This is my first accident recovery since I have been in business full time! How would some of you go about billing. I usually do hook and mileage tows but do you guys add time or a fee for accident tows? here is some pics!
Sweet! We bill non-police accident recoveries by the hour, with a one hour minimum. $100 to $200 an hour is not uncommon.
Bill away, you figure the insurance company is picking up the tab anyways.
You've got cleanup, and the added liability of dealing with a vehicle that is not functional. Then there's the storage, tarp fee, bunjee cord fee LOL.
I see that some of the other guys are only in it for the money. Don't bill high just because it is insurance, that is why rates keep going up... As I look at those pictures there is no "RECOVERY" involved, if you can just back right up to it, its a standard tow. If extra winching and cleanup is required bill accordingly, as well as impound and other fees like tarping etc. Don't screw people over it will come back and bite you in the a**. Nice truck don't let some of the other guys who create the stereotypical image of a tow operator bring yours down. 
Thats pretty much what I did. I billed for hook and mileage and use of skates because one wheel was locked up and pointing the wrong direction and some clean up.
I agree that is not a recovery, if it was completely off the roadway or rolled over then that would be a recovery IMHO, dont forget storage if that is applicaple
I see a tow that I would have dispatched a recovery tech to perform. There are also additional hazards involved with a recovery like this, such as a crowded scene, additional traffic concerns, hazardous fluids, sharp debris, etc. I would definitely put this in the recovery column. I agree it may have turned out be an easy one, but the additional risk, liability, and costs, normally associated with a more serious accident are there. 
Josh now you know you cant cut the cat off of that one right??? We charge hourly for anything other than a straight hook-n-go tow and have a chart for the guys for extra labor and clean up, give me a call and i'll give you a copy!
What do you mean you can't cut the cat off?? "It was missing when I got there".
I had one last week, I traded the hulk for the recovery / tow bill. 99 Bonneville with about 170K, slid off the highway and went sideways into a utility bill, I figure they hit at at least 40 mph. The car was a good ways past "totalled".
The customer was going to have me tow it to their apartment, then have a salvage yard come and tow it away the next day. The customer was thrilled that I was willing to scrap it for them, and I was thrilled with the $230 I got for the hunk (plus the cat that I threw in my pile).
YEAH! Somebody else must have cut it off! 
Jason, Aaron just knows that I'm a scrappin fool! Last year in the first 6 months that I was full time on my truck I scrapped 302 vehicles! 
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