After a car accident, the vehicle owner pays for towing and storage upfront, and then recovers the money from the at-fault driver’s liability insurance or their own policy. The tow yard will not release your car until someone pays, and that someone is almost always you. Reimbursement comes later, and whether it covers the full bill depends on who caused the crash, what coverage is in play, and how quickly you move to get the car out of storage.
Recovering From the At-Fault Driver’s Insurer
When another driver caused the accident, their liability insurance should ultimately cover your towing and storage as part of your property damage claim. You file what’s called a third-party claim directly with the other driver’s insurer and include every cost tied to your vehicle, from the initial hookup to each day in the lot.
Speed matters more than almost anything else here. Storage charges accrue daily, so notify the other driver’s insurer immediately and tell them your car is sitting at a storage facility. The sooner they inspect the vehicle and accept responsibility, the sooner the meter stops running against you.1Travelers Insurance. Should I File a Claim Against Another Driver? If their insurer delays or disputes fault, you may need to pay out of pocket and pursue reimbursement later, either through continued negotiation or in court.
Fault rules in your state affect what you can get back. In comparative negligence states, the at-fault driver’s share of towing and storage is reduced by your own percentage of fault. If you were 20% responsible, you might only recover 80% of the fees. A handful of states still follow contributory negligence, where any fault on your part can eliminate recovery entirely.
Using Your Own Insurance Instead
You do not have to wait for the other driver’s insurer. Your own policy may cover towing and storage in several ways, and tapping it is often the fastest route to getting your car out of the lot.
Collision Coverage
Collision coverage pays for accident-related damage to your vehicle regardless of fault, and that protection extends to associated towing and storage. You pay your deductible first. If your deductible is $500 and the combined towing and storage bill is $1,200, you cover the first $500 and your insurer handles the remaining $700. When the other driver was clearly at fault, your insurer may pursue them through subrogation, and your deductible can eventually come back to you.
Roadside Assistance or Towing Add-Ons
Many insurers sell a separate roadside assistance add-on that specifically covers towing, usually up to a set distance.2Allstate. Roadside Assistance Some insurers will cover towing after a covered accident even without a roadside add-on, but this varies by company and policy.3Progressive. Does Car Insurance Cover Towing? Check your declarations page or call your insurer before assuming the cost is covered.
Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage
If the driver who hit you has no insurance or not enough of it, your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage can fill the gap, including towing and storage. Some states require insurers to offer this coverage; others make it optional. Either way, it is one of the most valuable protections for exactly this situation, where the at-fault driver cannot pay.
Police-Ordered Tows
When police order your vehicle towed from an accident scene, you are still on the hook for the bill. Law enforcement does not pay the tow company. They dispatch a contracted towing service, and the fees become your responsibility as the vehicle owner. Rates for these police tows are usually set by an agreement between the law enforcement agency and the towing company, and they must be posted at the storage facility.
In many jurisdictions, you have the right to request your own tow company instead of the one police dispatch, as long as that company can respond within a reasonable time and your vehicle is not blocking traffic or creating a hazard. If you have a preferred shop or know of a less expensive option, speak up at the scene. Once a police-contracted tow truck hooks your car and hauls it to its lot, you are locked into their rates.
Whether the accident was your fault or not, you will likely need to pay the towing company directly and then seek reimbursement from the at-fault driver’s insurer or your own policy.
What You Are Actually Being Asked to Pay
Before you negotiate with any insurer, know what the numbers typically look like. Towing fees build faster than most people expect, and they do not stop when the truck drops off your car.
A standard light-duty tow for a passenger vehicle averages around $109 nationally, with a realistic range from about $35 for a short local tow to $600 or more for longer distances. Most towing companies charge a base hookup fee plus a per-mile rate between $2.50 and $7 per mile. A five-mile tow from a city intersection to a nearby lot might cost $80, while a 40-mile tow to a specific repair shop could run $275. Heavy-duty tows for trucks or SUVs cost significantly more, sometimes double or triple the standard rate.
Once your vehicle reaches the yard, storage fees start the next calendar day. Daily rates for a standard passenger vehicle generally run $20 to $50 per day at outdoor lots, with indoor storage higher. These charges compound quickly. A vehicle sitting unclaimed for two weeks can easily add $500 to $700 in storage alone, on top of the original tow.
