U-Haul Vehicle Rentals
The consumers included in the class action were charged a higher price than the advertised rate for their rentals, which is illegal in Quebec. This case therefore aims to compensate consumers who overpaid as a result of these companies’ unlawful business practices.
The class members are jointly represented by TJL, Grenier Verbauwhede Avocats, and Mtre Peter Shams.
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On October 7, 2026, the plaintiff filed an application for consolidation of proceedings (French only) with the class action Derome v. U-Haul Co. (Canada) Ltd, which concerns similar practices, but for one-way vehicle rentals.
Class Criteria
You are included in this class action if you meet all of the following criteria:
- You entered into a contract with the defendant U-Haul Co. (Canada) Ltd. in Québec for the rental of a vehicle and rented that vehicle for your personal use;
- This contract was entered into between November 18, 2017 and June 6, 2022;
- The contract was for an “In-Town” rental, which means that the vehicle was returned to the same locality as where it was obtained; and
- You paid an amount that was greater than the amount initially advertised, with the exception of GST, QST, or duties payable under a federal or provincial law, if that law required the amount to be collected directly from the consumer in order to be remitted to a public authority.
Case Summary
In order to allow consumers to have complete information before purchasing a good or service, the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) prohibits merchants from charging a price that is higher than the one advertised. It also requires merchants to ensure that consumers are properly informed of all important facts. The CPA prohibits merchants from misleading consumers by offering lower prices than what the consumers will ultimately pay.
The Defendant U-Haul has adopted various schemes in the context of their vehicle rental business in order to give consumers the impression that they have access to rental prices that are not, in reality, the ones they will ultimately have to pay. The Defendants systematically violate the CPA by announcing, on their website, in their mobile application, and in various advertisements and announcements, prices that are lower than the price ultimately charged for the rental of cars, vans, and trucks.
The plaintiff wants to put an end to this harmful practice on behalf of all consumers and obtain a compensation equivalent to the amount that exceeds the price that was announced, as well as punitive damages.
On November 18, 2020, Benjamin Viot filed an application for authorization to institute a class action (French only), modification of which was authorized on September 3, 2021.
The class action was partially authorized on October 7, 2021 by the Honourable Pierre-C. Gagnon. For more information regarding the authorization of the class action, please see the notice to members.
The plaintiff filed his originating application (French only) on December 16, 2022, modification of which was dismissed on May 18, 2022 by Hon. Gagnon. These modifications aimed to change the class definition to include one-way vehicle rentals and to add Simon Derome as a second representative were rejected.
Since the authorisation ruling, the parties have been completing numerous steps to prepare the class action for trial, which will determine whether the defendant must compensate class members.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Phone: 514 871-8385
Email: [email protected]
About the case
Title: Benjamin Viot c. U-Haul Co. (Canada) Ltée
File number: 500-06-001104-203 (Quebec Superior Court)