Is the collision center taking advantage of me and can I sue them?

Question

A day after I made my accident, I left for out of state and came back last week making it exactly 62 days from the accident. I went to lease my car from the collision center immediately I got back and I received a bill of $3,800 just to release it, below is the breakdown:

$40/day * 62 = $2,480
Teardown = $220
Admin and Preservation fee = $300
Towing = $535
Sales Tax = $204
Total = $3,739

Does this excessive charges at all make sense?

I had an accident 2 years ago and I got charged $500 for a month, now 3,800 for tow months only?


I caught them trying to defraud me of that $535 for towing because I called the towing services and they said the collision center were lying, they didn't charge for that.

AND..

I recorded them saying they added more damage to my car trying to make it a total collision for the insurance without my permission (I specifically told them NO because that is Insurance Fraud and they did anyway).

What's your best advice please? can I sue them for trying defraud me and for touching my car without my permission?

Answer 1

The collision repair center is not your person storage lot. They charged you $40 a day to hold the car. The insurance company will not pay this because it's not related to them. I think you need to be thankful they didn't sell your car; the rule probably is that they will hold it for 30 days.

- I can't believe you just left your car and didn't notify anyone, you were doing this.



Towing = $535

I have no clue what you mean the towing company said "didn't charge for that". The towing company is not working for free. If the car was taken from one place to another place there is a tow fee. The only reason you wouldn't owe the fee is if you used a service like AAA where you are paying a annual fee.



If you live in a state that requires two party consent to record a conversation, you can be convicted of a felony if you recorded the repair service without their knowledge.

Answer 2

You can sue and you will lose. What the other place charged you two years ago has no bearing on what this collision place charged you for storage (and $40 a day is about in the normal range). Once a car is fixed, it is up to you to get it off the premises (and if you dally on approving the repair, they can charge you for storage for that period of time also). Tax is obviously mandatory, but you would have to determine what it was charged on to see if you deserve a discount based upon the other charges (I am not sure what a teardown fee is, unless that is the fee to take apart the car and inspect it nor what the are charging the preservation fee for). Ask for proof of the towing fee and find out what the other two charges are for, but be prepared to pay the storage fee which is well within their right ti charge.

Answer 3

Most insurance will pay for the tow and storage, (but) in most cases, (if) the car is deemed totaled, then they move to a salvage yard, (or) if repairable, then the body shop fixes the car and usually they "waive" the storage fees since they get paid for the repairs. The teardown would be reasonable, since most likely needed to write an estimate of the (total) amount of repairs that will be needed to be repaired or, if the repairs exceed the value of your vehicle, then they will total it. No, administrative is not paid by insurance, nor added, but there is always taxes you pay.



But, sounds like you let this sit for 62 days and if so, then you will be on the hook for the storage/tow. Usually the shop and/or insurance will call and/or send letters to notify you to move it (tow) to your house or salvage yard w/in a week to "mitigate" the damages. I bet you got numerous messages and/or letters while gone, on what the heck do you want us to do?



NO, you can't sue them, but they can sue you for what they are charging you. What does YOUR insurance say? Either way, during those 62 days, you should have called both your insurance and body shop for a status update, but if you let the ball drop and ignored this while gone, you are SOL.

Answer 4

Why did it take 62 days to repair your car? I suspect the storage fee of $40/day started AFTER your car was repaired. Insurance won't cover that.

Answer 5

did you ever call in the claim to your insurance company? all you should have to pay is the deductible on your insurance IF you called in teh accident right away. how did teh car GET to teh collision center WITHOUT YOUR permission?

Answer 6

actually the charges all make sense. I would pay them