My car was towed after the accident. What can the tow yard charge?

A Florida tow yard may charge only the fees the statute lists: the rates your county or city sets for a crash tow, the Highway Patrol’s rates where none are set, a fee you agreed to in writing, an administrative fee of no more than $250, and government charges. It may not charge for storage during the first six hours. It must send a certified-mail notice to you and to your insurance company within five business days, and it may sell the car 35 days after storage, or 57 if the car is three model years old or newer. If you dispute the bill, you can post a bond with the court clerk and take the car while a judge decides who is right.

01 What it may charge

What can a tow yard charge after a car accident in Florida?

Only the fees the statute lists, and no others. An operator may charge the owner a reasonable fee set by the county or city where the tow happened, a rate set by the Florida Highway Patrol where that applies, a fee agreed in writing between you and the operator, a lien-release administrative fee, and administrative charges imposed by a county or city (§ 713.78(2)(a)). The administrative fee to release the car cannot exceed $250 (§ 713.78(15)).

If the police called the tow, a county or city rate list applies, and the county must publish it. Florida requires counties to set maximum rates for removing and storing a wrecked or disabled vehicle from a crash scene when the owner is hurt, unavailable, leaves the choice of wrecker to the officer, or does not consent. The county must publish those rates and keep a process for complaints about overcharges. Where no local rates exist, the Highway Patrol’s rates apply (§ 125.0103(1)(c), (d)). A city that sets its own maximum rates replaces the county’s inside that city, so ask whether the city has its own.

No storage fee for the first six hours. A storage fee may not be charged if the car is stored for less than six hours (§ 713.78(2)(b)).

The yard must show you its prices. It must keep a rate sheet listing every fee, post it at the business, hand it to you on request, and, if you are at the scene, give it to you before the car is hooked up. Any fee beyond the sheet is deemed unreasonable (§ 713.78(20)(a), (b)). It must produce an itemized invoice no later than one business day after the tow is completed, with the tow, the daily storage rate and every other fee as separate line items, and must let you inspect and copy it within 48 hours of a written request (§ 713.78(20)(c) to (f)).

A fee that is not on the rate sheet is deemed unreasonable.

02 Who called the tow

Does it matter who called the tow truck?

It decides which rates apply. If you chose the company and agreed to its price in writing, the statute allows that reasonable written fee. If the officer chose the wrecker because you were hurt or gone, or because you left the choice to the officer, the county or city maximum for a non-consensual tow applies. The Highway Patrol runs a wrecker system for exactly that situation (§ 321.051(2)(a)), and a county or city can run its own (§ 323.002).

A truck that arrives on its own has to tell you who it is. In a county or city that runs a wrecker system, an operator outside the system who stops because you flagged it down must give you a written disclosure before it hooks up: its name and driver license number, that it is not the authorized operator, that it is not towing for your insurer or lienholder, whether it carries the insurance the statute names, and the maximum charges for towing and storage (§ 323.002(2)(c)). If you were given none of that, say so to whoever handles the complaint.

Your belongings should have been inventoried. A law enforcement agency that orders a car removed from a crash scene must write down the personal property in it first, unless you are present and go with the car (§ 713.78(7)(c)). The operator is not liable for property that the inventory does not list. If you were taken from the scene by ambulance, ask the agency for the inventory.

03 The notice and the sale

When can a tow yard sell my car?

Only after a notice, and not sooner than 35 or 57 days after storage. The yard must send a certified-mail notice to the registered owner, to the insurance company insuring the car and to anyone claiming a lien, within five business days after the car is stored. The notice must itemize the charges, say where the car is, say that you can start court proceedings, and say that an unclaimed or unpaid car may be sold 35 days after storage if it is an older model, or 57 days if it is a newer model (§ 713.78(4)(a), (c)). A newer model is three model years old or less, counting the car’s model year as year one (§ 713.78(1)(d), (e)). The notice may not go out less than 30 days before a sale of an older model or 52 days before a sale of a newer one (§ 713.78(4)(d)).

Your insurer gets the notice too, and that is a reason to call it. The statute sends the lien notice to the insurance company insuring the car even when the claim is a PIP claim (§ 713.78(4)(a)). Tell your insurer where the car is and ask what it is doing about it. A yard that has your insurer’s name may be dealing with it already.

The approved notice service has to give you a way to look it up. A yard must use a service approved by the state to send the notices, and that service must keep a public website where owners, insurers and agents can search the notices it has sent, without personal information (§ 713.78(16)). If you have received nothing and the car is gone from where you expected it, search there and call the yard.

