Section 304.154

Title XIX MOTOR VEHICLES, WATERCRAFT AND AVIATION

Chapter 304

Effective - 14 Oct 2016, 2 histories, see footnote   

  *304.154.  Towing truck company requirements—access to towed vehicles by insurance adjusters—notice to vehicle owner of transfer from storage lot or facility—display of tow company address, when. — 1.  A towing company operating a tow truck pursuant to the authority granted in section 304.153, 304.155, or 304.157 shall:

  (1)  Have and occupy a verifiable business address and display such address in a location visible from the street or road;

  (2)  Have a fenced, secure, and lighted storage lot or an enclosed, secure building for the storage of motor vehicles;

  (3)  Be open or available to a customer to make arrangements for a minimum of ten hours per day, Monday through Friday, for fifty-two weeks per year, excluding any federal holidays, for a customer or his or her authorized agent or an insurance adjuster, as defined in section 324.1100, to view or retrieve items from a vehicle with no additional fees charged, or to retrieve the vehicle at the posted rate, during these regular business hours.  A towing company shall not assess any storage fee on a day which the towing company is not open for business during such regular business hours;

  (4)  Notify the owner of a motor vehicle of the location of such motor vehicle within twenty-four hours after being contacted by such owner;

  (5)  Be available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.  "Availability" shall mean that an employee of the towing company or an answering service answered by a person is able to respond to a tow request;

  (6)  Have and maintain an operational telephone with the telephone number published or available through directory assistance;

  (7)  Maintain a valid insurance policy issued by an insurer authorized to do business in this state, or a bond or other acceptable surety providing coverage for the death of, or injury to, persons and damage to property for each accident or occurrence in the amount of at least five hundred thousand dollars per incident;

  (8)  Provide workers' compensation insurance for all employees of the towing company if required by chapter 287;

  (9)  Maintain current motor vehicle registrations on all tow trucks currently operated within the towing company fleet; and

  (10)  Post at its place of business and make available upon request to consumers a rate sheet listing all current rates applicable to towing services provided under this chapter.

  2.  The initial tow performed under section 304.153, 304.155, or 304.157 shall remain in the state of Missouri unless authorized by the vehicle owner, or his or her authorized agent including a motor club to which the owner of the motor vehicle is a member.

  3.  Counties may adopt ordinances with respect to towing company standards in addition to the minimum standards contained in this section.  A towing company located in a county of the second, third, or fourth classification is exempt from the provisions of this section.

  4.  Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, unless notified by a law enforcement agency that a motor vehicle is being preserved as evidence, a storage lot facility or towing company shall allow insurance adjusters access to and allow inspection of a motor vehicle, without charge, at any time during the towing company's or storage lot facility's normal business hours.

  5.  When a motor vehicle has been transferred to a towing company storage lot or a vehicle storage facility, such vehicle shall not be transferred from the towing company storage lot or vehicle storage facility without providing the owner of such vehicle twenty-four-hour advance notice of the planned transfer.  The notification shall include the address of where the vehicle is being transferred to, and all costs associated with moving the vehicle to a different storage lot or vehicle storage facility.

  6.  The provisions of subdivisions (3), (4), (6), and (10) of subsection 1 of this section, subsections 2, 4, and 5 of this section, and a provision in subdivision (1) of subsection 1 of this section requiring towing companies to display an address in a location visible from the street or road shall not apply to counties of the third or fourth classification.

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(L. 2004 S.B. 1233, et al., A.L. 2016 H.B. 1976)

*Effective 10-14-16, see § 21.250.  H.B. 1976 was vetoed July 1, 2016. The veto was overridden on September 14, 2016.