Limits on Towing Charges After a Texas Crash

Attorney Answer

There is no single dollar figure I can give you, and the reason matters: Texas regulates towing rates most tightly where the vehicle owner did not choose the tow. A consensual tow — one you authorized — is governed mainly by what you agreed to.

That distinction is the whole answer to your question. When a vehicle is towed without the owner's consent, the charge is capped by a published rate structure. When the owner calls the tow or signs an authorization, the price is a matter of the agreement between you and the company, subject to the state's licensing rules for tow operators and to general consumer-protection law. Texas licenses towing companies and operators and sets rules for them, and the statute and rules that fix towing rates are worth confirming with a Texas attorney rather than relying on a figure that might be stale or might apply to the other kind of tow. What I can tell you is where to look and what to compare.

Two practical points follow. First, an agreement still has to match what was actually agreed: a quoted rate, a posted rate, or a signed authorization is the benchmark, and an invoice that adds charges nobody mentioned is a dispute about the contract, not about a rate cap. Second, storage is separate from towing. Daily storage accrues while the car sits, and a bill that looks enormous is often mostly storage. Getting the vehicle released early is usually the single most effective thing you can do about the total.

Who ultimately pays is a different question from what may be charged. Towing and storage after a collision are property-damage costs. If another driver was at fault, they are part of what can be claimed. Texas apportions that under Chapter 33 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code: § 33.001 bars a claimant who is more than 50 percent responsible from recovering, and § 33.012(a) requires the court to reduce a claimant's damages by that claimant's own percentage of responsibility. Your own policy may also carry towing coverage, which is worth checking before you argue about anything.

What you can do

1. Ask the towing company, in writing, for an itemized invoice separating the tow, the mileage, any after-hours or winching charges, and each day of storage.

2. Find whatever you signed or were quoted — the authorization form, a text message, a photograph of a posted rate sheet — and compare it line by line against the invoice.

3. Get the vehicle out of storage as soon as you reasonably can, because storage usually accrues daily and is often the larger half of the bill.

4. Check your own auto policy's declarations page for towing and labor coverage, and open a claim under it if you have it.

5. If the charges look inconsistent with what you authorized or with the company's posted rates, you can file a complaint with the state agency that licenses tow companies, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Complaints are free.

6. Ask a Texas attorney about disputing an overcharge, and about your options if the company will not release the vehicle. Do not withhold payment on your own theory without advice, because the vehicle is in their possession.

Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a) generally requires suit for injury to property to be brought not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues, which is the clock on the property-damage side of your crash. A billing dispute with a towing company may run on a different deadline, and a storage lien can move much faster than either. Have a Texas attorney check the dates against your paperwork rather than assuming you have time.