A yard that skips the notice loses storage charges. If it fails to make a good-faith effort to comply with the notice rules, it cannot impose any storage charge. If it does not notify a person claiming a lien, it may charge that person for no more than five days of storage (§ 713.78(9)). A sale is a public sale for cash (§ 713.78(6)).

04 Getting it out

How do I get my car out of the tow yard if I think the bill is wrong?

You can post a bond and take the car, and a judge decides later who was right. At any time before the car is sold, the owner or the insurer may have it released by posting a cash or surety bond with the clerk of the court in the county where the car is held, equal to the accrued charges in the notice plus accrued storage at the time of release (§ 713.78(5)(b)). The court in that county can determine whether the car was wrongfully taken or withheld, or whether fees were wrongfully charged (§ 713.78(5)(a)).

Start the case, because the bond has a clock. If the person who posted the bond does not start court proceedings within 45 days after the clerk issues the certificate, the clerk releases the money, or the surety pays, to the yard (§ 713.78(5)(b)). The court can award damages, attorney fees and costs to whoever prevails, and if the yard prevails the order requires payment in full (§ 713.78(5)(c)).

The yard must let you in, with ordinary paperwork. During business hours it must permit inspection of the car and release the car or the belongings in it within one hour after you show a title, a lender contract, a lease, or an insurer’s credentials with the VIN, or a written agreement that you are the owner’s agent. It may not require notarization, except for that agent agreement, and one current photo ID is enough (§ 713.78(10), (17)). It must accept payment in at least two of three kinds: cash, cashier’s check or money order; a bank, debit or credit card; or a mobile payment (§ 713.78(19)).

Do not leave the car there to see what happens. Storage accrues daily, the notice clock is running, and the sale date is fixed from the day of storage. A disputed bill is cheaper to fight with the car out than with it in.

05 Your car as evidence

Should I move or repair the car before my injury claim is settled?

Photograph it first, and tell your lawyer before it is repaired, sold or scrapped. If you were hurt, the car shows how the crash happened: where it was hit, how hard, and what it did to the people inside. The damage and, in many newer cars, a recorder of speed and braking can matter to fault and to how serious the injury is. Once a car is repaired or crushed, that evidence is gone.

Ask the yard to let you photograph it, and take what is yours. The statute entitles you to inspect the car and to collect the belongings that were in it (§ 713.78(10)). Photograph every side, the interior and the odometer, and take the registration, insurance card, child seat, medication and anything else of yours that is not attached to the car.

Keep every invoice and receipt. A tow and storage bill is an expense of the crash. Keep the itemized invoice, the rate sheet if you were given one, and the payment receipt, and say so when the claim is presented. See what an early offer is pricing before you accept a payment that settles everything.

06 Miami-Dade

What are the towing rules in Miami-Dade County?

Miami-Dade regulates towing through its Consumer Protection office. The county’s page says it covers vehicle safety standards, insurance, background checks and the maximum rates for non-consent tows, meaning tows you did not authorize (Miami-Dade towing regulations). The same page says a vehicle cannot be towed to a storage facility more than ten miles from where it was towed, and that the storage facility must be open from at least 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays except holidays, answer its phone around the clock, and return within one hour to open the lot on an after-hours request.

The yard has to take your payment, let you in and show its rates. The county lists cash, money order or traveler’s check, a personal check showing the owner’s name and address, bank, debit and major credit cards, and digital payments such as Zelle, PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay and Cash App. The yard must allow the driver or an authorized representative to inspect the vehicle and remove personal property before paying, and must display its rates and the consumer’s rights. If the vehicle is not registered in your name, you may need an affidavit from the owner, signed before a notary, saying you are an authorized representative. If you arrive while your car is still hooked up and ask for it on the spot, the operator must release it for half the towing rate.

The county’s rate sheet has a separate list for tows the police direct. It sets maximums by vehicle class, a per-mile charge after the first five miles, and extra time at the scene that is allowed only with the written approval of the investigating officer or agency. It allows an administrative fee only after the first 24 hours, capped at $250, and storage only after the first six hours, in 24-hour blocks. Indoor storage may be charged only on the direction of the owner, a lienholder, an insurance representative or the investigating police agency. The sheet’s first page is dated October 1, 2026, and its police-directed pages carry an October 2025 date, so confirm the current figure with the county before you pay.

To complain, use the county’s Consumer Mediation Center. It is at the Permitting and Inspection Center, 11805 SW 26th Street, second floor, open 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays with walk-ins accepted, at 786-469-2333 or consumer@miamidade.gov. That is the right place if a Miami or Homestead yard charged more than the county’s maximum or would not let you in.

