Lawsuit claims Tartan Towing owes city more than $300K

The City of Winnipeg is suing a local towing company for more than $300,000 in “recovery fees” it says it is owed.

In 2019, Tartan Towing signed a contract with the city to tow and store vehicles on an “as required basis.” The contract included all vehicles ordered removed from the street by the Winnipeg Police Service, for which Tartan was to pay the city a $25 “cost recovery fee” for each vehicle, according to a statement of claim filed earlier this month.

Under terms of the one-year contract — which was extended four times — Tartan was required to file a report to the city for all vehicles towed in the preceding month and remit the applicable recovery fees, the statement of claim says.

“To date, Tartan has failed to pay any of the outstanding CRF amounts under the terms of the 2019 contract that are due and owing to the City, and interest continues to accrue on those amounts,” the statement of claim says.

Tartan has paid the city all recovery fees incurred since July 2024, according to the statement of claim.

An investigation by Winnipeg Police Service concluded cost recovery fees totalling $146,900 (representing 5,876 tows) remained unpaid. Interest on the unpaid fees, the city alleges, totals $147,563.

The allegations have not been proven in court. A statement of defence has not been filed.

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The lawsuit is the latest in a series of court actions between the city and towing company.

A lawsuit filed against Tartan Towing in June 2023 claims the firm overcharged the city by $1.1 million. That suit remains before the court.

A lawsuit Tartan filed against the city in 2021 is scheduled to go to trial next year.

Last year, Bison Towing Ltd. filed a $10-million lawsuit against the city, claiming it had improperly awarded two contracts to Tartan Towing in 2024.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca

Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter

Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.

Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.