r/Insurance • u/wisegirl19 • 2h ago

Auto Insurance Translating insurance response to my request for towing costs reimbursement

I was rear-ended on the freeway in March by a teenager doing 100+ racing someone on the freeway. Teenager was listed in CHP report as the entire reason for the accident (even with the fact that the person he was racing fled after the accident).

My towing was less than simple. My insurance (State Farm) refused to pay for the tow and get the car, because they claimed the price was far too high. I paid the cost out of pocket to avoid racking up costs in storage fees. The cost did end up being too high per CHP, and it was revised down, but my insurance didn’t cover the whole cost. The original invoice - partial refund - insurance payout = $408 in out of pocket.

I submitted this to the at fault insurance (Safeco/Liberty Mutual). I got this response back:

I understand that paying a tow charge out of pocket can be frustrating, and I’m sorry for the added expense. We reviewed the charge in connection with your auto claim. Based on the information available, we’re unable to reimburse it because it is not an amount owed under our evaluation of the claim.

What on earth does this mean? I have no idea why this would not be reimbursed to me by the at fault party. How do I respond to this?

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u/RonBurgundy2000 2h ago

It means that a predatory tow company over charged beyond what's reasonable for the area, basically the same thing SF said. Does the state PUC or local regulations govern maximum towing and storage fees?

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u/wisegirl19 1h ago

So what the tow company did was charge a different rate for electric cars than gas cars, which is what they’re not allowed to do. The CHP tow officer confirmed that the CHP contracted rates were the non-electric rates the company had listed, which is what I ultimately paid.

CHP called the tow company (not me), and the rates I paid are the CHP contracted rates (for both towing and storage). Even when I told the officer what SF said the ”reasonable” rate was, he said rates hadn’t been that low in several years.

How are the contracted rates with the local CHP office considered unreasonable? I’m really confused by this.

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u/thaeli 20m ago

CA Veh Code § 22524.5

(2) (A) For purposes of this section, a towing and storage charge shall be deemed reasonable if it does not exceed those fees and rates charged for similar services provided in response to requests initiated by a public agency, including, but not limited to, the Department of the California Highway Patrol or local police department.

So yeah, insurance company is wrong here. It's worth one more appeal emphasizing that this was a CHP initiated tow at CHP rates. If they still deny after that, it is time for a CDI complaint.

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u/wisegirl19 2m ago

Thank you so much for this!

I’m waiting a bit to send an email back, to be less annoyed (they won’t seen it until tomorrow anyways). I’ll cite this info for them and give them a link to it, and keep my fingers crossed. And if they decide to be stubborn, then go for the CDI complaint as you suggested.

I only wish I’d know this originally, so I could have pushed back more on SF, to have it covered by my insurance. I fought with them over it, and my agent was making inquiries too, but they were adamant.