Tow Professional Podcast
Tow Professional Podcast
Mastering Downtime Claims: Unlocking Compensation Strategies for Tow Truck Owners with Experts Kelsey and Olivia from Eckert Associates
Unlock the secrets of successful downtime recovery for tow truck owners with our latest episode featuring Kelsey and Olivia from Eckert Associates. They share expert insights on how tow truck businesses can claim compensation for lost revenue after not-at-fault accidents. With a focus on legal rights and the challenges surrounding specialized equipment, Kelsey and Olivia provide indispensable advice on navigating the complex terrain of downtime claims, ensuring you're equipped to handle everything from proving financial hardship to dealing with insurance nuances. Their guidance demystifies an often overlooked aspect of running a towing business, making it clear that understanding these claims is vital for your company's survival and growth.
In this engaging discussion, Olivia and Kelsey also tackle the financial hurdles of making rental costs viable and offer practical defense strategies against rental claims. They emphasize the crucial role of maintaining detailed financial records and explain how tow truck owners can leverage free consultations and contingency-based support to manage losses effectively. With the right knowledge and expertise, you can transform the way your business handles downtime. Secure your company's future by mastering these essential strategies for downtime recovery, and gain the confidence to overcome financial and legal challenges with the help of seasoned professionals.
Welcome one and all to Toe Professionals Podcast. This is your podcast. It's for the pros that have a need to know, that are on the go. This is truly the voice of the towing industry. I'm DJ Harrington, your co-host, better known as the Toe Doctor, and the real host of the program is the president and publisher of Toe Professional Magazine. Good friend of the industry, a dear friend of mine, Darren Weaver. Darren, how are you, buddy?
Speaker 2:Boy, I tell you I am fantastic. Boy, dj, you always build me up. I don't think I can live up to that, but hey, here I am. It's a soggy day down here in Birmingham, alabama, so it's a great day to be in the office and a fantastic day for a podcast. And, dj, let me tell you I am absolutely excited about this one because these are our friends from Eckert Associates that have been on here many times. About this one, because these are our friends from Eckerd Associates that have been on here many times. They have tremendous knowledge of the industry when it comes to downtime claims, what our owners can do when they get in a position. They have a truck damage and they're down. So this is going to be a great one and I'm going to throw it to you and let you get us started, my friend.
Speaker 1:All right. So if we're doing with Echoing Associates, kelsey, I guess you should introduce yourself first to our 17,000 listeners. Don't get paranoid. You can tell our listeners a little bit about you. You've been on before and we'll go from there. And then I'll ask the first question how about that?
Speaker 3:That sounds great, dj, and again I appreciate the opportunity. You guys are always just so, so professional and pleasant and I always have a just such a good time speaking with you. And so again, thank you for the opportunity. I'm here with Olivia Clark from our office. She's our marketing and she's in our marketing department, our marketing assistant and and I'm the lead attorney I won't say senior attorney, because I'm not that old, but anyway so we handle downtime claims. Our phone number is 1-800-DOWNTIME. Our website is downtimeclaimscom. We help tow truck owners all over the country with their downtime after a not-at-fault accident. What does that mean? That means that sometimes another vehicle hits a tow truck and that tow truck is down. And when that truck is down it is not making any money. It has all the expenses, not only pay for the repairs, but they need to pay for that lost income of that equipment. So that's what we do for owner-operators and truck owners all across the country.
Speaker 1:All right. So I guess, because I'm going to ask the first question, let me ask you something that a listener would say what do you classify as downtime?
Speaker 3:Okay, as far as well. There's many words for it. You know some people call it lost income or business interruption or loss of use. So it is. Let's say that truck makes on average 1000 a day and let's say that, you know, fuel is 100. Well, there's, there's lost income, net operating income of 900 a day. That's due to the victim of this accident, and so downtime is available for all types of commercial equipment all across the country. Every state has a little bit of difference as far as their laws, but by and large, victims have rights.
Speaker 1:I got you and all of our listeners better grab a pad and a paper and start taking some notes as I pass this on over to Darren, because this is going to be an educational one yeah, you're absolutely right, dj.
Speaker 2:I mean, when you're looking at these trucks, the cost of the equipment these days is not that bad when you're looking at it and you're going, I can offset that with the work I can do with it on a daily basis. But just like Kelsey's saying here, when that thing's down, now that payment doesn't make sense anymore because it's not making money and that puts you behind the eight ball quick. So here we go. Next question Kelsey, as an owner, did our tow professionals? Do they have the right to be paid for their truck's downtime?
