Accident recovery: your vehicle moved from the scene of a collision.
After a collision, even a minor one, tell Recovru where your vehicle is and where it should go. An accident is always a recovery, never a roadside repair. Vetted operators nearby send one price each, and the one you choose takes your vehicle from the scene to a garage, your home or anywhere you choose.
Accident Recovery
Operators nearby send one price each and you choose one. The price you choose is the total you pay, with any VAT the operator charges included. Your card is held when you accept and charged when the job is done. If no operator nearby quotes, nothing is held or charged. Cancelling can cost a charge once the operator has set off: see Cancellation and Refunds and the Cancellation Rates.
The Recovru app opens in your browser today; iPhone and Android apps are coming soon.
Recovru is not an emergency service. If you are in danger, call 999.
What happens after you ask for help
- Tell us where the vehicle is, where it is damaged and where it should go. Asking is free and commits you to nothing.
- Operators nearby who carry your kind of vehicle send one price each for the whole job, with the time they can reach you.
- Accept a price and the money is held, not taken. Follow your operator on the live map and message them in the app.
- When they arrive, you give them your 4-digit arrival code, which confirms they are the operator you booked. Your vehicle is loaded at the scene and taken to your drop-off.
What accident recovery covers
If the vehicle has hit anything, another vehicle, a kerb or an object, the app books recovery. That is always the case after an impact, because damage you cannot see may make it unsafe to drive.
- From the scene
- Loaded where it stopped, including when it is on its side or has a wheel turned in
- To your drop-off
- A garage, a repairer, your home or anywhere you pin
- Any vehicle
- Cars, vans, motorbikes, lorries, buses and more, each with its own questions
- The police
- Tell the app if they are at the scene or on their way
What Recovru does, and what it leaves to you
Getting the vehicle moved is the part Recovru arranges. Reporting the accident, exchanging details and any insurance claim are yours to deal with, and What To Do After a Car Accident in the UK walks through them.
What the app asks after an accident
After where the vehicle is, the kind of road and how safe it is there, and which vehicle it is, the app asks one question, and you tick what fits:
- Does any of this apply?
- The front, the back or a side is damaged, it is damaged underneath, it rolled over or is on its side, a wheel is damaged or turned in, something is leaking underneath, or the police are at the scene or on their way. It tells the operator which truck to bring and which end to load it from. A vehicle that rolled has to be put back on its wheels first, and if the police are there, check they have not already called a recovery truck of their own, so two do not turn up.
- Where does it go?
- An address you pin, such as a garage, a repairer or your home.
Have these ready
- Where the vehicle should go, and the address
- Photos of the damage, if it is safe to take them
- Whether the police have called a recovery truck of their own
At the scene
- If anyone is hurt, or a vehicle is blocking a live lane, call 999 first. Recovery comes after people are safe.
- Use your hazard lights, move uninjured people away from the vehicles to somewhere safer, and do not move anyone injured unless they are in immediate danger.
- If the collision caused damage or injury to any other person, vehicle, animal or property, you must stop and give your details. If you cannot give them at the time, report it to the police as soon as you reasonably can, and within 24 hours.
- If the police are there, follow their directions.
Who comes to recover it
Your request goes only to operators our staff have cleared for recovery who have told us they carry your kind of vehicle. Each is an independent business, checked before they can send you a single price:
- Identity
- Photo ID, matched to a live selfie
- Right to work
- Checked before their first job
- The business
- A company, or a sole trader on record. A VAT number is checked with HMRC and must match the business
- Screening
- Sanctions and politically exposed person lists
- Documents
- The insurance and licences each service needs, read by our staff
A clearance lasts only while the documents behind it are in date. Once one expires, that operator is not sent those requests.
For recovery, the Operator Terms also ask for:
- Public liability insurance of at least £1 million
- Motor insurance for their recovery vehicle that permits recovery for hire and reward
- Cover for your vehicle while it is on theirs or under tow
- Current inspection reports for their lifting machinery and lifting accessories
How the price for accident recovery works
Recovru does not set prices. Each operator names one price for the whole job as you described it, and that price is the total you pay: it includes their attendance and assessment fee and any VAT, so nothing is added at the end. The quote says “inc VAT” when the operator is VAT registered and “No VAT to pay” when they are not. Your invoice or receipt is in the operator's name, issued by Recovru as their agent, and shows the VAT when there is any. There is no booking fee and no card fee, and you can take any price or none.
Operators see where it is damaged, whether it rolls and where it is going before they price, so tick everything that applies. Whether your insurer pays you back for the recovery depends on your policy: ask them.
Accept a price and the money is held, not taken, until the job is done. If the job turns out different, nothing extra is done or charged until you approve a revised price in the app. You pay the attendance and assessment fee, VAT included, instead of the price only if your operator arrives and cannot do the job because what you told us was materially inaccurate, left out something important or was misleading; the Terms of Use cap it.
Cancelling is free until your operator sets off, and for two minutes after you accept whatever they have done. After that the Cancellation Rates show how any charge is worked out, you see the exact figure before you confirm, and you never pay more than that figure. If your operator cancels, you pay nothing.
Your contract for the job is with the operator, and Recovru collects the payment as their agent. How It Works and Cancellation and Refunds have the detail.
Questions
Who pays for recovery after an accident?
You pay the operator's price through Recovru when the job is done. That price is the total, with any VAT the operator charges included. Whether your insurer pays you back depends on your policy, so ask your insurer.
The police are at the scene. Can I still book?
Yes. Tell the app the police are there, and follow their directions first. Check they have not already called a recovery truck of their own, so two do not turn up.
Can the car be repaired where it is?
No. After a collision the app books recovery, because damage you cannot see may make the vehicle unsafe to drive.
It was only a small bump. Is it still an accident recovery?
Yes. If the vehicle hit anything, even a kerb, the app books recovery. It is the one case where a roadside repair is never offered.
Where can the vehicle be taken?
Anywhere you pin: a garage, a repairer or your home.
This page was last updated on .
Get help now
Tell us where you are and what has happened, and operators nearby send you their prices. You do not need a plan to get help.