Predatory towing on the rise, Albertans urged to know their rights: towing association

An Alberta towing association is encouraging drivers to know their rights after 10 tow truck companies were charged with fraud.

The director for the Towing and Recovery Association of Alberta said he is not surprised to see the owners of 10 towing companies facing fraud charges.

Fraud charges against the 11 owners of the companies were announced on Thursday and stem from a 10-month investigation by Edmonton police, which alleges operators were inflating bills, arriving at crash sites and demanding drivers use their services and charging insurance companies for services that weren’t provided.

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According to police, the cost of the fraudulent billing from the companies totalled more than $120,000.

Don Getschel, also the owner and operator of Oil Country Towing, said the association has started seeing more predatory towing practices starting a year-and-a-half ago.

“When Ontario regulated their industry, we started to see an influx of new towing companies popping up, and some of the ones that we had here starting to change the practices,” he said. “We started to see the bills start to get higher and higher and higher.”

Getschel said he was seeing inflated charges of upwards of $5,500 for a service he would charge $500 for. Police said they saw the same.

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The practice is a major concern for the association and members, he added, because it hurts the industry as a whole.

“It gives us a black eye … It just makes us all look like a bunch of criminals when 99 per cent of the towers that work in Alberta are hard-working, law-abiding citizens.”

Edmonton Police Service Det. Bryan Niehaus said the tactics being used by these companies are relatively new to Alberta and have been increasing over the past two years.

He said the current investigation began with a man trying to get his vehicle back from a towing company.

“His insurance company wasn’t going to cover the cost just due to some technicalities, and (the company) wanted him to pay $5,000 to get it out of their holding lot,” Niehaus said. “He came to the police and it kind of just went from there.”

Niehaus and Getschel explained that predatory companies take advantage of people who are in a vulnerable position after a crash.

Drivers can protect themselves by knowing their rights and standing up for themselves should a tow truck arrive unsolicited.

“If a tow truck company is just stopping by the collision and soliciting them for business, that actually is a bylaw offence, and that there’s probably something behind it in regards to why they want to get that tow so bad,” Niehaus said.

“You have the right to pick your tow provider. You have a right to ask for a quote up front. Any reputable toll company will do that,” Getschel said. “It’s your right to have your vehicle taken wherever you want.”

More information on predatory towing can be found on the Alberta Motor Association website, including that you have the right to refuse towing services, the right to access your vehicle during a storage facility’s business hours and the right to an itemized invoice before paying.

If a company shows up and won’t leave when asked, Niehaus said to call the police.

“Say, ‘I’m involved in a collision. There’s tow trucks here, they won’t leave me alone.’ You will get a police response for that.”

CTV News Edmonton reached out to four of the companies named by police. One declined an interview and the three others weren’t available.

Police said on Thursday that reports of fraud from additional towing companies are under investigation.