Unreasonable advanced fees

[gloryriver]

So im new to this whole dealing with car insurance thing. my hyundai had been T-Boned a couple months back (just barely getting the claim settled) so i had it towed and they told me they’d take it to the shop and call my insurance next day so my insurance couple days later finally picks up the car and i was being charged $3,680 for the storage and all these other fees, however my insurance denied 2,630$ of that as the fees were all unreasonable they found only $1,050 reasonable (storage and towing).
however looking at my settlement it looks like im being denied those $2,630 on my settlement. I talked with my adjuster and she told me that they only paid $1,050 to the tow company for the reasonable fees and i did have her clarify. But now i am being denied the $2,630 off of my claim. Does anyone have any experience in this or any help they can give me? And am I responsible for the unreasonable fees?

Ill add my settlement evaluation here along with the evaluation for the towing fees my insurance provided me with…

Actual Cash Value
$21535.34
Sales Tax
8.75
+
$2153.53
DMV Fees
+ $86.00
-Deductible:
- $1000.00
-PRIOR PAYMENT
- $0.00
-Advance Charges
- $2630.00
-Parking Citations
-$0.00
Total Settlement Value
$20144.87
/
Tow charge of $1,700 is unreasonable for the vehicle condition and location of accident. Accident occurred on surface streets and there was no unusual circumstance with the tow. A conventional flatbed tow would be necessary to move IV and a reasonable rate for a flatbed tow is $250.00.
Daily rate of $185/day is unreasonable for the market area as local law enforcement storage facilities charge an average of about $50/day. We will allow $100/day.
Total number of days of 8 days is reasonable.
Forklift fee of $200 is unreasonable as vehicle is drivable. Damage was to the LT door and fender.
Handling fee of $200 is an administrative fee and is not reasonable.
HazMat fee of $100 is unreasonable as there was no leaking of any fluid from the vehicle.

Total amount charged by shop was $3,680.00. We are allowing and paying $1,050.00. An amount of $2,630.00 will be deducted off the settlement for unreasonable advanced fees.

 

[sarahbeene]

@gloryriver The insurer is only going to pay for reasonable and necessary expenses, so they're simply leaving the excess fees off the settlement amount. The tow company was almost certainly expecting this. Is the tow company pursuing you for the excess fees? My guess is they'll likely just let it go. They don't have the car, and I'm assuming the tow truck was called to the scene by law enforcement, not you. You didn't enter into a contract with them, and they have nothing to hold over your head. They tried to charge an excessive amount and your carrier told them to pound sand. You don't have a problem here unless the tow company tries to pursue you for the excessive and unreasonable fees. If they do, tell them to pursue your insurer for any amounts they think they're owed. Unless they have some legal remedy to pursue you, they can fuck all the way off.

You're still getting the ACV less deductible for your car. The $2,630 deduction isn't coming out of your end, it's coming out of the tow company's end.

 

[equay]

@sarahbeene I read that differently. I thought they paid the full bill but subtracted the excess against the insured settlement essentially making the insured pay the $2600.

 

[gloryriver]

@equay No you read it correctly, my adjuster just misinformed me. They did pay for the total $3680 to the towing company and just removed the unreasonable fees off os my settlement. I did call the tow truck because i wanted to use the hyundais complimentary roadside assistance after the guy told me they could only tow to the nearest dealership i told him just drop it off at my house and he told me he couldn’t he had to take it back to the shop, I believed him because i didnt know, im fine with paying a towing fee but i think 1700$ is way too excessive of a charge especially for a car that simply needed a hook tow not a complete flatbed and plus my home and the towing company aren’t that far away from eachother, maybe 5 miles? Back and to. So im not sure if i can even do anything about it because my insurance already paid them the amount they charged and just removed it off of my settlement amount.

 

[gloryriver]

@sarahbeene The only issue is, it did come out of my end, upon receiving my settlement check i only received about 1k when it should have been in the ball park of 3.6k, honestly from my end it feels very limited of what i can do, if its already paid for by the insurance then im mostly fucked aren’t i?