Towing and storage fees after a crash: who pays, how to stop the meter

The fastest way to stop storage charges is to get the car out of the yard, or to have your insurer move it to a repair shop or salvage facility, because the daily fee runs until the vehicle leaves. Who ultimately pays depends on who caused the crash and what coverage applies: the at-fault driver's insurer, your own collision coverage, or you. Whatever the answer, the yard wants payment before it releases the car, and the days spent arguing over fault are the days that cost money.

This article explains how tows differ, what insurance usually covers, which rights state laws give you over the notice, the invoice and your belongings, and the steps that keep a bill from snowballing. Rules are set by each state and sometimes each city, so the examples below show the pattern rather than a national rule.

Three kinds of tows, three sets of rules

Start by identifying who ordered the tow. It decides who the yard answers to and which rules apply.

Police-ordered tows are the ones that surprise people, because you may be in an ambulance or at the roadside when the decision is made. In Louisiana, for example, R.S. 32:1735 requires an officer to give the owner or operator the option to choose a licensed towing company; if the owner cannot choose or declines, or an emergency requires immediate removal, the officer calls the next company on the approved rotation list. The chosen company has 45 minutes to respond, officers may not recommend a specific company, and an owner's choice must be noted on the tow invoice or incident record. Other states handle owner choice differently, and some give you no choice at all, so ask the officer what applies where you are.

If you can, tell the officer which company or repair shop you want and where the car should go. A tow to a shop close to home, or to a facility your insurer works with, usually costs less and can be reached quicker than a distant lot.

Who pays: the usual patterns

Insurance does not treat the tow, the storage and the repair as one payment. The pieces come from different places.

Progressive's consumer guide to towing, updated August 2023, puts it this way: if you are in an accident caused by another driver, the cost of towing may be covered under the at-fault driver's liability coverage, and if you are found at fault you may be responsible for towing expenses depending on your coverage. It adds that your auto insurer won't cover impound or lot fees, and that you should retrieve your car from an impound lot as quickly as possible because you may have only a few days before more fees are assessed. Read that last point as a general warning: whether a given yard's charges are covered depends on how the tow was ordered and what the policy says.

For deeper treatment of the claim routes, see dealing with the other driver's insurer: calls, offers and releases for third-party claims and our guide to first party vs third party claims.

What towing and labor coverage does and does not do

Towing and labor coverage is a small optional add-on that pays for a tow and for roadside labor when your car is disabled. It is built for breakdowns, not for storage. A sample personal auto form from National Automotive Insurance Company (form 11338, 2015) shows the typical shape: it pays towing and labor costs incurred as a result of disablement, up to the limit on the declarations page, provided the labor is performed at the time and place of disablement, and receipts must be provided. Limits are small. Amica's coverage page, for instance, shows a $100 limit on one tier and $300 on another, per disablement, and covers labor at the scene but not labor at a repair shop or parts. roadside assistance programs are similar in spirit and often cap the tow distance. Our guide to roadside assistance coverage vs auto club membership compares them.

For a crash, the more useful coverage is collision coverage. Many insurers treat a reasonable tow from the scene and reasonable storage while the claim is processed as part of the covered loss, but wording and practice differ. Ask your adjuster directly: "Will you pay the tow and storage at this yard, and until what date?" Ask for the answer by email. If your insurer says it does not cover storage, ask what alternative it offers, such as a transfer to a shop or salvage yard it uses.

The sample form above also shows why speed matters. It excludes coverage for storage charges incurred because you failed to promptly notify the insurer of the loss and the location of the vehicle. Your policy may be worded differently, but the idea, that the insurer is not responsible for days it did not know about, is common. Report the claim and the car's location the same day.

The notices a yard must send, and when the clock starts

Storage facilities are regulated. The details vary by state, so here are three examples of the pattern.

Texas. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation licenses vehicle storage facilities. For a Texas-registered vehicle, the facility must send written notice to the registered owner and primary lienholder no later than the fifth day after receipt and no earlier than 24 hours after receipt (Occupations Code 2303.151). If the notice is late, the yard may not begin charging the daily storage fee until 24 hours after the notice is sent. In its November 2022 consumer handout, TDLR says the owner can reclaim the vehicle around the clock within one hour if the facility accepts vehicles 24 hours a day; otherwise between 8 a.m. and midnight Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays, except nationally recognized holidays. It also says an unclaimed vehicle is considered abandoned 10 days after the first notice is sent, and the facility may sell it at a public sale starting 30 days after the second notice is mailed.

