Towing Issues: Is This Legal?, west covina ca, tow company

Question
Dear Richard, My daughter was in an automobile accident in West Covina, CA.  The other driver was at fault according to wittnesses and police records.  Her car was totaled.  The other drivers insurance paid my daughter for her car and any injuries.  Now the towing company says my daughter owes them $1,400 for storing her car or they will send it to collections.  They have already salvaged her car.  Is this legal?  Any answer is appreciated.  Thank you for your time.

Answer
Well it sounds as if the tow company had the vehicle abandoned on the lot by the insurance company and also your daughter.

When the other insurance company paid your daughter for the vehicle and injuries, they did one of 3 things.   

First they might of paid the claims and became the owners of the vehicle. Did your daughter send the insurance company the title ?


Second, they might of paid the claim with an additional payee, being the tow company and if you did not forward the tow company the money owed then you are still the owner..

And Third they might of had somewhere in the "fine print" a statement that your daughter is still responsible for towing and storage fees.


All that being said, it sounds as if the tow company followed the law and did a lien sale. Did your daughter get a "certified letter" from the tow company?  Did she accept it or forget about it and let it go back to the tow company... There are many things which can affect the sale of the vehicle, and as such it usually leaves the tow company left with a totaled vehicle, which no one wants (They do not want it either) and as such they have to do lots of state paperwork, spend more money and then try to sell it to a junk yard for as much as they can...

After all that, a lot of tow companies do send outstanding bills to collection agencies in attempts to recover the fees owed. That is what is happening right now it sounds like.

Legal, yes it is according to about a few dozen rules and regulations which are to many to list here so I will post a link the the California DMV website at the end and you can search though it since you would have all the answers to "what is, what if, and why was" done.
Pay special attention to sections on "liens" and "abandoned vehicles" as they will be a better help in answering some of this.


I hope this helps but it sounds like someone dropped the ball and maybe it was the other insurance company.

 
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/vc/vc.htm