After a motorcycle accident, your motorcycle will be towed to an impound yard, autobody shop, or motorcycle shop.

Don’t have collision coverage on your motorcycle? You’ll need to cough up hundreds of dollars to get your motorcycle back even if it’s totaled!

Do You Have to Get Your Motorcycle Out of the Repair Shop or  Impound?

Yes. Because the towing company will charge you every day for storage charges if you don’t pay to get your motorcycle out of the impound yard.

Eventually, the tow yard will sell your motorcycle and sue you for the difference between what they get for your motorcycle and the amount you owe for towing and storage.

How to Get Money to Get Your Motorcycle Out of the Repair Shop or Impound

If you were injured in a motorcycle accident, we can quickly get you the money to pay the towing, impound, and storage fees!

You could sue the owner and driver of the car that caused your motorcycle accident. But we will do that for you and we will not charge you a legal fee to collect the money to repair or replace your motorcycle if you were injured in the motorcycle accident.

However you do it, you must pay the money as quickly as possible to get your damaged motorcycle out of the shop or impound yard.

If Storage Charges Become Excessive

If the storage charges become excessive because you did not pay to remove your motorcycle from the impound yard and your motorcycle has not yet been sold, you may not be able to get back 100% of the cost.

This is because you have an obligation to “mitigate” (make less severe) the damages for which the defendant is responsible to reimburse you.

If the Impound Yard Sells Your Motorcycle

You may not be able to sue for damage to your motorcycle or towing and storage charges if you do not pay to get your motorcycle out of the impound yard and your motorcycle gets sold!

A property damage lawsuit in Brooklyn, for damage to a truck, towing, and storage fees was thrown out of court because the owner didn’t pay the storage fees. The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court threw out the lawsuit when the towing and impound yard “seized and disposed” of the truck “to cover the storage costs.”

The Appellate Division said that the plaintiff failed to preserve the vehicle when the defendant had a right to inspect it, Delmur, Inc. v School Constr. Auth. 174 A.D.3d 784 (2d Dep’t 2019).

How Much Can a Shop Charge You For Towing and Storing Your Motorcycle?

Find out how much you can be charged for towing, labor, disassembly, and storage fees of your motorcycle in New York.

If Your Motorcycle Is Towed to a Repair Shop After a Motorcycle Accident

Don’t let the towing and storage charges become excessive! Just call us for a free consultation 7 days/nights at 1-800-HURT-911® | 1-800-487-8911

How is a Harley Davidson or a Ford GT similar to a violin?

If you have a Harley Davidson or other motorcycle which is desired by collectors and would be worth less after an accident even with proper repairs, you may now be entitled to reimbursement for the diminished value after an accident.

Reimbursement for the diminished value after an accident would be paid in addition to the cost of repairs, even if the repair restored your motorcycle to look like its pre-accident condition.

In Franklin Corp. v Prahler (Dec. 10, 2011), the plaintiff, Franklin Corp., sought to recover $52,000, which included the diminished value of a Ford GT which was struck by the defendant. Although State Farm estimated the cost of repairs to be $3,484.35, Franklin claimed that the Ford GT would be worth substantially less money after the repair.

The Appellate Division of the Fourth Department in New York concluded that the plaintiff is entitled to recover the amount of the diminished value in addition to the cost of repairs because the Ford GT is appreciating in value.

The Appellate Division compared the Ford GT to the plaintiff’s violin in Schalscha v Third Ave. R.R. Co., an 1897 case in the Appellate Division, First Department (19 Misc 141). In Schalscha, the court held that the plaintiff could recover not only the cost to repair the damaged violin but also the amount of its depreciation in value after the repair.

With regard to the Ford GT, the Appellate Division stated:

“Where a vehicle, like any other piece of personal property, has increased in value and is subsequently damaged by the negligence of the defendant, the plaintiff should be entitled to recover the cost of that diminution in value. Otherwise, the plaintiff will not be made whole.”

The Appellate Division also stated:

“Here, plaintiff submitted evidence that, even if the GT was fully repaired, the mere fact that it had been in an accident had diminished its market value by $40,000 because it would no longer be in its “original factory condition.”

The ruling, in this case, allows for recovery of both repair costs and diminished value to a car or motorcycle which:

1. Is damaged by someone else’s negligence;
2. Appreciated in market value from the time it was obtained; and
3. Has sustained proven diminished value.

If the motorcycle’s original pre-accident market value has depreciated, then reimbursement will be limited to either the reasonable cost of repairs or the motorcycle’s diminished value, whichever is less. However, my belief is that an argument could be made that this ruling should also apply to a motorcycle that has depreciated but has a market value after repairs that is less than the market value of the same vehicle without repairs.

