This page is part of a series I’ve added to my website dealing with getting your car repaired after a wreck. You may want to read the previous page, which began the series. There’s a link at the bottom of this page to take you to the next one in the series.
Chapter 2: Should You Leave the Car or Tow It?
The wreck was near my house so before going to the Emergency Room, I retrieved the wrecked Camry from the accident scene and drove it to my house. I tell you this because I want you to understand your options on having the car towed and/or having the wrecked car stored at an impoundment lot.
I always prefer to have a car towed to my house or somewhere that is not incurring storage charges. Very simply, an at-fault driver can be responsible for the towing and storage fees incurred. However, to make that at-fault driver pay, you need two things:1) to show that they were negligent and; 2) to find insurance coverage on that at-fault driver. I believe in planning for the worst-case scenario which, for a car wreck, is typically that the at-fault driver had no insurance. In which case, I don’t want my client to incur charges that I don’t know if I can recover. This is why if it is possible, I would prefer to not have it towed to a storage or an impoundment lot.
Also, for this same reason of not wanting to have a client incur charges that I may not be able to recover, I do not encourage to rent a car immediately after a car wreck. Again, to recover those rental car charges, I have to show the other driver was negligent AND he was insured. Only after showing these two requirements, will the insurance company pay for your rental car; and they will only pay for a rental car while your car is inoperable or in the repair shop. Moreover, if the car is a total loss from the car accident, the insurance company will typically only pay for ten to fourteen days of rental car coverage.
My point being again, a successful claim, whether it is for injury or damage to your vehicle, plans for the worst-case scenario from day one. So, in my case, I had the car towed to my house and used another vehicle that I owned for several days after the car accident.
Click here to continue to the next page in the series.