Florida. Under Florida Statute 713.78, the lien notice must go by certified mail to the registered owner, the insurer and any other lienholders within 5 business days after storage begins. Operators must post a rate sheet, any fee above it is deemed unreasonable, and an itemized invoice must be available within one business day of the completed tow. If the operator fails to give the required notice, storage charges are limited to 5 days, and failing to make good-faith efforts to comply bars storage charges entirely. Owners, insurers and lienholders can contest a wrongful taking or fees through a judicial proceeding in the county where the vehicle is stored. No storage fee may be charged for less than 6 hours.

California. Vehicle Code 22651.07 requires a facility that charges for towing or storage, including law enforcement agencies, cities and counties, tow yards and repair garages that store vehicles, to give the owner an itemized invoice of actual charges before receiving payment. The invoice lists items such as dispatch, arrival and completion times, the vehicle's location, hourly or per-item rates, the daily storage rate and the days stored, and any gate fee. During the first 72 hours of storage the owner can retrieve the vehicle without paying a lien fee.

Three lessons run through all three: a yard's right to charge depends on giving proper notice, it must tell you what the charges are, and you almost always have to pay or arrange payment before the car comes out.

Your belongings and documents

You do not have to pay storage to get your things out of the car. Texas's handout says you have the right to access the vehicle to get ownership documents and recover personal property without paying a fee, but not to remove or dismantle parts. California's section lets an owner take personal property back at no charge during normal business hours before paying towing or storage fees. Florida's statute allows owners, lienholders and insurer representatives to inspect the car and get personal property released within an hour after presenting the right documents during normal business hours.

Bring:

• A government photo ID.
• Proof of ownership or possession, such as registration or the insurance card; Texas's handout lists registration information, an insurance card or policy, or a current lease or rental agreement.
• The tow ticket or the police report number.
• A way to pay (many yards take cards; ask first).

Take photos of the interior and exterior when you arrive, so any later claim that something went missing has a reference. Child seats and other items in the car are covered separately in our article on child seats, belongings and custom parts when your car is totaled.

Steps to stop the meter

Do these in order, and write down the date and name for each call.

1. Find out where the car is. Ask the police agency or the tow company, and ask for the yard's address, phone, hours and daily rate.
2. Tell your insurer the same day where the car is, who towed it and what the yard is charging.
3. Get the tow ticket and the first-day invoice. Ask for an itemized invoice that lists the tow charge, the daily storage rate and any gate or administrative fee.
4. Ask your adjuster for a decision and a date. Is the car repairable or likely a total loss? When will the insurer inspect it? Who pays the storage until then, and will the insurer move the car?
5. If a hold exists, find out who placed it. If the police hold the car as evidence or for investigation, the yard usually cannot release it until that agency does. Ask the agency how to get the hold lifted.
6. Choose a destination. Authorize transfer to a repair shop, or to the insurer's salvage facility if it is a total loss. Get it in writing if the insurer is arranging the move.
7. Pay the undisputed part if needed to release the car, keep receipts, and dispute the rest in writing.
8. Send the receipts to the insurer that owes you reimbursement and ask for a payment date.

The after-accident checklist has a place to record the yard's details.

A worked example

Say a police officer has your car towed to a lot with a $285 tow charge and a daily storage rate of $55. You are at the hospital for a day, and the lot's first notice arrives later in the week. Suppose you tell your insurer on day 2, the adjuster inspects on day 6 and declares the car a total loss on day 8, and the salvage company picks it up on day 10. Storage for 10 days is $550, so the total is $835. If your insurer or the at-fault insurer agrees to pay storage through day 10, you owe nothing beyond your deductible. If you wait until day 25 to call anyone, storage is $1,375 and the total $1,660, and the insurer can argue that the extra 15 days were avoidable. These numbers are made up to show the effect of time, not typical prices. The point is the gap between "reported on day 2" and "reported on day 25."

