QuestionQUESTION: I live in Iowa and recently had my vehicle towed to a secure location by AAA. The towing company contracted with AAA told me that they towed it to a location. Later that night when I go to check out my vehicle I find it is parked no less than 20 feet from a sandbagged area that is already well-known to be a flood area and the forecast was for the water to clear the sandbags the following day. I call AAA to have it moved and they take their time doing so and the vehicle is now under 6 feet of water. I called the towing company asking why they towed my vehicle here and why they didn't have enough forward thinking to notice the sandbags and I was given the brush off that when they towed the vehicle there were no sandbags and it was not their fault because they cannot predict the weather.
In my opinion when the forecast is for mass flooding to begin the next day and there is 5 feet of sandbags surrounding the building the odds are good that they should have contacted me for verification or otherwise before towing to such a location.
Basically, I am going to court over this, do I have a case? What is some evidence I can use? I am very concerned. Thank you!
ANSWER: Well first of all, I am sorry this happened and I hope that your house is ok and and you did not suffer any loss other than the car...
From what I see in the news (and I know how they make things look) it seems that most of Iowa is under water...
Now as to the issue, first of all I do not know what location was agreed upon before the vehicle was towed, and where it really went...
I know that most of the time in emergencies like this its really hard to keep up with the calls and when dealing with a disaster of this magnitude it becomes a real issue.
As to dropping the vehicle off in a known flood area, well I do not know if it was the tow company yard (I know one tow company in the Des Moines area who has their yard and office underwater) and the fact that levees have failed just complicates the whole issue.
As to the court issue, well good luck as first of all it was towed to the location agreed on, second it is a result of "acts of nature" and its hard to predict that. (I know it sounds like I am defending the tow company there)
But I do have to ask, did the vehicle run and drive before it was towed ?
Was there a reason it could not be driven out of the area by you ? Or even pushed or pulled by another vehicle?
Things like this will come up in the court case, and I am just trying to help you prepare for it..
Do you have a case, well I really can not answer this part of the question. It sounds more like an insurance claim to me instead of a court case.
Evidence, well pictures are the best thing to have. Documentation is the key. Keep all notes and write down times and who you talked to with phone calls..
I hope this helps, and good luck. I hope everything else works out and you are ok.. Its easy to replace a vehicle, but a life is much harder to replace.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thanks for the reply. Basically the clutch went out in the vehicle and could have been moved, but as I said, AAA was in no hurry to move my car. They finally went around to move it later in the day and at that time the roads became closed due to the water.
I was thinking the tow driver (who towed it to a local shop) should have some kind of due dilligence to notice that 1. the shop was closed and 2. there were sandbags and plastic everywhere and that this may not be the safest area to leave my vehicle. As far as what was agreed upon, I just said the nearest area that does transmission work. I didn't think I needed to specify the nearest area that does transmission work that isn't going to be under 7 feet of water the next day (the news didn't indulge the truth too much around here for what it was like).
I appreciate your response and you do bring up some good points. My big bone of contention was my car was towed from a secure flood-free location to a location where the forecast predicted massive flooding within the next 24 hours. A car is easy to replace yes (and it's only a $2000 car) but for me it was quite a problem to have to handle.
I have AAA currently hashing it out between the two company and themselves. I personally feel one of the two should be responsible but of course we'll see. I know me and the towing company will not come to any agreement as our last telephone conversation consisted of me being told to "f-ck off" and don't call again (for the record I was quite nice in the conversation between them and I).
Regardless I appreciate everything. Thanks! -mike
AnswerI know the shear magnitude of the floods are overwhelming and I watch the news like everyone and see the damages done. And its still not over from what I hear on the news. Tornados and Floods, what is happening to our weather is what I hear people asking.
Its hard to really say who shall bear the responsibility for the flooded vehicle, and while AAA took their time as you say, I bet they were overwhelmed with calls to get vehicles out of the way and to safety...
With AAA helping you on the issue, that will be mostly good, but like any thing it can go both ways. Hard to really say what the outcome will be...
Thanks for the praise and good review, it is nice to get at times...
Good luck
