Indiana Code Title 9. Motor Vehicles § 9-22-1-8

Sec. 8. (a) If the properly identified person who owns or holds a lien on a vehicle appears at the site of storage before disposal of the vehicle or parts and pays all costs relating to a tow, the storage of the vehicle, and all allowable fees, as applicable, the vehicle or parts shall be released.

(b) A towing service or storage yard may not charge an inspection fee to an owner, a lienholder, or an insurance company representative to inspect a vehicle or retrieve items from the vehicle.

(c) A towing service or storage yard must accept payment made by any of the following means from a person seeking to release a vehicle under this section:

A towing service or storage facility may elect to accept payment by means of a credit card or debit card.

(d) Upon receiving payment of all costs relating to a tow, the storage of a vehicle, and all allowable fees, as applicable, a towing service or storage yard shall provide to the person making payment an itemized receipt that includes the information set forth in IC 24-14-5, to the extent the information is known or available.

(e) A towing service or storage yard must be open for business and accessible by telephone during regular office hours.  A towing service or storage yard must provide a telephone number that is available on a twenty-four (24) hour basis to receive calls and messages from callers, including calls made outside of regular office hours.  All calls made to a towing service or storage yard must be returned within twenty-four (24) hours from the time received.  However, if adverse weather, an act of God, or an emergency situation over which the towing service or storage yard has no control prevents the towing service or storage yard from returning calls within twenty-four (24) hours, the towing service or storage yard shall return all calls received as quickly as possible.

(f) A towing service or storage yard shall, if required, notify the appropriate public agency of all releases under this section.  The notification must include:

(g) A towing service or storage yard shall release property to a properly identified person who owns or holds a lien on the vehicle not later than twenty-four (24) hours after the towing service's or storage yard's receipt of:

(h) The owner shall file a civil complaint in the appropriate jurisdiction not later than thirty (30) days after providing the items required to release the vehicle under subsection (g) if the disputed invoice amount has not been resolved.  A towing service or storage yard may bring a civil complaint in an appropriate jurisdiction at any time within the same thirty (30) day period asking the court to resolve the disputed invoice amount.

(i) A civil complaint filed under subsection (h) must include the amounts in the invoice that are disputed and the reasons those amounts are disputed.  A copy of the invoice and any evidence of reasonableness or unreasonableness must be filed with the complaint.

(j) After a civil complaint is filed under subsection (h), the court shall make a determination as to whether the amount charged by the towing service or storage yard is reasonable.  If the court determines that the amount is reasonable, the court shall order the owner to pay the amount of the invoice, minus the amount paid under subsection (g)(1).  If the court determines that the amount charged was unreasonable, the court shall determine a reasonable amount and order the owner to pay that amount minus the amount paid under subsection (g)(1).  If the reasonable amount determined by the court is less than the amount paid under subsection (g)(1), the court shall order the towing service or storage yard to pay the owner the difference in those amounts.  The court may also require either party to pay or refund any additional amount and may impose any monetary penalties that the court determines to be appropriate.

(k) Nothing in this section creates, implies, or otherwise grants insurance coverage for the amount billed by a towing service or storage facility that is not within the owner's automobile insurance policy or other policy of insurance.