Depending upon the demand for Harley Davidson, the ruling could even apply to a new Harley-Davidson but would certainly apply to any collectible motorcycle that has sustained diminished value because of an accident.

See Diminished Value at our website HURT911.org®

Why you should buy collision coverage. You can avoid diminished value problems with the right type of collision damage coverage. There are three different types of collision damage coverage.

If you own a motorcycle shop

We can help you get paid quicker and make your life easier whether or not the motorcyclist has collision coverage. Many motorcyclists don’t have collision coverage, and we represent them for free for the collision damage.

Do you have a motorcycle in your yard or shop, and the motorcyclist doesn’t have the money to pay your fees? We can get the money for the motorcyclist, so he or she can get the motorcycle out of your yard, and you’ll get paid.

If your motorcycle is towed to a repair shop after a motorcycle accident

You may be charged for towing, labor (because your motorcycle is an over-turned vehicle), storage, and possibly disassembly fees.

How much a repair shop can charge you for towing and storing your motorcycle depends upon both local regulations in the town and NYS law.

New York regulations usually allow a maximum storage fee of $15 per day if your motorcycle is stored outside. If your motorcycle is stored inside, the shop must have a sign posted which indicates the storage fee. If your motorcycle has to be disassembled to provide an estimate, the shop may charge a disassembly fee.

This motorcycle was disassembled and stored outside

Towing and storage charges are also regulated by the town

On Long Island, in the Town of North Hempstead, towing and storage regulations allow a $125 towing charge, which includes the first mile plus another $5 per mile plus a $15 fuel surcharge. Because a motorcycle will be lying on its side after an accident, motorcycles are subject to an additional labor fee of $50 allowed for “when the use of special skills is required to right an overturned vehicle.” Storage charges after seven days are allowed to increase to $30 per day.

New York Motor Vehicle Repair Shop Regulations

New York Motor Vehicle Repair Shop Regulations PART 82.8 (c) (1) provides that a customer may not be charged for storage unless notice in writing is given by a statement on an estimate or other document given to the customer.

(2) Storage of the motorcycle may not be charged during the period from which the customer has authorized repairs to one business day after the repair shop has notified the customer to pick up the repaired motorcycle. (There is a contradiction on page 22 of the Motor Vehicle Repair Shop Regulations, which states that the repair shop cannot begin charging for storage until two business days after they have notified you to pick up your motorcycle.

(d) Upon reasonable notice, a customer may remove the motorcycle from a repair shop during the shop’s business hours upon paying for storage charges.

Know Your Rights | Information and Complaints about NY Inspection Stations, Repair Shops, Body Shops, and Dealers | NYS DMV Vehicle Safety Complaint Unit tel phone: 518-474-8943

Information on towing your motorcycle in New York City

Find a towed vehicle

Retrieving a Towed Vehicle from an NYPD Tow Pound

NYC Towing Service Guide [PDF]

NYC Towing Service Guide

When you have collision coverage

When you have collision coverage on your motorcycle insurance policy, you’re in a better position because your insurance company has obligations to you that are determined by the motorcycle insurance policy. Part of those obligations is to quickly inspect your motorcycle damage and pay your claim promptly.

However, the collision damage portion of your motorcycle policy may contain some restrictions, such as the number of days they will pay for storage charges.

When you do not have collision coverage

When your motorcycle is damaged in an accident, you will have to try to get the car’s insurance company to pay for your motorcycle damage. Unlike collision coverage on your own motorcycle policy, someone else’s insurance company has no obligation to you.

Someone else’s insurance company might look at your motorcycle quickly, and they might offer to pay for the damage, but it could be a lot more difficult. They usually will go by what their insured says, and if their insured claims that the accident was your fault, you might not get paid for your motorcycle until we file a lawsuit.

However, unlike collision damage coverage, someone else’s insurance company is obligated to pay you storage charges for whatever amount of time, within reason, your motorcycle is in storage.

It’s best to remove your motorcycle as soon as possible from storage to mitigate (lessen) the damages for which the car that caused your motorcycle accident will be responsible.

If you are unable to remove your motorcycle, the insurance company insuring the car which caused your motorcycle accident should be notified that you are unable to remove the motorcycle from storage so they can prevent being responsible for even more money.

What to do when you don’t have the money to get your motorcycle out of storage?

Read what to do if you don’t have the money to get your motorcycle out of storage and what can happen if you don’t get your motorcycle out of storage quickly.

What to do when your motorcycle is damaged, and you are injured in a motorcycle accident

If you had a motorcycle accident, please call us as soon as possible. When you’re injured in a motorcycle accident, we never charge a legal fee to help you recover the money for your motorcycle.