Oklahoma Farm Bureau files brief in lawsuit supporting storage fees cap legislation
The Oklahoma Farm Bureau has filed an amicus curiae brief supporting a storage fees cap law that the Oklahoma Auto Body Association (OKABA) and 13 auto body shops allege is unconstitutional in a lawsuit they filed late last year.
The suit focuses on Senate Bill 641, which was passed in the 2025 legislative session. The law caps daily storage fees for total loss vehicles at $39 for gas vehicles and $125 for EVs with a damaged battery. The caps can be increased to $75 for gas and $200 for EVs on the 11th day.
Sen. Lonnie Paxton (R-District 23), an Oklahoma Farm Bureau insurance agent, introduced the bill in early 2025. He attempted to pass similar bills (SB1853 and SB1741) in 2024.
The Farm Bureau’s brief states that the act is a “rational exercise of legislative discretion.” It adds that the legislature used its authority to address “unfair, unreasonable storage fees charged by auto body repair shops, incurred by insurance companies and oftentimes passed along to Oklahoma consumers via increased premiums.”
In the brief, the insurance company provides an example of a 2017 Ford Explorer involved in a collision that was determined to be a total loss. It adds that a shop in Cleveland, Oklahoma charged $250 a day for “just over one month” to store the vehicle for a total bill of $8,000.
The vehicle was worth about $16,000 before the collision, and the insurance company received $4,216 at a salvage auction, the brief states.
The insurance company argues that the court isn’t the appropriate place for the plaintiffs to express their disagreements with the act.
“But, respectfully, whether the Act is a good idea is not within the Court’s authority to decide; it is purely a policy decision left to the Legislature,” the brief states.
An article earlier this year by a nonprofit news site, Oklahoma Watch, questioned property insurance’s influence on lawmaking in the state.
The article specifically focuses on Rep. Mark Tedford (R-District 69) and Aaron Reinhardt’s (R-District 37) sponsorship of a failed bill, SB 726, last session. The bill would have removed 15% annual interest for court verdicts in favor of insureds if the insured had uninsured motorist coverage.
Tedford owns Tedford Insurance and is the CEO. Reinhardt is vice president of risk management at Bancfirst Insurance Services.
The two also sponsored a bill that bans consumers from assigning benefits to auto body shops. That bill is also being challenged in court by OKABA and body shops.
Tedford also sponsored the bill that caps storage fees.
Peyton Bell, owner of Bell Auto Body, is a plaintiff in the case. He previously told Repairer Driven News at the filing of the suit that the law is unconventional and it violates the free market clause.
If storage rates are capped, insurance companies have no incentive to move total loss vehicles that can sit in review for, at times, up to six or seven months, he said.
During this time, customers are not getting paid, they don’t have a vehicle, and they can’t get a new vehicle, he said. He added that repair shops have real estate tied up during the process as well.
“It will bankrupt a few shops, more than a handful, if it goes into play,” Bell said. “If you are looking at losing your business, there is a huge emotional turmoil there.”
Bell said shops in metro areas face higher real estate costs and limited space. He said it could cost them five, six, or seven times what it takes to operate rural businesses.
“When you start charging storage, it puts pressure on insurance to make a decision,” Bell said. “That really gets them moving. It may be only a couple days before the consumer is contacted and the car is pulled off your property.”
Otherwise, an insurance company could leave a vehicle there indefinitely, he said.
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