When the car is totaled or held as evidence

Total loss. When an insurer decides the car is not worth repairing, it typically arranges to move the car to a salvage yard and pays reasonable storage up to a point. Disputes sometimes arise over who pays for days after the settlement offer if the owner has not signed over the title or accepted the value. Our article on the total loss timeline: from the adjuster's call to the check explains the sequence, and what happens when your car is totaled covers the paperwork and payment. If you plan to keep the car, see how owner-retained salvage works, because you then take responsibility for it, including storage.

Evidence holds. If the crash involved injury, a criminal charge or a dispute over fault, the police or another party may require the car to be preserved. A hold can add days or weeks. Ask your insurer whether it will cover storage during a hold and whether it can arrange to document the car so the hold can be lifted sooner. If a hold is placed on your car because of your own violation, assume you pay.

Electric vehicles. The National Transportation Safety Board's 2020 report on electric vehicle battery fires (SR-20/01) documents how a damaged lithium-ion battery can reignite; in one 2017 California crash, the SUV reignited on the flatbed of a tow truck. As a result, many yards handle damaged EVs differently and charge accordingly. Our article on Out of charge on the road: EV towing, roadside help and coverage covers EV towing in detail.

Disputing fees

If a charge looks wrong, first ask the yard for the itemized invoice and the notice dates. Compare them with the rate sheet and your state's rules. Common issues are storage charged before notice was due, fees that are not on the posted schedule, charges for days when the yard was closed and could not release the car, and a tow that did not match what you authorized.

Where to complain depends on the state:

• Texas: a tow hearing at a justice of the peace court in the county where the vehicle was towed. TDLR says you must request it before the 14th day after the vehicle was removed and placed in a facility; the court may charge $20, and the hearing must be held within 21 days of the request. TDLR also takes complaints at its complaint line, 800-803-9202.
• Florida: a judicial proceeding in county court, according to the statute.
• California: the invoice and property-return rules apply to law enforcement agencies as well as private yards, so start with the agency that ordered the tow.
• Elsewhere: your state's towing or consumer protection agency, the police department that ordered the tow, and your insurance department if the dispute is with an insurer. Our guide to predatory towing and body shop scams covers predatory practices and how to report them.

A licensed attorney can advise on a large or contested bill; for a few hundred dollars, small claims court is the more usual route.

Common questions

Do I have to use the tow company the police call?

Sometimes. In Louisiana an owner has the first choice of a licensed company, and in other states the officer may choose from a rotation list when you cannot decide. If you have a preference, say so right away and ask that it be noted on the paperwork.

Can the tow yard keep my belongings until I pay?

Texas and California give owners the right to recover personal property or documents without paying the storage fee, and Florida lets owners and insurer representatives get property released within an hour. Rules differ elsewhere; ask the yard to cite its authority if it refuses and call the agency that regulates it.

Will my insurance pay if I wait for the claim decision?

It may pay reasonable charges, but the insurer will question days it considers avoidable, and a policy can exclude storage that results from late notice. Report the car's location immediately and ask for a storage end date in writing.

What if the car is declared a total loss while at the yard?

The insurer generally pays the value of the car, less your deductible, and moves it to a salvage facility. Ask who pays the storage until pickup, and sign the title paperwork promptly. See total loss payout estimator for an estimate of the payout.

Is a flat rate or a daily rate normal?

Both exist. The charge usually has a tow fee, a per-day storage fee and sometimes a gate or administrative fee. The allowed amounts are set by statute, ordinance or contract in many places, and rate sheets must be posted in some states, such as Florida.

Key takeaways

• The meter runs by the day, so tell your insurer where the car is on day one and ask who pays storage and until when.
• Towing and labor coverage is a breakdown benefit with small limits; collision coverage or the at-fault driver's insurer is what usually reaches crash tows and storage.
• Yards must follow notice and invoice rules, which differ by state; ask for an itemized invoice and check the dates against your state's law.
• You can generally get documents and personal belongings without paying storage in states such as Texas and California; ask for it and bring ID and proof of ownership.
• Move the car by a set date, whether to a shop or a salvage yard, and dispute any extra days in writing.