Senior Reporter
derek.achong@guardian.co.tt
The State is set to pay compensation to a man whose impounded vehicle was destroyed in an arson attack at the Licensing Division’s Caroni headquarters in 2023.
The case brought by Rory Rampersad against the Office of the Attorney General was settled before it was set to go on trial before High Court Judge Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds yesterday.
The compensation to be paid to Rampersad, who was represented by attorneys Abdel Mohammed and Shania Sinanan, will be assessed by a High Court Master at a later date.
According to his court filings, obtained by Guardian Media, Rampersad purchased a Honda Civic in March 2022 after it was advertised for sale on Facebook.
Rampersad paid $20,000 for the vehicle as it had been involved in a major accident.
Rampersad spent several months repairing the vehicle so it could be inspected and transferred.
In July 2023, Rampersad got the vehicle inspected at a private inspection station and went to the division’s office to conduct the transfer.
Rampersad claimed that the division’s officers told him that they suspected that the car’s chassis number had been tampered with and they would have to impound the vehicle to conduct a forensic investigation.
Rampersad claimed that he believed that the vehicle would have been safe at the location and under the control of the division.
“I expected that a government compound used for the storage of impounded vehicles would be secure, monitored and reasonably safe from theft, vandalism and fire,” Rampersad said in his witness statement.
Rampersad claimed that he made several attempts to get a progress report on the investigation before hearing of an arson attack at the office in November 2023.
He claimed that he was then officially informed that his car was one of the 14 impounded vehicles that were destroyed in the fire.
An insurance assessor estimated the value of the vehicle before the fire to be $25,000 and found that the shell that was returned to Rampersad did not have any salvage value.
Rampersad claimed that several months later, the division informed him that the forensic probe found that his vehicle’s chassis number had been unlawfully tampered with.
He claimed that the division initially sought to evade liability for the damage to the vehicle by claiming that it took reasonable steps to secure the compound including security personnel, surveillance systems, controlled access and protocols.
It also claimed that the fire was set by a third party and challenged Rampersad’s claim for compensation on the basis that the vehicle was still in the name of the previous owner, who he purchased it from.
Rampersad maintained that he was entitled to compensation as he had real economic and beneficial interest in the vehicle.
“I paid for the vehicle, possessed it, maintained it, repaired it, used it, and suffered financial loss when it was destroyed,” Rampersad said.
Through the lawsuit, Rampersad was seeking the value of the vehicle, the money he spent on repairs before it was detained, as well as compensation for loss of use.