Several add-ons can inflate the bill further:
- After-hours or gate fees for retrieving your vehicle outside normal business hours, often $25 to $150.
- Flat administrative or processing fees, commonly $25 to $75.
- Winching or recovery charges if your car needs to be pulled from a ditch, embankment, or off-road location, which can run several hundred dollars.
- After-hours, weekend, or holiday towing surcharges, sometimes 20% to 50% above regular rates.
Your Duty to Keep Storage Costs Down
This is where most people lose money they could have saved. You have a legal obligation to mitigate your damages, which in plain terms means you cannot let your car sit in an expensive storage lot for weeks and expect an insurer to cover the entire bill. Insurance companies routinely refuse to reimburse storage fees beyond the first few days if you did not take reasonable steps to move the vehicle.
What counts as reasonable depends on the circumstances, but the baseline is straightforward: contact your insurer immediately, cooperate with inspections, and move the car to a repair shop or less expensive location as soon as the insurer completes its assessment. If the car is a total loss, work quickly to settle so the vehicle can be picked up.1Travelers Insurance. Should I File a Claim Against Another Driver?
Adjusters see the same pattern constantly. Someone waits two weeks to call, storage hits $1,000, and the insurer pays for repairs but only covers three or four days of storage. The owner is stuck with the rest. Call your insurer the same day as the accident, and document every conversation in case there is a dispute later about who caused the delay.
What Happens If You Do Not Pay
Towing companies hold your car because the law gives them a possessory lien, meaning they have a legal right to keep the vehicle until you pay what you owe. If you abandon the car or cannot afford to retrieve it, the company can eventually sell it to recover their costs.
The timeline varies by state, but the general process is similar. The tow company must send written notice to the registered owner and any lienholders, typically by certified or registered mail, stating the accrued charges and the vehicle’s location. If no one responds or pays within a set period, the company can petition to sell the vehicle. Some states allow a sale after 30 to 60 days of non-payment; others require longer waiting periods with multiple notices.
Sale proceeds go first to the towing and storage debt. Any surplus may go to the vehicle owner or, in some states, to the DMV. If the sale does not cover the full amount owed, you can still be liable for the balance. Ignoring a tow yard bill does not make it disappear; it can cost you your vehicle entirely.
Disputing a Bill That Looks Wrong
If a towing bill looks inflated or includes charges you do not recognize, you have options beyond paying and moving on. Start by requesting an itemized invoice. Most states require towing companies to break down every charge separately: the tow fee, per-mile charges, daily storage, administrative fees, and any surcharges. Compare each line against your state’s published rate caps, usually available through the state’s public utility commission, department of motor vehicles, or consumer protection office. Any charge that exceeds a regulated maximum is an immediate basis for dispute.
Check whether the tow was properly authorized. If police did not order it and you did not consent, the tow itself may have been illegal, which can void the entire bill in many states. Roughly 30 states cap what towing companies can charge for non-consensual tows, with base rates for a standard passenger vehicle generally falling between $50 and $250 and daily storage caps typically $20 to $50.
If the company will not resolve the dispute directly, escalate to your state attorney general’s consumer protection bureau, your state’s towing licensing board, or small claims court for charges you have already paid. Document everything from the start: photograph the tow truck and its license plate at the scene, save every receipt and invoice, and note the names and badge numbers of any officers involved.
Check Your Policy Before You Need It
Even when insurance covers towing and storage, policy limits cap how much the insurer will actually pay. Roadside assistance plans often cap towing at a set mileage, and anything beyond that comes out of your pocket. Collision coverage wraps towing into your broader property damage claim, but your deductible applies to the total. A $1,000 deductible on a $1,500 combined repair-and-storage bill means you are covering $1,000 yourself.
Some policies also set a separate sub-limit for towing and storage. If that limit is $500 and your total comes to $800, you absorb the $300 difference regardless of your overall policy limits. These sub-limits often live in the fine print and rarely get attention until you need them. Review your declarations page now, and ask your agent what your towing and storage limits actually are. That conversation is far cheaper than discovering the gap while standing in a tow yard.