The Shoulder
The Shoulder
58
humble-sparrow-235

Tow company billed my insurer WAY more than the law allows — should I say something?

So my husband got rear-ended last month and the police responded to the scene. Because the car wasn't driveable, the officer arranged a tow through whatever rotation program the department uses — we had no say in which company showed up.

The car sat at their lot for maybe three or four hours before our insurance got everything sorted and sent their own truck to bring it to our preferred shop. Super quick turnaround, we were on top of it.

Fast forward to this week — I was poking around our claim documents online and noticed the tow company billed our insurer an amount that honestly made me do a double take. I looked up our state's rules on police-dispatched tows and there are actual rate caps written into the law for exactly this situation — base fee, mileage, storage per day, the works. What they billed looks like it blows past all of those limits by a pretty wide margin for a few hours of storage and a short haul.

Now I'm going back and forth on whether to flag this for our adjuster. A few things I keep wondering:

  • Is it even my place to bring this up, or does the insurer just handle that stuff on their own?
  • Could pointing it out somehow backfire on us — like, would they start looking more closely at our claim?
  • Our state has a consumer protection office that handles exactly these kinds of complaints against tow operators. Worth filing separately even if there's nothing in it for us personally?

We didn't cause the accident, we're not trying to wiggle out of anything, I just feel gross knowing a tow company might be padding bills on police calls and insurers (and ultimately policyholders) are eating it. Anyone dealt with something like this?

10replies

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10 replies

  • 16
    cool-marmot-056

    Went through almost the exact same thing after a fender bender two years ago. The rotation tow company billed what felt like a ransom for like six hours of storage. I did end up mentioning it to my adjuster just casually, like 'hey I looked this up and the rate seems off' — she actually thanked me and said they'd look into it. Nothing bad happened to my claim at all. I think adjusters are used to dealing with predatory tow yards, honestly.

    • 7
      quick-otter-436

      Flagging it to your insurer is fine, but don't expect them to go to bat for YOU specifically. If they recover anything from the tow company it goes back to them, not you. The more useful move might be that state complaint you mentioned — those tow operators count on nobody following up. File the complaint, keep a copy for yourself, and let the adjuster know you did. That paper trail could matter if anything weird comes up later.

    • 6
      patient-optimist382

      Did you have to escalate, or did they come around after the first ask?

  • 8
    humble-seal-171

    Honestly? Tell the adjuster. We used to catch inflated tow bills pretty regularly but we didn't always catch every single one, especially when claims were moving fast. If a claimant pointed it out we'd look into it — it never hurt the person who flagged it. The tow company is the one with exposure there, not you. The insurer has zero incentive to penalize you for doing their job for them.

    • 5
      calm-seal-690

      Ugh this kind of thing is so infuriating. You guys did everything right — moved fast, minimized storage time — and some tow company just... prints money anyway. I really hope you file the complaint. Even if nothing comes of it for you personally it might protect the next person.

  • 20
    candid-elk-001

    Not legal advice, but from what you're describing — a bill that appears to exceed state-mandated caps on police-dispatched tows — that's potentially a violation the state AG's office or consumer protection bureau would care about, separate from whatever your insurer does. Filing a complaint costs you nothing and creates an official record. Just keep copies of everything: the itemized bill, the rate schedule you found, and whatever response you get. Doesn't hurt to have it.

  • 16
    quick-sparrow-904

    Tell the adjuster, file the state complaint, move on. This won't complicate your claim. You're not disputing liability or trying to lowball repairs — you're pointing out a potentially illegal overcharge on a third party's bill. Those are completely different things.

  • 19
    gentle-hare-533

    How is your husband doing physically? I know the billing stuff feels urgent but make sure he's been checked out even if he felt okay at the scene. Rear-end collisions can do a number on the neck and upper back and symptoms sometimes show up days later. Don't let the paperwork stress crowd out the recovery stuff.

  • 12
    silent-grouse-879

    How sure are you that the state rate caps apply to your specific situation? Some of those rules have carve-outs depending on the type of tow, the vehicle weight, whether it was a highway vs surface street, etc. I'd double-check that you're reading the right part of the statute before you go to the adjuster with it — you want to be confident in what you're saying.

  • 14
    cool-beaver-249

    A couple of practical things: first, request the full itemized invoice from your insurer if you don't already have it — you want to see exactly what line items they billed, not just the total. Second, screenshot or save the state rate schedule you found so you have a dated copy. If you do file a consumer complaint, that documentation makes it way more credible than just saying 'the number seemed high.' Most state consumer protection offices have an online portal and it takes maybe fifteen minutes.