07 Hillsborough

What are the towing rules in Hillsborough County and Tampa?

Hillsborough County publishes maximum rates for crash tows, and the Tax Collector administers them. For a Class A vehicle, up to 10,000 pounds, the county’s rates page lists a maximum flat rate of $160 for a non-consensual tow, $6 a mile, $30 for each 15 minutes at the scene after the first half hour, and storage of $35 a day, assessed only after the first six hours. A lien-notice fee cannot exceed $100 and may be charged only if the yard followed § 713.78. The most a yard may charge to open the lot after hours is $70. The page says all storage and recovery charges are payable before the vehicle is released (Hillsborough towing rates). Those are the figures as the page lists them in November 2026, and counties adjust them from time to time, so confirm before you pay.

If you and the yard agree, the release can wait up to 18 hours with no extra fee. The page says that once you agree, no further storage or lien-notice charges may be added during the extension, and the only charges due are those owed when you asked for it. That helps when a car has to be collected by someone who cannot get there within the hour.

The county ordinance does less for a crash tow than for a parking-lot tow. Ordinance 17-34 sets maximum rates for both kinds of tow, but apart from the rates section it does not apply to non-consensual tows, which it defines to include removal from an accident scene (Ordinance 17-34). Its yard signs, receipt rules and storage limits are written for trespass tows. For a crash tow, the state statute above is the main protection.

In unincorporated Hillsborough, the Sheriff’s contract adds to it. The Sheriff’s Tow Service Agreement says a rotation company may not remove a wrecked vehicle from a crash scene without the Sheriff’s or another agency’s authorization, must release the vehicle to its owner within one hour of a request, lets the owner inspect it before accepting it, may not require a release or waiver of liability for damage the owner notes at pick-up, and must give a detailed signed receipt naming the company. The agreement names the Sheriff’s Communications Bureau impound officer, at (813) 247-8225 on weekdays, as the contact. In the City of Tampa, Tampa Police runs its own wrecker rotation by zone. A city that sets its own maximum rates replaces the county’s inside the city, and whether Tampa has done so is something to ask the city.

09 What to do now

1. Find out where the car is and who towed itAsk the agency that handled the crash. The crash report may name the company. Tell your insurer where it is.
2. Ask for the rate sheet and the itemized invoiceThe yard must keep a rate sheet and produce an itemized invoice within one business day of the tow. A fee that is not on the sheet is deemed unreasonable.
3. Go within business hours with a photo ID and a title, a lender contract, a lease or insurer paperworkThe yard must let you inspect the car and take your belongings within one hour. Photograph the car on every side before anything is done to it.
4. Look for the lien noticeIt is due within five business days of storage, by certified mail, to you and to your insurer. The approved notice service has a public website where it can be searched.
5. Do not let the days passStorage accrues daily. An older model may be sold 35 days after storage and a newer one 57 days after.
6. If the bill is wrong, post a bond, take the car, and start the case within 45 daysThe bond equals the accrued charges. A judge decides whether they were wrongly charged. Tell your lawyer before the car is repaired or scrapped.

11 The sources

• Fla. Stat. § 713.78 Liens for recovering, towing or storing vehiclesThe fees an operator may charge (2); the notice to the owner and the insurer within five business days (4); release on a bond and the court proceeding (5); the sale after 35 or 57 days (6); inspection and release within one hour (10); the $250 administrative-fee limit (15); the rate sheet and itemized invoice (20).
• Fla. Stat. § 125.0103 County rates for crash towsCounties must set and publish maximum rates for removing and storing a wrecked or disabled vehicle from an accident scene, and keep a complaint process; a city’s own ordinance replaces the county’s inside the city.
• Fla. Stat. § 323.002 County and municipal wrecker operator systemsUnauthorized operators and the written disclosure an operator must give before hooking up when a driver flags it down.
• Fla. Stat. § 321.051(2) Highway Patrol wrecker operator systemThe system used when the owner or operator is incapacitated or unavailable or leaves the choice of wrecker to the officer.
• Miami-Dade County Towing regulationsThe county’s consumer rules, its maximum non-consent tow rate sheet, and its Consumer Mediation Center.
• Hillsborough County Tax Collector Towing and immobilization ratesMaximum rates for non-consensual tows, storage and the extra fees the county allows.
• Hillsborough County Ordinance 17-34 Trespass Towing, Immobilization and Rates OrdinanceSets maximum rates for non-consensual and trespass tows; apart from rates it does not apply to non-consensual tows.