Revised Code of Washington
Chapter 46.55 - Towing and Impoundment.
46.55.030 - Application—Contents, bond, insurance, fee, certificate.

RCW 46.55.030
Application—Contents, bond, insurance, fee, certificate.

(1) Application for licensing as a registered tow truck operator shall be made on forms furnished by the department, shall be accompanied by an inspection certification from the Washington state patrol, shall be signed by the applicant or an agent, and shall include the following information:
(a) The name and address of the person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation under whose name the business is to be conducted;
(b) The names and addresses of all persons having an interest in the business, or if the owner is a corporation, the names and addresses of the officers of the corporation;
(c) The names and addresses of all employees who serve as tow truck drivers;
(d) Proof of minimum insurance required by subsection (3) of this section;
(e) The vehicle license and vehicle identification numbers of all tow trucks of which the applicant is the registered owner;
(f) Any other information the department may require; and
(g) A certificate of approval from the Washington state patrol certifying that:
(i) The applicant has an established place of business and that mail is received at the address shown on the application;
(ii) The address of any storage locations where vehicles may be stored is correctly stated on the application;
(iii) The place of business has an office area that is accessible to the public without entering the storage area; and
(iv) The place of business has adequate and secure storage facilities, as defined in this chapter and the rules of the department, where vehicles and their contents can be properly stored and protected.
(2) Before issuing a registration certificate to an applicant the department shall require the applicant to file with the department a surety bond in the amount of five thousand dollars running to the state and executed by a surety company authorized to do business in this state. The bond shall be approved as to form by the attorney general and conditioned that the operator shall conduct his or her business in conformity with the provisions of this chapter pertaining to abandoned or unauthorized vehicles, and to compensate any person, company, or the state for failure to comply with this chapter or the rules adopted hereunder, or for fraud, negligence, or misrepresentation in the handling of these vehicles. Any person injured by the tow truck operator's failure to fully perform duties imposed by this chapter and the rules adopted hereunder, or an ordinance or resolution adopted by a city, town, or county is entitled to recover actual damages, including reasonable attorney's fees against the surety and the tow truck operator. Successive recoveries against the bond shall be permitted, but the aggregate liability of the surety to all persons shall not exceed the amount of the bond. As a condition of authority to do business, the operator shall keep the bond in full force and effect. Failure to maintain the penalty value of the bond or cancellation of the bond by the surety automatically cancels the operator's registration.
(3) Before the department may issue a registration certificate to an applicant, the applicant shall provide proof of minimum insurance requirements of:
(a) One hundred thousand dollars for liability for bodily injury or property damage per occurrence; and
(b) Fifty thousand dollars of legal liability per occurrence, to protect against vehicle damage, including but not limited to fire and theft, from the time a vehicle comes into the custody of an operator until it is redeemed or sold.
Cancellation of or failure to maintain the insurance required by (a) and (b) of this subsection automatically cancels the operator's registration.
(4) The fee for each original registration and annual renewal is one hundred dollars per company, plus fifty dollars per truck. The department shall forward the registration fee to the state treasurer for deposit in the motor vehicle fund.
(5) The applicant must submit an inspection certificate from the state patrol before the department may issue or renew an operator's registration certificate or tow truck permits.
(6) Upon approval of the application, the department shall issue a registration certificate to the registered operator to be displayed prominently at the operator's place of business.

[ 2010 c 8 § 9061; 1989 c 111 § 3; 1987 c 311 § 2; 1985 c 377 § 3.]

Structure Revised Code of Washington

Revised Code of Washington

Title 46 - Motor Vehicles

Chapter 46.55 - Towing and Impoundment.

46.55.010 - Definitions.

46.55.020 - Registration required—Penalty.

46.55.025 - Registration or insurance required—Penalty.

46.55.030 - Application—Contents, bond, insurance, fee, certificate.

46.55.035 - Prohibited acts—Penalty.

46.55.037 - Compensation for private impounds.

46.55.040 - Permit required—Inspections of equipment and facilities.

46.55.050 - Classification of trucks—Marking requirements—Time and place of inspection—Penalty.

46.55.060 - Business location—Requirements.

46.55.063 - Fees, schedules, contracts, invoices.

46.55.065 - License plate indicator tabs—Transporter business—Hulk hauler, scrap processor business—Wrecker business—Fees—Tab requirements.

46.55.070 - Posting requirements—Exception.

46.55.075 - Law enforcement impound—Required form, procedures.

46.55.080 - Law enforcement, authorized regional transit authority representative, other public official impound, private impound—Master log—Certain associations restricted.

46.55.085 - Law enforcement impound—Unauthorized vehicle in right-of-way.

46.55.090 - Storage, return requirements—Vehicles, personal belongings—Combination endorsement for tow truck drivers—Viewing impounded vehicle.

46.55.100 - Impound notice—Abandoned vehicle report—Owner information, liability—Disposition report.

46.55.105 - Responsibility of registered owner—Buyer and seller remedies.

46.55.110 - Notice to legal and registered owners.

46.55.113 - Removal by police officer—Definition.

46.55.115 - State patrol—Appointment of towing operators—Lien for costs—Appeal.

46.55.117 - Impounds under RCW 64.44.050.

46.55.118 - Rate, fee limitations for certain private impounds.

46.55.120 - Redemption of vehicles—Sale of unredeemed property—Improper impoundment.

46.55.125 - Redemption of motorcycle or moped as bailment while owner hospitalized due to accident—Requirements—Declaration form.

46.55.130 - Notice requirements—Public auction—Accumulation of storage charges.

46.55.140 - Operator's lien, deficiency claim, liability.

46.55.150 - Vehicle transaction file.

46.55.160 - Availability of records, equipment, and facilities for audit and inspection.

46.55.170 - Complaints, where forwarded.

46.55.180 - Presiding officer at licensing hearing.

46.55.190 - Rules.

46.55.200 - Penalties for certain acts or omissions.

46.55.210 - Cease and desist order.

46.55.220 - Refusal to issue license, grounds for.

46.55.230 - Junk vehicles—Removal, disposal, sale—Penalties—Cleanup restitution payment.

46.55.240 - Local ordinances—Requirements.

46.55.300 - Vehicle immobilization.

46.55.360 - Impoundment, when required—Law enforcement powers, duties, and liability immunity—Redemption, when, by whom—Operator liability immunity—Definition.

46.55.370 - Law enforcement liability immunity—Reasonable suspicion.

46.55.400 - Transporting abandoned recreational vehicles—Record of delivery—Report—Liability.

46.55.901 - Headings not part of law—1985 c 377.

46.55.902 - Effective date—1985 c 377.

46.55.910 - Chapter not applicable to certain activities of department of transportation.