Expert: Richard Hixenbaugh - 3/5/2009

Question
I was recently involved in a car accident and I contacted the other person's insurance to file a claim and they have said they are not responsible for storage charges that occur during the investigation. My car is not driving so a tow truck had to take it away to a collision center. I couldn't contact the insurance before then because the police officer put or was given incorrect information about the other person's insurance. What can I do regarding this??

Answer
Hi Janette,

It is true that you are required to mitigate your losses. This means that you are required to move your vehicle to a storage free location as soon as possible. However, the storage charges are subject to negotiation.

Your success in negotiating will depend on how long the vehicle was being charged storage. You indicated that your vehicle wqs towed to a collision center. Is the vehicle repairable or was it totaled? If it is repairable and the collision center it was towed to is doing the repairs, then there should be no storage charges. If the vehicle is being totaled and the vehicle was only there for a few days then the insurance company should cover the storage charges. If the vehicle was there for a prolonged period of time, you will just have to negotiate with the insurance comapny for how much they will cover. I would say that it would be reasonable for the insurance company to pay up to 10 days of storage. Again, this is only if the vehicle is being totaled. Any storage charges should be waived by the body shop if they are getting paid for the repairs.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh