LEO, lawyer question...

[HoughMade]

It does sound shady, but I don't know the specific law on this.

From their perspective, what are the chances of a totaled car with liability insurance only being abandoned in their lot? Actually, it's pretty good because I know ​there are statutes that deal with that.

I'll take a quick look.there are laws specific to property inside a towed vehicle.

 

[HoughMade]

I am not giving legal advise here. I don't know enough about the situation to do that.

A quick search of the statutes does not reveal anything directly dealing with property inside the vehicle. It may be there somewhere, but that would take a deeper dive. I would think that the statutes stating that a towing company has a lien on the vehicle would imply that the lien is ONLY on the vehicle itself, but I guess that's a matter that could be debated.

Honestly, though, the sensible course of action seems clear. Pay the towing and storage fees and get the car out of there. The storage fees are mounting and can get up to $1,500.

 

[hopper68]

I have seen people who claim to be just retreiving personal property strip a car, taking stereo systems, batteries, etc. Leaving a shell to sit for a few months before it can be declared an abandoned vehicle and auctioned off by the state.

 

[WebSnyper]

In Marion County, if IMPD tows your car, it goes to a centralized storage/impound lot. That tow is under contract by the city and our lot is the only place it can go if we call for the tow. If you want it towed somewhere specific, the tow bill has to be paid on-scene to the tow company by you, or you can call your own tow/AAA. I cannot cite the rules for our tow service, but I have always been told that personal items are able to be retrieved from vehicles in the lot at any time and have not had any anecdotal experiences otherwise. Our tow provider photographs the vehicles to be towed, inside and out, prior to tow to document existing damage and also contents. The impound lot is secure and under guard so it's rare that property disappears. I don't know of any statute prohibiting a tow lot from restricting owner access to the contents of towed vehicles, so that may be a regular thing.

Good to know, hopefully I don't ever have occasion to have a vehicle towed by IMPD. I've had a couple towed and was able to choose my own company on those (this was in Hendricks County), and my daughter had one towed (wife met her at the scene of the accident at IUPUI), but I think they told me that was handled by IUPUI police and our preferred tow company was going to take too long, so IUPUI police called someone and my wife/daughter were still able to choose the destination (which was of course Diamond Collision who handled things great as they always do)

 

[1911ly]

Giving them the title to talk away is not an issue. i am curious how she is going to even get her plate back at this moment, But screw them. They can go threw the hassle to get a title to scrap it out now.

 

[woowoo2]

That’s pretty standard. I’ve not heard of anyone doing partial releases.

Common in Jeffersonville, last time this happened to me I just signed over the title because it was obviously totaled.

The employee of Bennets towing ( In Jeff ) did go out of his way to be a jerk, he would not let us drive to the car, we had to carry the items out by hand.
He also acted like time to remove the items was limited.
He seemed to have some personal issues that prevented him from acting like a human being.

Less than four miles on the tow, and 24 hours storage was $175

 

[VUPDblue]

I think our contract tow service is $150 for the hook and $50 daily storage.

 

[HoughMade]

Giving them the title to talk away is not an issue. i am curious how she is going to even get her plate back at this moment, But screw them. They can go threw the hassle to get a title to scrap it out now.

This doesn't prevent a small claims case over the storage fee.

 

[Expat]

I would make arrangements to settle with them on the tow/storage and getting your stuff. Sooner is usually better than later.

 

[1911ly]

I think our contract tow service is $150 for the hook and $50 daily storage.

They charged just under 260.00 for the tow. Not sure the amount of the storage. If there is storage charge in the tow bill it seems excessive considering they tried to get contents within hours of the wreck.