Speaker 4:I'll take that one, darren. This is a little different thing now. In almost all states across the United States the short answer really is yes, you have the right to your downtime recovery. Typically, lost income is considered like a consequential loss that relates to the accident itself. So you lost money due to the accident and the repairs might be paid, but your downtime, your lost revenue, not necessarily covered by insurance and that's something that typically you have the legal right to recover under the property damage area.
Speaker 2:Have the legal right to recover under the property damage area. Okay, fantastic. Well, let's say one of our guys has not only a tow truck, but a lot of them have forklifts, skid steers Say somebody's on their property, comes across their property damages a skid steer or something. Does this apply to that as well?
Speaker 4:Absolutely yes.
Speaker 2:Fantastic, love it, love it. Like DJ said, listeners better be taking notes on this one. Well, dj, the next question's to you, so this is great.
Speaker 1:Sure, Kelsey, whichever one wants to hit it. What if I have a specialized piece of equipment that I can't be rented? What do you do in a case like that?
Speaker 3:Well, this is the common defense of, let's say, the bad driver's insurance company is, let's say, progressive, and Progressive says well, you should have gone out and rented something to what's called mitigate your losses, make your losses as small as possible. You know, a lot of pieces of equipment just can't be rented and you know, or you know, it just doesn't make sense for the period of time. So there's not a lot of temporary rental tow trucks available or specialty equipment. So if it can't be rented, it can't be rented. But it is up to the victim, the tow truck owners. It's up to them because they would be considered the plaintiff if there was ever a lawsuit. The plaintiff has to prove their case. So they have to show they at least tried. There's no law that says that I know of that says you absolutely have to have rented something if it's impossible to rent. It's just that you have to show that you tried.
Speaker 3:And it's really important for your listeners to remember the saying. If it's not in writing, it never happened. And that's not necessarily the case law, but it's in reality because the insurance company let's use that progressive example they're going to want to know what the victim did to try to rent something and if they just said, yeah, I tried to rent, well, what kind of proof is that that would prove it? So it's always very helpful when calling rental places to have them respond in writing or email. The rental places have them respond in email or text. Sorry, we don't have that kind of equipment, even if someone in the truck industry would know absolutely. Oh, that's ridiculous. Of course, nobody rents that. Well, the other side may not know that, and if it goes all the way to court, a judge may not know that either. So it's very important to have documented papers from third parties that don't have a dog in the fight.
Speaker 1:I got you so with documentation, either in writing or with emails or with texts. As long as it's documented, it helps support your case, absolutely, gotcha. Well, darren, how about we take our first break? This is going to be good and I want all of our listeners to know these two ladies really know this industry. This is not one of these things that they do lightly. They do it all the time and I hope you all wrote down 1-800-DOWN-TIME, so let's take a fast break and we'll be right back with more real, good information to help you grow your business.
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Speaker 1:Welcome back listeners. You know you're listening to Tow Professional on the Go podcast Every week. We do our best to bring you informative episodes like the one right now. Make sure you download and listen. We're available on Spotify, itunes, pandora, stitcher, iheartmedia, amazon or wherever you get your podcasts. So, darren, this is a great one. Let me pass that on over to you, okay.
Speaker 2:Hey, I'm going to ask one. I know our listeners are sitting here biting at the bit saying why should I have to rent a truck while mine's in the shop? I'm the victim here, I'm the one that got hurt and my truck's messed up. So I'll let one of you answer that for our listeners.
Speaker 3:Oh sure, this is Kelsey and the answer is welcome to American law Love it. You know, it's just the way it is. It's whoever's. The victim ends up being the plaintiff in a case and it's the plaintiff's job to prove, to prove their losses. You know it is, it's unfortunate, but the court says you have to try to lessen your losses, lessen your damages in some way, and the fancy word for that is mitigate your losses. So again, you don't have to be successful, but you have to try. You have to prove that you tried.
Speaker 2:Yep, and that goes back to what you and DJ were just talking about me before we cut the break whereas you have to cover yourself with a paper trail, an email, and at least try and get out there and get the quotes or find out if it's even available and show that you did the due diligence to try and make it happen to cover your loss. So yeah, without a doubt, it's perfect. Well, DJ, I'm going to turn the next one over to you.
Speaker 1:All right. So I guess what I want to ask is what if the cost of the rental does not really make business sense.
Speaker 4:So this is Olivia, sorry If you can't make the business expense work. The reality is you might need your bookkeeper or your accountant, or you might need to hire a CPA separately to get some help on that. You might need to itemize all of the costs that are associated with renting temporary equipment and you have to prove why it would be difficult to make a profit with a rental, and you have to prove why it would be difficult to make a profit with a rental. So you have to know what you're making, what's going out and how that would be impacted by the cost of a rental, and you have to have it on paper.
