What to Do After a Breakdown, and Who Pays for It

Where the vehicle goes, and why that decision matters

You choose the destination, not the recovery operator. It can be your own garage, a main dealer, your home address, or a bodyshop if there has been damage. Deciding before the vehicle is loaded is far cheaper than deciding afterwards, because a second movement is a second job.

If your usual garage is shut, sending the vehicle home and moving it again in the morning is not always the cheapest option. A direct drop at the garage forecourt, with the keys through the letterbox and a note, usually costs less overall.

• Your own garage, which is normally the cheapest outcome
• Your home or holiday address, if nothing is open
• A main dealer, where the fault is warranty related
• A bodyshop, if there has been an impact or damage

Getting yourself and your passengers home

Tell us how many of you there are when you ring. Cab space is limited and it changes which vehicle we send, especially with children in car seats or a dog in the boot.

For visitors staying somewhere in Cornwall, we can normally drop the vehicle at a garage and you at your accommodation on the same run, provided it is roughly on the way. Ask on the call rather than after the vehicle is loaded.

Who pays: the four usual answers

First, you pay directly. This is the most common route for independent recovery, and it is the simplest. You get a price on the phone before we set off and it does not change afterwards.

Second, your breakdown cover pays. If you have cover and it is answering the phone with a sensible wait, use it, because you have already paid for it. People call us when the wait is hours long, when the vehicle falls outside the policy terms, or when the job needs a specialist.

Third, your insurer pays. If the breakdown followed an accident, recovery is normally part of the claim rather than something you fund yourself. Ring your insurer before arranging anything and note the claim reference.

Fourth, someone else pays. Warranty, a hire company, a lease provider or an employer often carries the cost. Hire cars in particular usually have their own recovery arrangement written into the rental agreement.

• You, directly, at the price quoted before dispatch
• Your breakdown cover, if it is workable on the day
• Your insurer, where the breakdown followed an accident
• A hire company, warranty, lease provider or employer

Reclaiming the cost afterwards

Plenty of policies will reimburse an independent recovery you arranged yourself, but only if you can evidence it. Keep the invoice, note the time you called your own provider and how long they quoted, and photograph the vehicle and its location before it is loaded.

Where a fault is under warranty, the manufacturer or dealer may refund the movement to their workshop. Ask before you authorise the job, because approval after the event is much harder to obtain.

• Keep the recovery invoice with the date, route and vehicle registration
• Note the time and wait quoted by your own provider
• Photograph the vehicle, its condition and where it stopped
• Get any warranty or fleet approval in writing before the job

What to do in the first 48 hours

Ring the garage the next working morning rather than waiting for them to ring you. A vehicle that arrives out of hours often sits until somebody flags it.

Tell your insurer if there was any damage, even if you do not intend to claim. Notification and claiming are different things, and late notification causes problems.

If the vehicle is beyond economic repair, decide quickly. Storage costs accumulate, and a scrap or salvage collection is a different and usually cheaper movement than a recovery.

If you are a long way from home

Holidaymakers face an extra decision: repair the vehicle here, or transport it back. If the fault is minor, a local garage is nearly always quicker and cheaper than moving the car hundreds of miles.

If it is a major failure, planned transport home is a separate booking to the emergency recovery, and it is priced very differently. Get both figures before you decide, and do not let the vehicle sit racking up storage while you make up your mind.

Frequently asked questions

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