Your car has been towed to an Italian deposit yard

The vehicle is somewhere behind a fence in a town whose name you did not catch, a storage fee is running, and the yard answers the phone in Italian. This situation is routine, and it resolves faster than people expect once the right two questions are answered.

Find out where it is and on whose instruction

If the vehicle was recovered from a motorway, the operator logs it — call them with the location, direction and approximate time. If the police arranged it, the reference number leads to the yard.

Establish who ordered the towing and on what basis. That determines who is entitled to release the vehicle, and it is the question that most often holds a case up for a week.

Keep every document you were given, including the towing order. That paper trail supports the towing and storage positions later.

Getting access for an inspection

Most private yards admit an external expert once the owner authorises it in writing — a signed scan by email is generally enough. Vehicles under judicial deposit follow stricter release rules and take longer.

Some yards make access conditional on their invoice being settled first. That conversation goes better in Italian, and it is one of the things we deal with directly.

Tell us the yard name and the registration and we will find out which situation applies before anyone travels.

The clock

Storage is charged by the day and adds up quickly. The inspection is the step that ends the storage period, because until the damage is documented nothing else can be decided — repair, repatriation or sale.

So the priority is speed over perfection: an inspection in three days beats a perfect plan in three weeks. Send photographs now for a same-day preliminary opinion, and we will tell you whether the vehicle needs to be seen where it stands or can be released and moved first.

Frequently asked questions

Who pays the storage and towing costs?

That follows the basis of the claim and is settled with the insurer, not with the expert. Keep every receipt. What we can influence is the length of the period, which is usually the larger number.

The yard will not release the car until I pay their invoice.

It happens. Establish first whether the amount is correct for the period and the service, and whether the claim covers it. Do not sign anything that transfers rights over the vehicle in exchange for release.

Can I have the car released and driven home instead?

If it is roadworthy, sometimes. Have it documented first — moving a damaged vehicle before it is assessed loses evidence, and a vehicle that seems drivable after a heavy impact is not necessarily fit for a long journey.