Speaker 3:You've got to prove it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's definitely a defense. As far as you know, if you couldn't afford to rent a tow truck, or renting a tow truck temporary doesn't make financial sense, those absolutely are defenses. However, that means you have to provide all kinds of financial details to the other side and oftentimes there's easier ways. Rather than showing that it doesn't make business financial sense, it's easier to just show it was impossible to rent that type of equipment, or whoever you're hauling for connected with doesn't allow for temporary rentals or your insurance doesn't allow it. There's often other defenses rather than going into the meat and potatoes of your income and expenses and showing that you just couldn't afford it or didn't make financial sense.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, that makes sense and you're always there. So if there's a question comes up and one of our listeners wants to ask, you they can just dial you guys in and you kind of walk them through it. Prepare them for what you do.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and the great thing is that we offer free consultations for any downtime claim that comes through our door or through our phone, and so if you have questions and you think maybe I have a case, give us a call 1-800-DOWMOWN-TIME and we will chat with you for free. You don't even have to pay anything to ask your questions boy, that is Olivia and Kelsey.
Speaker 1:That makes sense. All right, darren, I'll turn it over to you boy.
Speaker 2:I tell you, dj, like I said, this was going to be a fantastic one, and if our listeners are taking notes and I know they are this is the way, guys. The difference I feel between a two-truck business and a 20-plus truck business is the decisions you make along the way, and when you have knowledge like this, write it down, go back to it, because this is a difference between the company backing up when you get hit with a loss and the company being able to regain that and move forward. And thank God we've got great companies out here, like Eckerd Associates, that have stepped forward to help you do that. So I guess my next question I want to ask is what if the other side says we told them, hey, look, you just took out a piece of my business and this is going to hurt me? And they say, well, you know what? We don't pay downtime claims. What do we do then?
Speaker 3:Well, I say the hell you don't.
Speaker 6:I love that yes.
Speaker 3:As Olivia said before, downtime is considered a consequential loss and in most states consequential losses are absolutely allowed, and so oftentimes the adjuster who's on the other side just doesn't understand truly what a downtime claim is or the fact that they owe the money.
Speaker 3:So it just takes some legal persuasion oftentimes, and most of the time it does not take actually filing suit. What we do in our office is well, like Olivia said, we do free consultations and then if someone wants to hire us, there's no money down. We work on a contingency fee of a third if we can get it settled in-house. So we just need a client's paperwork and then we can calculate all the losses and send the demand out to the other side and, just, you know, work on getting a settlement. So these companies, these small tow companies, they don't have time to mess with all this and you know, everybody has their little niche and this is ours. We do it all day, every day, and, and, and we know the lingo, we know these adjusters and these insurance companies and how they work, and so so we love what we do, we love it, and we've got a whole team here that that, uh, works on on calculating that, calculating the losses as high as reasonably possible and then working to get that money back for the owner.
Speaker 2:DJ. I love that. Kelsey, I love that For our total professionals out there, you've got somebody that will go to bat for you. They're passionate about what you do and they're passionate about making sure that you get paid and that your business is protected. So I can't say it any better If you want to be taken care of, if you want to make sure your company is protected, it's 1-800-DOWNTIME. Give them a call or go to downtimeclaimscom. Well, listeners, hang in there. We're going to take one more break and we're going to come back and get more great information from Kelsey and Olivia of Eckert Associates. So hang in there, we'll be right back.
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Speaker 1:All right listeners. You know you're listening to the number one podcast, the whole Professional on the Go podcast. Now I can't thank you enough, darren, and I want to thank you for all the good reviews and remember to like, review and share everywhere. We can't thank you enough. If you would like an expert to be on the line, like Kelsey and Olivia's on right now, by all means dial our hot wants to put information on the podcast 706-409-5603. And we will do our best to do just that. All right Now, kelsey and Olivia, here's what I have for you. What if we have an uninsured, or what they call have enough insurance to hit us? What?
Speaker 3:are we doing? Yeah, yeah, there's an alarmingly high number of motorists on the road these days with either no insurance or very minimal insurance, and it's causing grief for the rest of us to do it the right way and have insurance, and all that so when your listeners, when a tow truck is hit by an uninsured motorist, Nobody would like to file a claim on their own policy. But sometimes, well, that's what insurance is for and it's very important to not only have the physical damage coverage on your policy that covers the repairs, but also have some nice little initials on the page, and that is UMPD and UIMPD and that stands for uninsured motorist property damage and underinsured motorist property damage. Now there's also UMBI, which is uninsured Motorist and Bottle Injury, and UIMBI and that's, you know again, for personal injury type matters, and you know personal injury attorneys care about that more. I care about these trucks and so anyway, I care about the end of business.
