Start by finding out exactly which yard has the car and what it asks for
The first job is a phone call, not a drive. Look at the tow invoice or the paperwork from the scene for the yard’s name and street address. If police arranged the tow and you left before getting details, call the police service that attended and ask where the car was taken. Drivers sometimes assume the car went to a yard near the crash and find out later it is across the city.
When you reach the yard, ask four things: the opening hours for releases, the documents they need, the total owing as of today and the daily rate going forward, and whether they will release to a tow operator sent by your repair shop. Write the answers down with who at the counter told you. Yards around the GTA each run their own counter, and a short call saves a wasted trip out to an industrial lot near the 427 or up Highway 7.
If the car was held by police for an investigation rather than just towed off the road, the yard cannot release it until police do. In that case the call to the police service comes first, and the yard will want to see their release.
The paperwork that gets the gate opened
Most release counters want proof of who you are and proof that the car is yours to take. The vehicle permit is the key document. If you keep it in the glovebox, as many drivers do, tell the yard: they will usually let you retrieve it from the car under supervision before you formally release it.
If you are not the registered owner, bring a signed letter from the owner authorizing you, plus a copy of the owner’s identification. For a leased car, the leasing company is often the registered owner, so check your permit and ask the yard whether they need anything from the lease company before you arrive.
- Government-issued photo ID, such as your Ontario driver’s licence.
- The vehicle permit, or the plate portion in your name.
- Your claim number and the adjuster’s name and contact.
- Payment for charges to date, or written confirmation that your insurance company is paying the yard.
- If someone else is collecting, a signed authorization from the owner.
Who covers the daily storage while the claim is still open
While your insurance company is assessing a covered claim, reasonable storage is normally treated as part of the loss. What the yard cares about is getting paid before the car leaves, and Ontario law lets a storage operator keep the car until its charges are settled. So the practical question is not only who owes the money, but who pays it at the gate.
Ask your adjuster directly whether the company will pay the yard, issue an authorization the yard accepts, or reimburse you after you pay. Get the answer by email if you can and bring it. If you pay yourself, keep the itemized receipt. Many yards accept a call or a fax from the insurance company, and some insist on seeing payment before releasing to anyone.
Days after the adjuster asks for the car to be moved are the ones most likely to be questioned, so treat that request as a deadline. If you were in hospital or out of the country and could not deal with it, tell the adjuster why so the delay is on the record.
You can empty the car without taking it out of the yard
Your belongings are not part of the storage bill. Ontario’s towing and storage rules give owners access to the car to take out personal property, and the yard should let you do that during its business hours without paying a release fee for the car itself. Bring a bag and a list.
Think beyond the obvious. The child seat, the garage remote, the toll transponder for the 407, parking passes, a work laptop, prescription glasses, sports gear in the trunk and anything with your address on it. If the car is likely to be written off, take the plates too; in Ontario the plates stay with the owner, and removing them now saves a later trip to a salvage facility.
While you are there, take your own photographs of the car in the yard from every side. They record its condition before the next tow, which matters if anything new appears by the time it reaches the shop.
Move it to the shop you chose before the next week of fees
Once the release is sorted, the car should go straight to the body shop that will repair it, not to your driveway and not to a second yard. Tell your adjuster which shop that is in the same conversation where you sort out storage, so the transfer tow is approved at the same time. You choose the shop; the insurance company does not.
The shop can usually book the transfer and deal with the yard’s release counter for you once you have authorized it. We do this for cars sitting in yards across Toronto and York Region: you give us the yard’s details and the claim number, we arrange a certified operator and have the car brought to us at Sheppard and Don Mills, where it is photographed on arrival.
If the car is probably a total loss, the insurance company may move it to a salvage facility instead. Ask from which date storage stops being your concern, and get your belongings out before that transfer, because a salvage lot is slower to deal with than a tow yard.
Questions people ask
The yard is only open on weekdays during my work hours. What can I do?
Ask whether they will release the car to a tow operator sent by your repair shop with your written authorization. Many will, which means you never have to visit the yard yourself. You may still want to go once to collect personal items, so ask about their earliest pickup time.
Can I drive my car out of the yard myself?
Only if it is safe and legal to drive, with working lights, nothing contacting a tire and no fluid leaks. A car that went to the yard on a flatbed usually leaves the same way. If in doubt, have it towed to the shop; a second tow costs far less than a second collision.
The storage total looks higher than what I was quoted. How do I check it?
Ask for an itemized statement showing the daily rate and the dates charged, then compare it to what you were told at the scene and what you wrote down on your first call. Send a copy to your adjuster. If a charge does not match anything you agreed to, raise it before paying rather than after.