A tow truck should be a welcome sight when your vehicle is disabled. Unfortunately, some dishonest operators see a stranded or shaken motorist as an opportunity to make a small fortune.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau, commonly known as the NICB, has announced a strategic partnership with HONK Technologies aimed at identifying and stopping predatory towing and other vehicle-related fraud. The partnership will focus on suspicious practices involving towing, impound lots, vehicle storage and salvage operations.
HONK is a technology company that connects motorists with a nationwide network of towing and roadside-assistance providers. It works with insurance companies, automakers, fleet operators and mobility companies. As vehicles move through the roadside-assistance and towing process, HONK captures real-time information about those services.
NICB works with insurance companies, law-enforcement agencies and other organizations to detect and investigate insurance fraud. Under this new partnership, HONK and NICB will combine information from their respective networks and establish channels for sharing intelligence about questionable operators and emerging fraud schemes.
In plain English, HONK may be able to see unusual activity as it happens, while NICB has the investigators, insurance-industry relationships and law-enforcement contacts needed to determine whether that activity is part of a larger pattern.
For example, one towing company repeatedly submitting bills far above the market rate might not attract immediate attention. Neither might a particular storage facility that routinely adds questionable fees or delays releasing vehicles. However, when information from numerous claims is examined together, a pattern can emerge. That pattern could help insurers challenge improper charges and give investigators information they need to build cases against dishonest operators.
This is important because predatory towing is no longer confined to a few notorious big-city operations. NICB says reports have come from cities, suburbs and rural communities. It recorded an 89% increase in predatory-towing claims nationwide from the beginning of 2022 through the end of 2024.
NICB says motorists have reported towing and storage bills totaling thousands of dollars, including some exceeding $16,000 following an ordinary crash-scene tow. Those bills may contain inflated storage charges, administrative costs and vaguely described “miscellaneous” fees.
So, what is in this partnership for you?
The most immediate potential benefit is better detection. A single motorist may have no way of knowing that the tow operator demanding an outrageous payment has done the same thing to dozens of other people. Data shared by HONK could help NICB, insurers and investigators connect those dots more quickly.
It may also help shorten insurance-claim delays. When a vehicle is held in storage while an insurer disputes an excessive bill, storage charges can continue accumulating every day. Earlier identification of a questionable operator could help an insurance company respond before the bill becomes even larger.
There is also a broader financial benefit. Fraudulent and inflated towing bills become part of the cost of settling insurance claims. Those costs do not disappear; they eventually become one of many factors placing upward pressure on insurance premiums. Stopping the abuse will not cause everyone’s premium to fall next month, but reducing unnecessary claim expenses is clearly better for honest policyholders.
The information could also support tougher consumer-protection laws. NICB says some states do not require adequate licensing, prohibit solicitation at crash scenes or require towing companies to clearly disclose their prices. Reliable data showing where abuse is occurring can give legislators and regulators a better foundation for action.
There are limits to what was announced. This partnership does not establish national towing rates, create a reimbursement fund or guarantee that every dishonest tow will be prevented. NICB is not a government regulator, and towing laws vary considerably by state and city. This is essentially an intelligence-sharing and fraud-fighting partnership—not a new roadside-assistance benefit that every driver can automatically call upon.
Motorists must still protect themselves. After a crash, be cautious if a tow truck arrives without being called by you, your insurance company or law enforcement. Ask for the company’s name, a complete written price list and the exact location where your vehicle will be taken. Do not sign blank or incomplete documents. Photograph your vehicle, the tow truck, its identifying information and any paperwork you receive. Whenever circumstances allow, contact your insurer before authorizing the tow.
If you believe you have encountered towing fraud, preserve every bill, receipt, text message and photograph. Report the incident to your insurance company and the appropriate state or local agency. Suspected insurance fraud can also be reported to NICB at 800-TEL-NICB, or 800-835-6422.
This partnership will not eliminate rogue towing overnight. However, it gives the people fighting the problem something they badly need: more timely information. Predatory towers have long benefited from motorists being isolated, stressed and unaware that others have been treated the same way. Connecting those individual incidents may be the best chance yet to put the brakes on them.