'I heard him holler,' cries driver after car falls off tow truck

A WOMAN watched her pickup fall from a tow truck and suffer thousands in damages - the tow company is avoiding accountability.

Key driving components and the entire front end needed to be replaced - adding up to over $10,000 worth of damage.

A woman's truck wouldn't start while she was at a gas station, so she called her insurance for a tow truckCredit: WFLA News Channel 8She saw it fall off of the truck from her passenger's seat, where $10,000 worth of damage happened to the front end and driving componentsCredit: WFLA News Channel 8

Cecillia Ygreda was filling up at a gas station in Tampa, Florida, when her Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck wouldn't start.

Through her insurance company, Liberty Mutual, she was directed to Agero as part of her roadside assistance package, and a tow truck quickly arrived.

Her Ram was loaded onto the truck, and Ygreda rode with the driver in the passenger's seat as they journeyed to the repair shop.

That's when things went wrong.

"I was actually in the tow truck when it happened," she told NBC affiliate WFLA.

"I felt the tow truck shaking. And I heard him holler and I looked and I saw my truck rolling off the back of the tow truck and it slammed down onto the ground."

The fall did excessive damage to her pickup truck.

"The drive shaft, the sway arm, the whole front end of the bumper and all the headlights, and there’s some kind of vent fan up underneath it that was ripped out," said Ygreda.

She was quoted over $10,000 to repair the truck, and through Agero's insurance, she was only offered $1,000.

Liberty Mutual told her to file a claim through them, and their agents would work with Agero's insurance to recoup the rest of the money.

'I've always paid on time,' complains driver whose car was towed from spot she pays for - it was all over a typo

However, responses from the towing company have been sparse.

"When it was finished, I took my $1,000 down there and ever since then I’ve pretty much been blown off," she said.

"It’s been, 'We’re waiting, we didn’t get the paperwork, we don’t have this,' nobody wants to take responsibility."

At a stalemate, Ygreda called Shannon Behnken to utilize her "Better Call Behnken" segment to draw attention to the lack of accountability.

Behnken emailed the towing company and was sent an email statement.

"Within a day of the incident, we were in contact with this customer to outline the necessary steps to file a claim with us, but then subsequently learned she opted to file a claim through her auto insurance company," the statement read.

"We worked with her insurance provider to obtain the necessary information to settle her claim and are working with the customer on her reimbursement."

Not long after the statement was sent, Ygreda confirmed that Agero contacted her to let her know she'd be sending a $1,000 deposit and a $600 reimbursement check for the rental car she used while her Ram was being repaired.

What to do if your car is towed

Wrongfully or not, retrieving a towed vehicle can be a hassle.

If your vehicle is towed after parking in a "No Parking" zone or other legitimate reason, there are a few steps to take to get it back.

Steps to take when your car is towed:

Try to figure out why your car was towed. Did you not see a posted "No Parking" sign? Did you miss a car payment? Did you return to a lot where you have unpaid citations? Finding the reason can narrow down the phone numbers to dial.
Locate the vehicle. Most states, cities, or counties require towing companies to leave some form of contact information via a posted sign or sent by mail.
Recovery dates and times depend on the company that towed the vehicle, but those times will be posted to the website or can be recited by a representative.
Pay the fees. Be careful to be as prompt as possible, as some tow yards may charge storage fees by the day.

If you feel your vehicle was wrongfully towed, contesting the action can be done with the following steps:

Be prompt - many states have a small window of time where it's acceptable to file a complaint against a company that wrongfully towed the vehicle.
Gather supporting documents: photos, emails, receipts, police reports, and witness statements if applicable. The more evidence, the better.
Get familiar with your local laws, as laws for towing companies vary per state.
Try speaking with the towing company. Sometimes it may have been a simple oversight, and the matter can be resolved quickly.
Contact the Justice of the Peace in your area, as they may have more insight or resources to help. They are often utilized for towing cases.
Talk to a lawyer. Many lawyers have free case consultations, and depending on the case, it may be worth it to utilize a lawyer.

Source: Oregon Department of Justice, National General, Rak Law Firm

Behnken told viewers that Ygreda secured security camera footage of the truck falling from the tow truck as they pulled away from the gas station, but was unable to show it due to her public records access being denied.

She noted that the footage is clear, and it should help Ygreda with her insurance claim.

Should something similar happen to another viewer, she encouraged her viewers to ask for footage when possible.

Viewers of the video on the outlet's YouTube channel were stunned by how quickly things started moving once the media was contacted.

The towing company's insurance only offered her $1,000 and then didn't return her callsCredit: WFLA News Channel 8

"It's amazing how they give you the runaround, but until social media/news gets involved, they sure move quickly," they wrote.

Another person wrote they were surprised that falling from a truck caused only $10,000 in damage.

"Only $10,000 in damage? There would be frame damage!"

Someone else mentioned that they're surprised her insurance didn't condemn the vehicle.

"$10,000 isn't damage, that's a totaled vehicle," their comment read.

The U.S. Sun has reached out to Agero for comment.

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