Speaker 3:So let's say, for example, a car, let's say that car driven by, filed under your own insurance company and you can go after your own insurance company for the downtime loss Even if you don't have downtime coverage on your policy. Typically you can get downtime paid if you have the UIM PD if it was the 10,000 on the other side. Just UIM means underinsured, so the guy on the other side was underinsured and if the guy had no insurance then it would be the UMPD. So it's a lot of letters, but anyway, long and short of it, is my understanding, is it's pretty inexpensive insurance. Get with your insurance agent, Ask them do I have uninsured and underinsured motorist protection? And it needs to be for not just bodily injury but also for the property damage, and that will save the day when it comes to downtime claims. Wow.
Speaker 1:See, I want to say something. Kelsey and Olivia, I just hope our listeners are sitting there saying you know what, if I get an accident, I know who I'm calling equity and association and just let them go from there, because you work on a retainer. You work on a retainer so you don't. You don't pay anything up front. You actually get paid when we get paid. That's right.
Speaker 3:That's right. It incentivizes my staff to work quickly and work efficiently, but also work with high quality to get the highest settlement possible. Wow.
Speaker 1:All right, Darren, just so it makes sense.
Speaker 2:Without a doubt, man, man, it's fantastic. Let's let our listeners know again. It's 1-800 downtime, or you can email them info at downtimeclaimscom or just go directly to downtimeclaimscom, the website, website and any questions. You can give them a call, again, 1-800-downtime, and they'll be able to answer anything but any last parting shots before we go here. Kelsey or Olivia, you want to tell our listeners.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we also have a fantastic newsletter that goes out at least once a month. It contains educational content, ways to protect yourself in a downtime, claim things about taxes. We involve a lot of other industry experts in that newsletter, and so if you are looking for ways to learn more, ways to gain some knowledge to make sure you protect yourself, sign up for our newsletter. On our website. We have also a handout for truckers and for tow professionals on how to protect yourself after an accident. Make sure you take advantage of those free resources, because we're on the side of the little guy and not everybody is.
Speaker 2:That's right, 100% DJ. Any last words before we leave, sir, and then I'll finish it up.
Speaker 1:You know what? I just hope all these listeners here are the other things. When we go to shows, when we go to shows, you should give us some stickers that guys could put on their truck caps.
Speaker 4:We've got stickers, we do. We can send you some.
Speaker 1:Send us some Because we're going to be at the Florida Toe Show. Send us some so that we can have them at our booth and just hand them out to people. I think it's a great idea. That sounds great, absolutely.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we'll be happy to do that.
Speaker 1:Hey, will you. Dj you mind if you close us out. Sir Buddy, just like usual, we really had a great one today with Eckerd and Associates and by all means I know you know how to say it nicely for a good party. But I will see you at the Florida Toe Show and I hope all of you that need to get involved in this 1-800-DOWN-TOWN, you learn more about it. Go to the website and learn as much as you can, just in case it happens to you.
Speaker 2:I tell you, dj, I want to tell the listeners, if you get a chance, subscribe to their newsletter. Let me tell you you will see it show up in Tow Professional throughout the year. We just had it in our Tow Professional Q4 quarterly issue and we had a feature in there on the myth of rear-end accidents Excellent editorial and again information from Kelsey Eckert that would tell you exactly what you want to know about the ins and outs on the legal side. And let me tell you they know it so they can tell you where you stand and how they can help you. So again, 1-800-downtime or downtimeclaimscom.
Speaker 2:But with ending, dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for our fabulous vendors throughout the publication. I thank you for their loyalty, I thank you for their trust in me with their business and, dear Lord, I ask that you bless their businesses, increase their businesses and help them reach others and help them inside our market, protect them, prosper their families. Dear Heavenly Father, I just ask you to keep a hedge of protection around our vendors, around our first responders, our tow men and women that are out there on a daily basis with a service heart serving this industry. Dear God, help us put less names on the wall next year and allow our men and women to come back home safe after going out serving others in our industry. Thank you and God bless. Thank you, lord, amen. God bless our listeners. Thank you for making us the number one podcast in industry. We're going to continue to bring you knowledge for the market with industry-leading professionals like Kelsey Eckert and Olivia Clark here from Eckert Associates. Give them a call 1-800-DOWNTIME or downtimeclaimscom. Thanks again, god bless. We'll see you next time.