Indiana Towing: Half Price Drop Fee, 40 Mile Storage Limit, $2,000 Storage Cap

The drop fee is the provision most Indiana drivers need. IC 24-14-4-4 says that if the owner or operator of a vehicle parked in violation of a tow away zone arrives while the vehicle is in the process of being towed, the towing company shall give oral or written notification that the owner may pay a fee not greater than half the amount the company normally charges for a release. On payment, the company must release the vehicle and give a receipt showing both the full normal release fee and the amount actually paid. There is no dollar figure in the statute, so the drop fee floats at half of whatever that company's release charge is, and the receipt requirement is what makes the halving checkable.

Signage is specific and it is a condition of the tow. Under IC 24-14-4-2 the owner of a commercial private property may establish a tow away zone, but must post a sign at the zone at a height of more than five feet and less than seven feet from the ground, conspicuous and clearly visible to the public, stating that the immediate vicinity is a tow away zone, giving pertinent contact information, and describing who may park there if applicable. Subsection (d) then bars a towing company from towing from a tow away zone if the sign is not at the required height. Two carve outs matter: a vehicle removed as abandoned under IC 9-22-1-16 may be towed with no sign at all, and under subsection (c) an Indiana city, town or county may adopt an ordinance setting different requirements than the signage section, so the local ordinance has to be checked before assuming the state rule controls.

Scope is where readers go wrong. IC 24-14-4-1 limits the signage, drop fee and distance chapter to a towing company engaged in private commercial property towing, and states that it does not apply to towing from a tow away zone that is not located on commercial private property. Commercial private property is not defined in the definitions chapter at IC 24-14-2. The article as a whole, under IC 24-14-1-1, reaches any person engaging in or offering to engage in the business of providing towing service in Indiana, but IC 24-14-1-2 removes government agency towing, seizure towing, and towing by or under contract with an automobile club, a car dealership, an insurance company or a customer under a consensual towing agreement.

Where the car may be taken is limited. IC 24-14-4-3 requires the vehicle be towed to a storage facility within 40 miles of the tow away zone, or, if none exists within 40 miles, to the nearest facility the property owner has approved. IC 24-14-4-5 requires notice of the tow to the local law enforcement agency having jurisdiction within two hours of completing the tow, if that agency requires it. IC 24-14-4-6 requires the company to secure the vehicle, take all reasonable efforts to prevent further damage including weather damage and prevent theft of the vehicle, its cargo and contents, and, except for a tow performed under IC 9-22-1, reimburse the owner for damage the company causes.

Rates are capped by cross reference rather than by a published tariff. IC 24-14-8-1 requires the fee for towing, clean up or storage to be reasonable and forbids it to exceed the storage rates allowed under IC 9-22-1-4, which caps storage costs for an abandoned vehicle at two thousand dollars, and at two thousand five hundred dollars for a vehicle at least thirty feet long. IC 24-14-5-2 sets the rate for the tow itself by reference to the applicable law enforcement agreement: the rate agreed with the state police department for a rotation tow, the local agency's set or provided rate, and, where a local agency has neither, the rate the company files with the state police district or no more than that district's towing and storage agreements. Private property towing ordered by an owner without a towing agreement takes those same law enforcement rates; where there is a towing agreement, the agreement rate applies. IC 24-14-9-2(5) makes charging more than the agreement or contract rate a violation.

The invoice is where an overcharge shows. IC 24-14-5-1 requires an itemized invoice of actual charges within one business day of the tow, or of the point the company has all the information including subcontractor charges. Among the twelve required items are the cost of the original tow, storage fees expressed as a daily rate, every documentation or vehicle search fee with a full description of what it bought, the number of miles towed, an attestation that all items invoiced were used and necessary in the ordinary course of business, and a good faith estimate of the time each invoiced item was used and where. Any further service or fee must appear as its own line item with an explanation and the exact charge. Invoices are kept two years and must be produced within 48 hours of a written request from a law enforcement agency, the attorney general, the prosecuting or city attorney, or the vehicle owner or the owner's agent.

Getting the car and your belongings back is governed by IC 9-22-1-8, which IC 24-14-7-2 applies to every release under the towing article. No inspection fee may be charged to an owner, lienholder or insurance company representative to inspect the vehicle or retrieve items from it. Cash, certified check, insurance check, money order, credit card and debit card must all be accepted, and a credit card service fee may not exceed three percent. The lot must be open for business and reachable by telephone during regular office hours, must publish a number that takes calls and messages around the clock, and must return every call within 24 hours absent adverse weather, an act of God or an emergency outside its control. IC 24-14-9-2(3) bars any storage fee for a day on which release or inspection was not permitted during regular office hours.

The notice track runs on three business day clocks. Under IC 24-14-6-1 and IC 9-22-1-19, the company must search the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System or an equivalent commonly available database within three business days of the tow, and within three business days of obtaining a name and address must notify the owner and any lienholder, by certified mail, certificate of mailing or a bureau approved electronic service, that storage charges are accruing, that the vehicle is subject to sale, and of the earliest possible date and location of the public sale. A company that fails to give that notice may not collect storage costs incurred after the date it received the name and address.

5, with that statute's remedies and penalties. 5-4(c) once a violation is found; IC 24-14-10-3 lets the attorney general adopt implementing rules under IC 4-22-2. The disputed bill route is the part worth memorizing. Under IC 9-22-1-8(h) a towing service or storage yard must release the vehicle within 24 hours of receiving three things: payment of 75% of the invoice, proof of a bond for the remaining 25% payable if the owner does not comply with the court's order, and a copy of a complaint filed with the attorney general alleging a violation of IC 24-14.

The owner then has 30 days under subsection (i) to file a civil complaint stating which invoice amounts are disputed and why, attaching the invoice and any evidence of reasonableness; the towing company may file its own complaint in the same window. Subsection (k) directs the court to decide whether the amount charged was reasonable, to order payment of the invoice less the 75% already paid if it was, to fix a reasonable amount and order payment of the difference if it was not, to order the towing company to refund the owner if the reasonable amount is below what was paid, and to impose any monetary penalties it considers appropriate.

IC 24-14-7-3 extends the same 75% and bond release mechanism to a truck, trailer or cargo. Separately, IC 24-14-9-1 forbids a towing company from falsely claiming approval by a roadside assistance organization, from requiring preauthorization of repair work or of more than 24 hours of storage as a condition of the tow, from charging more than one towing fee when the owner asks for a tow to the company's own repair facility, from towing to a repair facility without the owner's consent given before removal, and from paying for towing referrals absent a prior contract.