The tow and the storage bill follow whichever coverage pays the damage
Towing and storage are treated as part of the loss, so they are paid by the same part of the policy as the repair. Work out which coverage your claim sits under and you know who pays the truck.
- Not at fault, with the other car identified and insured in Ontario: direct compensation on your own policy.
- At fault, with collision coverage: your collision coverage, as part of the same claim and the same deductible.
- At fault, without collision coverage: you pay, because there is no coverage on the policy for that damage.
- Hit by an identified driver with no insurance: the uninsured automobile coverage on your policy.
- Hit-and-run, or a single-car crash into a pole or guardrail: collision coverage.
- A deer strike, a recovered stolen car, a car disabled by a fallen tree: comprehensive.
- A driver who signed OPCF 49, after any collision: nobody, because collision damage is not covered on that vehicle at all.
A roadside plan can pay the first leg without touching the claim
Many drivers have towing they forget about: a CAA membership, the roadside program that came with a newer car, or one bundled with a credit card or the policy itself. Check whether your plan covers tows after a collision and how far, because the limits differ. Using it for the trip from the highway shoulder to the shop is not an insurance claim.
Whoever pays, the operator who hooks the car has to hold a provincial tow certificate, give you an itemized invoice, and take the car where you ask unless police direct otherwise at the scene. On the 401 or the DVP, a police-directed tow can end up somewhere you did not choose, which is a common way for a car to land in a storage yard in the first place. Keep the invoice and the yard’s name and address; the adjuster will ask for both.
Storage is the part that grows while nobody is looking
A tow is a single charge. Storage is charged every day the car sits in the yard, and it keeps running through weekends, while the adjuster is waiting for an appraisal, while you are deciding on a shop, and while a total-loss decision is pending. A car that goes from the scene to a yard and then to a shop also pays for two tows instead of one.
Insurance companies generally pay reasonable storage while they are assessing the claim. Once the adjuster has asked for the car to be moved, or the delay is coming from your side, days after that point can be questioned and may end up on your bill. Ontario’s Repair and Storage Liens Act also lets a storage operator hold the car until its charges are paid, so an unpaid argument about who owes the storage can keep the car in the yard even longer.
Getting the car out of the yard fast is the cheapest thing you can do
The fix is speed. Report the claim, give the adjuster the yard’s location, and tell them which shop you have chosen in the same call. A shop that handles insurance work can then arrange the second tow, deal with the yard’s release paperwork, and have the car somewhere an estimate can be written. We coordinate those tows from yards across Toronto and York Region; we are not a tow company, but we can book one and meet it at our door at Sheppard and Don Mills.
If you were hurt, or abroad, or simply could not deal with it for a week, tell the adjuster why. A delay you could not control is a different conversation from one that came from a car nobody remembered.
Before anyone collects it, have a few things ready: the claim number, the yard’s invoice or receipt, and proof that you own the car or are authorized by the owner. Yards vary in what they ask for at release, and a call to the yard first saves a wasted trip across the city. If your car is in a yard far out on Highway 7 or past the 427, ask the adjuster whether it can go straight to your shop rather than through a second yard on the way.
On a write-off, ask who pays storage from which date
When the car is likely to be a total loss, the insurance company usually moves it from the tow yard to a salvage facility it works with, and storage often stops being your concern from that point. Until the transfer happens, ask the adjuster plainly who is paying storage and from what date. Take your plates, garage remote, toll transponder and personal belongings out before the car leaves, because getting them back from a salvage facility is slower than getting them from a tow yard.
Questions people ask
The tow operator wants payment at the roadside. Should I pay it?
If you pay, get an itemized invoice and keep it; the coverage that pays the damage generally reimburses a reasonable tow. If you have a roadside plan, ask whether it covers collision tows before you pay anyone.
Is the second tow from the storage yard to the shop covered?
Generally, as a reasonable cost of the claim, but confirm with the adjuster before booking it. Telling them which shop you chose at the start avoids the second tow altogether.
Does insurance pay if my car was towed from a private lot for a parking violation?
No. A parking enforcement tow is not an accident and is not a claim; that bill is between you and the lot owner or towing company.