Most crane drivers are honest people who try to make an honest living. They rescue you when you're stranded, remove abandoned vehicles from roadsides, and enforce parking signs on private property. It's a good cover, since a trailer at the scene of an accident can cost more than a standard trailer with mechanical problems. The report states: “Unfortunately, most states do not have maximum towing and storage rates, and many do not clearly define the definition of 'reasonable rates' that towing companies must adhere to.
Sometimes you take advantage of this, and towing companies will end up charging their customers an exorbitant fee to tow and store their cars. However, sometimes tow truck drivers end up towing a vehicle from private property prematurely or illegally. If your vehicle needs to be towed after a covered loss accident, your car insurance policy will most likely cover the cost of towing within your claim, even without you having selected roadside assistance. What you are paying when someone tows your car is usually a “hook-up” fee, as well as a fee to cover the mileage that the tow truck driver accumulates to take your car from the pick-up location to the drop-off location (which is usually your home or the parking lot where it is stored until you can pick it up from new).
In California, state law doesn't limit the amount of money towing companies can charge for towing and storage; however, individual cities can, and most of them do. People may not realize that towing services can include more than just transporting a vehicle from one location to another. The fees for towing your vehicle vary as much as the storage fees, but fortunately they have limits to avoid you having to pay an incredible amount of money for an often very critical service. Take the time to read them because it's the best way to learn the type of service you can expect from a particular towing company.
Fees charged may vary depending on your circumstances, the services you need, where you live and the towing company. For starters, almost all towing services will charge you a connection or base fee, followed by a mileage fee thereafter. Sometimes, no matter how prepared you are, you may encounter breakdowns and you will have no choice but to call a towing service. Towing companies are usually privately owned companies, so technically they can charge what they consider fair, related to the market they are in and considering the prices charged by other towing companies in your area.
Having the contact of a reliable towing service will be beneficial, especially if you are in a precarious situation. In all cases where a fee is paid, the tow company must provide the owner of the vehicle with a receipt that includes the tow company's full name, address and telephone number.
