Who decides where my car gets towed?
You do. The tow operator asks where it is going, and whatever you say is where it goes.
If you do not have an answer, the vehicle goes to that operator's storage lot, because that is the default and somebody has to name a destination. A car can end up in a yard by the absence of a decision rather than by anyone's decision.
Your insurance company can recommend a shop. In Texas it cannot require you to use one. Naming your own shop at the scene is not a fight with your adjuster. It is a sentence: take it to 4712 Englewood Ave.
Two situations take the choice out of your hands for a while: a vehicle blocking a public road when you are in no condition to direct anything, and a vehicle held as part of an investigation. In both, you get the choice back once the car is released. It just costs you the storage in between.
You pick the shop, not your insurance company →
What should I do with the car before it leaves the scene?
Six things, in this order, and all of them are about the vehicle.
- Move it out of the lane if it drives. Hazards on. A car in a live lane on the Loop is a second wreck waiting to happen.
- Photograph it where it stopped, before anything moves. All four corners, one wide shot of the whole vehicle, and close-ups of the damage. Photograph the other vehicle and both license plates too.
- Write down the claim information. The other driver's carrier and policy number, and the report number if an officer works the scene. Your shop will ask for a claim number later, and this is where it comes from.
- Decide the destination before you answer the tow driver. This is the fifteen seconds. Have an address ready.
- Take your things out of the car. Everything you would miss. See the last section.
- Tell your carrier where the vehicle went. That is notification, not permission.
Can I drive it, or does it need a tow?
If you are asking the question, tow it. That said, here is the short version of what shops look at.
| What you are seeing | The call | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Fluid pooling under the car | Tow | Something is open. Driving it turns one repair into two |
| Airbags deployed | Tow | The vehicle read the impact as serious enough to fire them |
| Hood creased, or it will not latch | Tow | A hood that lifts at speed takes the windshield with it |
| A wheel sits at an angle, or a tire is torn | Tow | Steering and suspension, and neither is a thing to test on the way home |
| A panel or bumper touching a tire | Tow | It will cut the tire, and quickly |
| A headlight or taillight is out | Tow, or do not drive it at night | Other drivers cannot see that corner of your car |
| Body damage only, no warning lights, everything closes | Usually driveable | Bring it in and let someone confirm it |
The last row is the one people get wrong in both directions. Some drive a car that should have been towed. Others pay for a tow on a vehicle with a dented door.
What happens if my car ends up in a storage yard?
It starts costing money by the day, and the clock does not care whether your claim is moving.
Storage is billed by the facility holding the vehicle, at a rate it sets. Ask two questions the moment you know where your car is:
- What do you charge per day?
- What do you need from me to release it? Usually identification and proof that the vehicle is yours, but ask, because you do not want to drive out there twice.
Then ask your adjuster whether storage is covered under your claim and up to what point. Carriers answer that differently, and the answer belongs to your policy.
Move it early if you are going to move it. A vehicle sitting in a yard is not being estimated, not being photographed, and not being repaired. It is only accumulating a bill.
Give the tow operator or the yard this address: 4712 Englewood Ave, Lubbock. Once the vehicle is here, we go over the whole car and write down every damaged part and what it needs — about thirty minutes, and the report is yours to keep whether or not we do the work. Then we schedule the repair.
No appointment needed. If you want a set time, call or text (806) 808-0990.
What if I already told the tow driver to take it somewhere else?
You can still move it. Leaving the car somewhere does not sign anything away.
Call the place holding it and say you are picking the vehicle up. Ask what is owed for the tow and for storage so far, and ask whether any work has been started — if it has, you will owe for what was done. Then tell your adjuster the new address.
It is simpler on day one than on day four, and the bill is smaller.
What does the shop need from me?
Less than most people expect.
- The claim number, if a claim is open. That is the one piece we genuinely need to start talking to your carrier.
- The keys, and a phone number that reaches you.
- Whatever you photographed at the scene. It helps, and it costs you nothing to forward it.
You do not need an estimate from anywhere else first, and you do not need your adjuster's approval to have the vehicle looked at.
From there we send your insurer the photos, the reports, and the supplement if opening a panel turns up more damage than the first estimate covered, and we answer the adjuster's questions about the repair. And if the repair moves the cameras or sensors your vehicle uses for lane keeping or automatic braking, we are responsible for getting them recalibrated before the car goes back.
What about everything inside the car?
Take it with you, and take it before the tow. Once the vehicle is in a yard, you are on the yard's hours and the yard's rules to get back into it.
The list people forget: garage remote, toll tag, insurance card and registration, phone charger, child seat, anything in the trunk, and the plate if the vehicle is going to be totaled.
A child seat that was in a wreck is generally replaced rather than reused. Check the instructions for yours, and ask your carrier whether the claim covers the replacement.
We work with every insurance company. Bring us the claim number and we send your insurer our estimate and the photos.
Text photos to (806) 808-0990 for a free estimate, or walk in at 4712 Englewood Ave.
See what collision repair covers → · How a claim runs from the wreck to the keys back →