
Catherine Graves was worried she would be paying thousands of dollars in storage fees after an accident. She called KENS and Geico fixed it immediately.
SPRING BRANCH, Texas — Catherine Graves, 73, was worried she would be stuck paying thousands of dollars of fees after her car insurance claim stalled.
Geico was in a disagreement with the body shop that was holding her SUV about how much they owed the shop. The SUV then continued to sit at the shop and accrue even more storage fees that Graves couldn’t afford. Graves didn’t know what to do.
“I can’t do this by myself,” Graves told KENS 5.
The claim itself was not very complicated.
Graves had totaled her SUV after striking a long, thin median near the intersection of Highway 281 and Loop 1604 on March 16th.
She called police, and police called a tow truck, but the tow truck them immediately took the vehicle to a repair shop on San Pedro Avenue. Graves said she didn’t tell the tow company to take it there specifically, but she was willing to sign off on having the shop assess the vehicle.
Graves had collision coverage with Geico, and Geico eventually decided the vehicle was a total loss. Typically, an insurance company would then pay the owner of the vehicle a sum based on the value of the vehicle. Afterwards, they would pay the body shop for any inspection and storage costs and take possession of the vehicle.
Instead, something strange happened. Graves said Geico sent her around $2,000 without any explanation around 4 weeks into the claim.
“I didn’t know what that was for,” Graves said. “I texted the adjuster and asked what the $2,000 was for. He said ‘that’s for the collision shop and it needs to come from you.'”
It turns out, Geico and the body shop had been arguing about how much the body shop should get paid. Instead of continuing to negotiate the amount, Geico’s insurance adjuster just sent Graves a check and told her to pay the shop. The shop told Graves that Geico owed more than that and that Geico should be paying.
Graves was stuck and called KENS 5.
“I need some help and I know you have good results,” Graves said.
KENS 5 contacted Richard Johnson with the Insurance Council of Texas about the issue. Johnson told us, “If the driver has collision and comprehensive coverage, their insurance may cover “reasonable” towing and storage fees. It depends on the driver’s coverage.”
KENS 5 then contacted both the body shop and Geico’s corporate office. When Geico’s corporate office found out about the issue, they resolved it within 24 hours and arranged to have the shop paid.
“Oh my goodness it’s wonderful. I just see daylight for the first time in about two and a half months,” Graves said.
A Geico spokesman told KENS 5, “We are pleased to have resolved this matter for Ms. Graves. GEICO attempted to negotiate with Northside Collision over the payment of a reasonable fee for storing her vehicle. However, the body shop refused to work with our team, which resulted in the delay.”
Northside Collision told KENS 5 the fees were “common” and the insurance adjuster did not want to pay them.
Regardless, Graves was no longer on the hook for the storage fees. She’s thankful Geico’s corporate office resolved it so quickly and she’s glad she called KENS 5.
“KENS 5 was my only hope and you came through like a champ,” Graves said.
The Insurance Council of Texas also provided the following guidelines for towing and storage fees on insurance claims:
- If the driver has collision and comprehensive coverage, their insurance may cover “reasonable” towing and storage fees. It depends on the driver’s coverage.
- If the driver only has liability, then they would most likely pay out of pocket.
- The party that was determined as the “at fault” driver, their insurance could also cover the fees of the non “at fault” driver, unless they do not have insurance or not enough insurance.
- If you were in an accident, and the other driver was at fault and they did not have any or enough insurance, then your “Underinsured/Uninsured Coverage” may cover the towing and storage fees.
- Typically an insurance company would pay the garage directly along with the other payments they are making to fix the car.
Lastly, Johnson advised drivers to always be aware of exactly what their coverage says in order to avoid confusion.
If you have a problem like this, we want to help you fix it! In our series, Call KENS, we do our best to solve problems for our viewers. The number to call is 210-470-KENS, or fill out the form on this page.