What to do if Your Vehicle is Towed After an Accident

After an accident, your vehicle may need to be towed from the scene. If your vehicle sustains severe damage and is unsafe or undrivable, the police will typically call a tow truck for you, or ask you to arrange one.

A few steps in those first few minutes can make the rest of the process much easier.

Step 1: Photograph the Accident Scene

Make sure to take pictures from multiple angles of the outside and inside of your vehicle, any other vehicles that were involved, and the relative position of all involved vehicles. These photos can be useful evidence when presenting an insurance claim or, if necessary, a lawsuit.

Step 2: Gather Insurance Information and Evidence

Many of us keep important documents like insurance information in our vehicles. Some of us may use a dash-cam to prevent insurance fraud. Remember to exchange insurance information with the other driver(s) and grab your dash-cam before your vehicle is towed away.

Step 3: Remove Anything Important or Valuable from the Vehicle

It may be days or weeks before you have access to your car again. Do not leave valuables or important items behind.

Step 4: Confirm Where Your Vehicle Is Going

This may seem obvious, but it is easy to overlook important details in the chaos of a car accident. If you have an auto body shop that you trust, or that your insurance company has already approved to repair your car, try to have your vehicle towed there. However, this may not be possible if you are not local or do not have time to spare.

Step 5: Get Documentation from the Tow Truck Driver.

If you have not made prior arrangements, find out where the tow driver is taking your car, how much they are charging for the tow, what additional fees they will charge, and how much storage will cost if they are taking it to their tow yard rather than an auto body shop. Make sure you get some sort of documentation, like a receipt or invoice, before turning the vehicle over to the tow driver. If you cannot ascertain who called the tow or if they refuse to provide you with documentation, do not give them your vehicle.

Step 6: Know Your Rights Under Minnesota and Wisconsin Law

Minnesota law requires a police report any time a vehicle needs to be towed after a crash, even if the damage looks minor. That report becomes part of the record for your claim, so it's worth confirming one was filed before you leave the scene.

Once your vehicle reaches a storage or impound lot, Minnesota law also gives you a window to reclaim it, generally 15 to 45 days from the date of notice, before the lot can move toward a lien or sale.

Storage fees add up daily during that window, so the sooner you or your insurance company can retrieve the vehicle, the less you'll owe. Our post on vehicle damage and tow lots walks through how those fees and delays can affect your case.

Wisconsin's process for reclaiming a towed vehicle works a bit differently than Minnesota's, and it can depend on whether the vehicle ends up with a municipality, a private towing company, or classified as abandoned property.

As in Minnesota, storage fees accrue daily, so retrieving your vehicle as soon as you're able is the best way to keep costs down.

Step 7: Get Help After Your Car Has Been Towed

Dealing with insurance and towing companies can be a difficult, frustrating, and lengthy process, even if you do everything right. It is especially hard to deal with these issues if you were injured in the accident and now must fight just to keep the insurance, towing, or storage companies from taking advantage of you.

Questions about towing fees or storage costs often overlap with rental car and storage fee coverage under your policy, so talk to a knowledgeable lawyer if you've been involved in an accident.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, please reach out to our team to schedule a free consultation with one of our experienced personal injury attorneys.