My car was stolen 2 months ago and later recovered. I informed my insurance, but they said until they finish their investigation, I’m responsible for impound/towing fees.
I had trouble reaching my handler, and now the impound lot says they’ll auction the car on April 2 if I don’t pick it up. Insurance is telling me it’s my responsibility to prevent that.
If they don’t finalize the claim before the auction, I could lose the car and possibly not get paid.
What should I do here? Pay the fees now? Push insurance harder? Any advice from someone who’s been through this?
Insurance delay + impound auction — what should I do?
byu/Ok_King7245 inInsurance
Posted by Ok_King7245
2 Comments
I would pay the fees and have the vehicle moved to a storage free location like your residence as you have a duty to mitigate your damages and that includes charges to your vehicle.
In insurance you have a duty to mitigate damages. For a house, if your wall is damaged by a tree, you are expected to put up a tarp to prevent rain from flooding the home. If you are a business owner, and one location is damaged by a fire, you are expected to direct your clients to visit your other location until repairs are made.
The longer you wait to make corrective actions to reduce damages, the less the likely be made whole. Right now you are accruing lot fees and other compounding costs until you get your car back.
Document the cost to recover the vehicle and turn that into the adjuster.