# Track Storage and Loss of Use Daily While the Repair Drags On > Storage bills for space. Loss of use pays for downtime. They start and stop on different dates, and a daily log is what makes either one stick. Source: https://ocrv.info/blog/claim-storage-and-loss-of-use-tracking Published 2026-05-28. Category: Insurance Claim Guides. About 5 minutes. Storage is a daily charge for occupying space and typically stops accruing once a carrier authorizes repair and work begins. Loss of use is coverage for being without the unit. Keep a dated log of both, attach receipts and vendor backorder notices, and record the authorization date precisely. ## The short answer Storage and loss of use are separate lines with separate rules. Storage is rent for the space a unit occupies, usually at a tow yard or at a shop holding a job nobody has authorized. Loss of use reimburses you for not having the unit available. Storage generally stops once repair is authorized and active, so authorization dates carry real weight. Log both daily, keep receipts, and close the accrual the day the unit rolls out. ## Storage and loss of use are two different things Two separate charges get merged on the same call, and the confusion costs money. Storage is what somebody bills for the physical space a unit occupies. Usually that is a tow yard rate starting the day the unit arrives, or a shop rate on a unit parked without authorization to begin work. Loss of use is a coverage that pays you for being without the vehicle, either as a rental substitute or as a daily figure written into the policy. They accrue for different reasons and stop for different reasons. Storage ends when the unit moves or goes into active repair. Loss of use runs until the unit is back in service, which can land weeks after storage stopped. A carrier may pay one in full and question the other on the same file. Keep them on separate lines in your records, because the adjuster reviews them separately. Blend them and the whole submission reads as padded. The [claims overview](/insurance) walks through the sequence the rest of the file follows. ## Who is accruing storage, and from what date? Ask three questions the day the unit gets towed: who is holding it, what is the daily rate, and what date did the clock start. Write the answers down. A tow operator quoting a rate on the phone and a tow operator producing an invoice six weeks later do not always agree, and the invoice is what the carrier sees. A shop that has not received authorization is holding a unit, not repairing it. That distinction drives the storage question. Once a carrier authorizes the scope and the unit moves into a bay, storage generally stops, because the space is now being used to perform the work. Get the authorization date in writing, with a time if you can, from whoever issued it. Deposits can affect the same date. On jobs above $2,000 a 50 percent deposit is required before work opens, with an additional 25 percent due when parts arrive on jobs above $10,000. If a deposit is pending, the unit is still parked. The [deposit and payment terms](/prices/deposits-and-payment) spell out those thresholds so nobody is surprised by a delay they created. ## What a loss of use log should contain A loss of use claim is only as good as the record behind it. Build the log the day the unit leaves your control, not the week you submit. Each daily entry needs five fields: - the date, written as a single calendar day rather than a range - what specifically was unavailable, by unit number or VIN, not "the truck" - the substitute arrangement, including the rental agreement number or the name of the unit you pulled from reserve - the receipt, scanned and filed the same day - the operational consequence, stated in concrete terms That last field is the one people skip and the one that carries weight. "Route 4 ran with a leased box for nine days" is a fact. "We lost business" is an opinion. Fleet operators who keep this log as a standing habit close these files faster, which is part of why our [fleet support process](/who-we-help/fleet-managers) starts with documentation rather than scheduling. ## Which delays a carrier usually accepts Adjusters sort delays into causes they consider outside your control and causes they consider inside it. Learning the split saves argument. Delays commonly accepted include a parts backorder with a documented supplier ETA, a supplement under active review by the carrier, and sublet scheduling where an outside vendor controls the calendar. Each has a paper trail generated by somebody other than you, which is exactly why it lands well. Delays commonly challenged include shop capacity, owner indecision on part type, and payment holds. If a unit sat four days while an owner decided between OEM and aftermarket, the carrier will treat those days as the owner's. The same goes for a job stalled on a deposit or a card authorization. Refrigerated equipment sharpens all of this, since a down unit means a route that cannot run at all. Anyone tracking downtime on a [reefer truck repair](/vehicles/commercial-trucks/reefer-truck) should log the cause of every idle day separately, because a mixed cause block gets discounted wholesale. ## How a parts backorder changes the clock A backorder claimed by phone is a story. A backorder documented by the vendor is a fact, and it changes the conversation immediately. Get three artifacts. First, the purchase order showing the date the part was ordered, which establishes that nobody sat on it. Second, the supplier acknowledgment carrying a status and an estimated ship date. Third, a dated capture of the vendor portal or the emailed notice when the ETA slips, since slippage is what actually extends the file. Attach all three to the same claim note. Chassis, appliance and power components move on different supply timelines. A control board for a rooftop unit may ship in days while an inverter assembly runs out for months. On power system work we log the vendor status weekly on the file rather than waiting for the customer to ask, which is standard practice on [generator service and repair](/services/electrical-power-and-generators/generator-service-and-repair) jobs where a single controller can hold the whole unit. With that documentation attached, in practice adjusters stop treating the gap as shop delay and start treating it as supply delay, which is the category that supports continued loss of use. ## Closing out the accrual when the unit is released Close the file deliberately. The release date is a data point, and a sloppy one invites a reduction. On the day the unit goes back into service, record the release date and time, the odometer or hour meter reading, and the name of the person who took possession. Photograph the completed unit in daylight. Sign and date the release document, and keep your copy rather than relying on the shop's. If a rental returns the same day, note the return time so the two records agree instead of overlapping by a day. Then submit one packet rather than a trickle of emails. The packet contains the storage invoices with start and stop dates, the daily loss of use log, the receipts, the backorder documentation, and a one page summary that reconciles the totals. Number the pages. Files that close cleanly close quietly. The ones that drag are almost always the ones where storage dates, rental dates and repair authorization dates were never lined up against each other before submission. --- OCRV Center. 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887. (949) 799-3387. info@ocrvcenter.com. Serving Eastvale, California in Riverside County, about 20 miles from the shop. All work is performed in shop at the Yorba Linda facility. No mobile, roadside or on-site service is offered. Scope is body, paint, structural, fiberglass, interior and vehicle systems work. Engine rebuilds, transmission rebuilds, drivetrain work, DOT inspections and emission testing are not performed.