor. In these cases, towing costs can be particularly high. And there are often high surcharges for towing on Sundays and public holidays or at night. The actual activity of the company is also often added to the towing costs. But there is no legal basis for this. And there are also cases in which not commissioned by the owner existed and the company acted on its own. So it should always be checked whether the towing costs are entitled at all.

You should be particularly careful in the following cases:

• The car was not towed. But there should be costs for the Preparation of the process as well as for Preservation of evidence to be paid.
• The vehicle should only against the payment of a large sum issued after being towed from a private parking lot.
• If additional costs are to be assumed, such as a Travel allowance, the costs for a parking attendant or dunning costs. You only have to pay the towing costs.
• It is permissible if the location of the vehicle after a lawful towing is only communicated after the invoice has been paid. This is how the BGH decided. In this case, the invoice amount must be paid in order to find out about the towing away.

How should you react in such a case?

First of all, a detailed invoice be requested. If the payment has to be made immediately, if the car is urgently needed, then a receipt to be issued. It should be noted that the payment only with reservation is done. It should also be noted that a Lawyer is switched on. Often times the car will be in such a case as well without paying the invoice amount published. Another option is to deposit the required invoice amount with District Court. So can it Right of retention be averted, which is otherwise asserted. If the deposited amount is not released, the claim must be clarified in court. A decision is then made there as to whether the amount is appropriate or too high.

This should definitely be observed:

They got a bill for towing one private parking obtain. In this case it should before payment the following points must be checked:

• Is there one for the company? Life Missionto carry out parking lot surveillance? A corresponding one should be used here proof requested and checked. If this is not available, the company in question has No authorizationTo tow your vehicle.
• What is includes the requirement? Will you only be charged for the actual towing or are there any other costs? In particular, these could be costs for monitoring the parking space or preserving evidence. Often, travel expenses are also billed.
• Was there in the parking lot Schilder? They have to threaten to tow the vehicle if parking is unauthorized. Also must be recognizablethat the property is private and cannot be parked on.

In case of doubt, a lawyer should be called in. The latter can then check the legality of the claim. This can also happen after the claim has already been paid. It may still be possible to get at least part of the money back.

Of course, that wasn't the end of it.

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