Question

Levine’s car stopped running on the highway, and a passing motorist called a service
station for him on a mobile phone. The service station called an independent tow truck operator,
who soon towed the car to the service station, some 5 km distant. A mechanic examined the car,
and realized that a wire had come loose from the distributor cap. He snapped the wire back into
place, and wrote up a bill. Levine was charged $5 for the repair and $175 for the tow. Levine was
outraged and refused to pay. What would be the nature of the claim, and what factors would the
court consider in deciding the case?

Help me to know the Nature of the claim and the factors.,

Answer 1

In the given scenario Mr. L refuses to pay for the car repair service done by the service station. The amount was $5 for the repair and $175 for the tow truck. Since the amount of settlement is below $10,000, the nature of the claim is the small court claim. The claim can be settled through hiring a mediator since the value of claim is lesser.

Here the factor which the court can consider is the requirement for the tow truck. Initially a mechanic could have sent to check for the issue and then tow truck can be sent for carrying the car. Since, the issue was too small the situation which made the requirement of tow truck necessary has to be justified by the service station. Another factor which can be considered is the provisioning of complete information about the tow truck charges to Mr. L.