Who pays for towing after an accident in Ontario?

The tow follows the claim

A tow from a crash scene is treated as part of the cost of the loss, not a separate service you happened to buy. If you were not at fault, it travels with your DCPD claim. If the claim runs on your own collision or comprehensive coverage, the tow is covered along with the repair, subject to your deductible on the claim as a whole.

Roadside assistance is a different product. It handles breakdowns, lockouts, and dead batteries, usually with a distance cap measured in kilometres, and it is not the coverage doing the work after a collision.

Accident benefits do not pay for towing either — that part of an Ontario policy covers injury-related costs, which is a common point of confusion.

Storage fees are the part that hurts

The tow itself is usually a manageable number. Storage is what becomes a problem, because yards charge per day and the meter starts the moment the truck drops the car.

Insurance companies pay reasonable storage for a reasonable period. They generally stop paying once you have been told to move the vehicle and have not, and a bill that sits for weeks quietly becomes your bill.

Move fast, in this order:

• Ask the tow operator where the vehicle is going and get the yard’s name and phone number — Ontario’s rules require an itemized invoice, so ask for it
• Open the insurance claim the same day and get the claim number
• Tell the insurance company which shop you are using — in Ontario that choice is yours
• Ask your shop to arrange the release and the second tow, which is routine work
• Get the storage total in writing before the vehicle leaves the yard

You choose where the car goes

Under Ontario’s towing oversight rules, in force since 2024, tow operators must be provincially certified, must provide itemized invoices, and the destination of the tow is the customer’s decision. If you already know your shop, name it at the scene and the vehicle can go straight there — no second tow, no storage fees at all.

If the crash needs to be reported and the vehicle is drivable enough to move, it may go to a Collision Reporting Centre first for the report and damage photos; from there, you still direct it wherever you choose.

If the vehicle has already landed in a yard, you are not stuck. You can direct it to the shop you want, and neither a tow yard nor an insurance company gets to overrule that decision.

What the shop can take off your hands

If your car is not drivable, call us at (647) 594-3401 and we will help arrange the tow to our shop off Keele just south of Sheppard. If it is already sitting in a yard, tell us where and we will handle the release and the transport with you.

We open the claim with you on the same call when you want us to, so the tow, the storage, and the repair land on one file with one claim number instead of three separate conversations.

Bring the tow receipt and the storage invoice with the vehicle. Those documents go into the claim file and get submitted with the estimate.

Tows arranged at the scene

Most tow operators in the GTA are legitimate businesses doing hard work in terrible weather. A small number are not, and a crash scene on the shoulder of the 401 is precisely where the difference matters — accident-scene towing here has a history that is the whole reason the province built its oversight regime.

The pattern to watch: a truck that arrives without being called, a driver vague about the destination, and paperwork pushed at you while your hands are still shaking. A signature in that state can authorize storage at a rate you never saw and a repair you never chose.

You are allowed to slow everything down. Ask who called them, ask for the destination, and ask for the itemized rate in writing before the vehicle is hooked — Ontario’s rules are on your side on all three. If police are on scene, you can still name where you want the car taken.

The simplest protection is deciding in advance. Knowing which shop you would use means you can name it at the scene, the vehicle goes there directly, and the storage question never exists.

If a vehicle has already gone somewhere you did not choose, call your insurance company and your shop — the release and second tow get arranged the same day in most cases.

Warning signs worth taking seriously:

• A truck that shows up uninvited and is in a hurry to load
• A driver who will not say clearly where the vehicle is being taken
• Paperwork that bundles a repair authorization in with the tow
• No written, itemized rate for the tow, the hookup, or the daily storage
• Pressure to decide immediately, or discouragement from calling your own shop
• A yard that will not release the vehicle without cash, or will not put the total in writing

A note on drivable vehicles

Not every damaged car needs a tow, but some that seem drivable should not be driven. Fluid on the pavement, a wheel pointing the wrong way, a hood that will not latch, dead lights, or any airbag deployment all mean stop.

Driving on compromised structure also risks turning a repairable vehicle into a total loss, and new damage appearing after the crash was reported complicates the claim.

This page is general information from a repair shop, not legal advice. Coverage for towing and storage varies by policy — confirm yours with your broker or adjuster.