Anderson Towing has reached a $165,000 settlement with the city of Billings after filing a complaint over being removed from the Billings Police Department's towing rotation.
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The Billings Police Department permanently removed Anderson Towing from its rotation in February 2025 after several citizens alleged the company was overcharging for its services.
The Montana Highway Patrol had already suspended Anderson Towing in October of 2024 after receiving a complaint of high fees.
Rob Lehm, Anderson Towing's DOT compliance manager, said the lawsuit was never about the money.
"This wasn't about trying to win a big settlement,” Lehm said. “This wasn't trying to hit the lottery. This was trying to get our company back where it needed to be."
Lehm said most of the $165,000 settlement went toward attorney fees.
“May of '25 is when we got the injunction, which put us back onto the rotation,” Lehm said. “And the settlement made it permanent to where we were back on the rotation.
Among the concerns that led to the suspension were an administrative fee and issues with traffic control.
Much of the scrutiny of Anderson Towing traces back to a 2024 complaint in Bozeman involving a company called Kenyon Noble.
In that case, Anderson charged approximately $6,700 for a four-mile tow following a crash.
“The Kenyon Noble case involved a fatality, and Highway Patrol requested indoor storage to protect evidence on the vehicles involved,” Lehm said.
He said removing the storage fees puts Anderson's bill at or below what other towing companies would charge.
He also showed invoices comparing Anderson's charges to those of another company for similar incidents, arguing Anderson's rates were not out of line.
"The charges that were there for the most part were in line with the services that were provided at that time," said Lehm.
However, Andrew Butler, an attorney for the Office of Consumer Protection and the Tow Truck Complaint Resolution Committee, said last year that the charges were excessive.
The billing in this case was determined by the board to be egregious enough to reach the level of a suspension, Butler said in March of 205.
The Billings Police Department did not comment on the settlement. A call to the city attorney's office had not yet been returned.
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