You had a crash. Before you’d even finished shaking, a tow truck was there, someone had you sign a form on a tablet, and your car was gone. Now the yard wants $1,800 in towing, $95 a day “storage”, a “salvage fee”, a “release fee”, and they won’t let you or your insurer near the car until it’s paid. Every day you argue, the bill goes up.
Or you parked somewhere you shouldn’t have and a private tow operator took the car to a yard across town and wants $600 cash to release it. Either way: most of what they’re charging is regulated, capped, or simply not owed. Here’s how to get your car back and your money too.
Your rights
- Accident towing is regulated and fees are capped. In New South Wales, the Tow Truck Industry Act 1998 (administered by NSW Fair Trading) sets maximum fees for accident tows in the Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong areas, requires a licensed operator, requires an authority form, and regulates storage charges. In Victoria, the Accident Towing Services Act 2007 makes accident towing in the Melbourne area a licensed, allocated service with fees fixed by regulation (published by the Department of Transport and Planning). In Queensland, the Tow Truck Act 1973 regulates licensed operators and sets maximum fees in regulated areas. Charges above the cap are not recoverable.
- Private property tows are regulated too. Queensland caps the fee for a private-property tow and daily storage, and requires signage. In New South Wales, an operator towing from private property must be licensed and can’t hold the car for anything beyond the regulated amount.
- No lawful lien for made-up fees. A tow operator can hold a vehicle for the lawful towing and storage charges only. Holding it to extract “salvage” or “administration” fees that aren’t in the regulations is not a lien; it’s conversion, and you can sue for the value of your car and the loss of use.
- Misleading or deceptive conduct (s 18 ACL), unconscionable conduct (s 21) and harassment or coercion (s 50). Pressuring a shocked crash victim into signing an authority, misrepresenting what’s owed, or refusing release until an inflated bill is paid can breach all three.
What to do right now
- Ask for an itemised tax invoice, in writing, today. Every fee, every day of storage, the operator’s licence number, and the regulation they rely on for each amount. Put the request in an email so there’s a timestamp.
- Check the caps. Look up your state’s regulated accident towing fees (NSW Fair Trading, Victoria’s Department of Transport, Queensland’s Department of Transport and Main Roads publish them). Compare line by line.
- Tell your insurer immediately. If you’re insured, the insurer often has the right to direct the tow and pays regulated fees. Let them fight the yard; they do it daily. If the yard refuses your insurer access, that’s a breach you can report.
- Tender the lawful amount in writing. “I tender $[regulated amount] in full satisfaction of lawful towing and storage charges. Release the vehicle. Any further storage charges from today are refused and will not be paid.” Offer to pay on release. This stops the clock legally, because they can’t keep charging storage after refusing a lawful tender.
- Send a Letter of Demand. A formal letter citing the state Act, the regulated fees, and ss 18, 21 and 50 of the ACL, demanding release within 48 hours and a refund of any overpayment, and stating you will report to the regulator and file in the tribunal for conversion and loss of use. Yards release cars quickly when the alternative is a licence complaint.
- Report the operator. Licence conditions matter to them more than your $600.
Ready to put it in writing?
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If you’ve already paid to get the car back
Paying under protest to recover your car doesn’t waive your rights. Get the receipt, note that you paid under protest (in an email the same day), then demand the refund of everything above the regulated amount. Tribunals treat “we wouldn’t release your car until you paid” as economic duress, and refunds of the excess are routine.
Storage fees that ballooned while you argued: storage is only chargeable at the regulated rate and only for the period the operator was lawfully holding the car. If they refused a lawful tender, storage from that point isn’t recoverable.
The authority form you signed at the scene. In New South Wales and Victoria, the tow operator must have you sign a towing authority that states the destination and the fee. If it was blank when you signed, or the destination was changed afterwards, say so in writing; it’s a licensing breach and it undermines every charge on the invoice. If you didn’t sign anything, the tow wasn’t authorised by you and the operator can only recover regulated fees, not “commercial” rates. If the crash was a police-attended incident, ask the police for the event number and which operator was allocated; unallocated “chaser” tows are unlawful in regulated areas.
Who to complain to
New South Wales: NSW Fair Trading’s Tow Truck Industry unit (they licence operators and take fee complaints). Victoria: Department of Transport and Planning (accident towing licensing) and Consumer Affairs Victoria. Queensland: Department of Transport and Main Roads and the Office of Fair Trading. Other states: your fair trading or consumer protection body. Also the ACCC for coercive conduct, and the police if the operator is refusing to release your vehicle after a lawful tender. For the money, your state civil tribunal.
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What happens when you put it in writing — properly
Same problem. What a prepared case looks like.