Charged 1000 for rescued towing

r/

I got charged 1000 dollars for rescued towing. They said cash only. Car hasn’t been there for more than 24 hours, so this isn’t even counting storage fees. Is this actually legal? I also didn’t get a receipt.

Unfortunately I was forced to pay since it was an accident and police automatically called them to come, and told me to not call my towing company. Police said insurance would cover it but they didn’t . Also , is there anything I can do to prevent something like this to happen again? I’m young so I don’t know much about this. Thanks.

Location: Long Island New York