Re: Fatal Crashes - Who Pay's the Bill ? ? ?

[rreschran]

Tow company's are always perceived as insentitive villains when they ask to be paid for the work they've conducted. Who pay's the final and total bill AFTER a fatality? This is always a hot topic for tow companies that respond to law enforcement evidence tows, homicides in a vehicle, DUI crashes and fatals. How you handle the release (at that time) is your business, but, if an individual dies at the hands of another and they have no insurance or ability to pay the bill ... what's next? I'm working on a project and wonder what you're short-opinion is requiring accident victims to pay for towing, recovery, cleanup, storage and any paperwork process your state requires?

 

I'd like a short but honest "few sentences" as to how you feel towards being paid, the sensitivities it presents, versus your right to be paid to the work you've provided? The heart of my research, with good intent, may be forwarded to the Department of Justice and the federal Crimes Victim's Fund. Note, your responses may be included in a final product so please respond accordingly. As this goes forward as time allows and if there are successes in preparation, I'll share the direct nature of this project. I respect your opinions and appreciate what you have to say.  Thanks in advance.     R.

Edited September 24, 2020 by rreschran

[dperone]

Our biggest problem is the length of time the police departments hold those vehicles. Out of the 3 we have sitting in the yard right now, the newest is from June and the oldest is from May of 2019, all still under investigative holds. The impounding agency and the protectors office won't release them until the case has gone through the court systems, which can drag on for years through various appeals. By time they release the holds, few people want to bring the memories back to the forefront by coming to deal with the instrument of their loved ones death, especially after being drug through the court system for years. Add to this the problem of liability only vehicles and we very rarely get paid for fatal accidents.

 

It's unfortunate for us because fatal accidents are rarely load and go's, they are usually the more involved recoveries with extensive clean ups. The only saving grace for us is that scrap prices have been pretty decent lately.

[Canadiantowman]

2 hours ago, dperone said:

Our biggest problem is the length of time the police departments hold those vehicles. Out of the 3 we have sitting in the yard right now, the newest is from June and the oldest is from May of 2019, all still under investigative holds. The impounding agency and the protectors office won't release them until the case has gone through the court systems, which can drag on for years through various appeals. By time they release the holds, few people want to bring the memories back to the forefront by coming to deal with the instrument of their loved ones death, especially after being drug through the court system for years. Add to this the problem of liability only vehicles and we very rarely get paid for fatal accidents.

 

It's unfortunate for us because fatal accidents are rarely load and go's, they are usually the more involved recoveries with extensive clean ups. The only saving grace for us is that scrap prices have been pretty decent lately.

If the police make you hold it, don't you make them pay for doing what you have been told to do?

[dperone]

1 hour ago, Canadiantowman said:

If the police make you hold it, don't you make them pay for doing what you have been told to do?

They reimburse the owner of the car the storage costs, which means the owner has to pay us the whole bill, send them a copy and wait for the storage portion to make it's rounds through the many governmental levels before a check is issued. 

[Canadiantowman]

34 minutes ago, dperone said:

They reimburse the owner of the car the storage costs, which means the owner has to pay us the whole bill, send them a copy and wait for the storage portion to make it's rounds through the many governmental levels before a check is issued. 

That's sad it would take that long, I'm sure the customer doesn't want to put out the money first.

 

Up here if a car is going to sit that long it goes to a police yard and they pay for the tow. But most of the time they will tow it themselves if they can.

[dperone]

On 9/24/2020 at 10:13 AM, Canadiantowman said:

That's sad it would take that long, I'm sure the customer doesn't want to put out the money first.

 

Up here if a car is going to sit that long it goes to a police yard and they pay for the tow. But most of the time they will tow it themselves if they can.

We have a department that holds all vehicles involved in serious crashes in their own lot, and it's harder getting money out of those cars than the ones we retain custody of. They have a habit of either releasing the vehicles without making sure we were paid first or sending them to the junk yard and keeping the money. Luckily the number of fatals we do is small, less than 6 a year usually.

[rreschran]

Thanks for the comments guys. Dave, your's in an accurate comment regarding evidence tows and long-term storage bills. The time is takes for a case to go to trail adds up in storage bills as well as adding insult to injury. I appreciate both your comments.     R.

[ESC]

In the case that there is no insurance, we hold the vehicle in hope that a family member will reach out.  At that time, we request they provide us the title so we can easily dispose of the vehicle.   In most cases, we never hear from anyone and go through the abandon vehicle process to get a salvage title.  We do not go after any family or estate on fatals.   A couple years back, we had a family member of a fatality bring us a title, and he offered to pay us.  We did not charge him.   We take the good with the bad, and sometimes the fatals are fully covered and the insurance company pays for the extensive time on scene, etc.

We have not faced a situation of a long term hold for a fatal here at our lot.  On occasion the PA State Police will request a fatal be taken to their facility for long term storage, and trying to get paid for our services from PSP on those is worse than pulling teeth.

[GRUMPS The Towman]

Most cases involving fatalities here, if there is going to be a lengthy investigation the vehicle is towed to the police agency in charge of the investigation and they do not charge any storage fees. when they complete their investigation, they will have the next of kin or insurance contact us to settle the tow/recovery charges. In cases where there is no coverage, I usually just ask for the title and permission to dispose of the vehicle.I know I dont get paid in full for the recovery, cleanup and tow, but I cant bring myself to hammer on a family who lost a loved one(s) over the tow bill of the instrument of their demise. On the other hand, I dont get a whole lot of them so I am not losing my shirt over them.

[5towman]

I will have to agree with the above comments. The family is already grieving the loss of a loved one. I ask for title to the vehicle so that it can be disposed of. Many years ago, we would have to hold vehicles for law enforcement with the expected outcome of no pay. Now we tow to the sheriff’s dept and they store. Occasionally they pay for the tow. 

[Jeff Poquette]

I tend to look at this two different ways. If it's a fatal crash than there is usually an at fault party who should have insurance. That bill needs to be paid. In the rare case there is no insurance ( I mean rare that this scenario is almost unmeasurable compared to the number of tows we do ) I simply ask for a title. If it is a fatality due to a crime and there truly is a victim in a case like a car jacking, robbery etc. I'm very likely to let it go and process it like the rest. I'm not going to miss a meal by being a decent person.