Broken car window, windscreen or sunroof made safe or replaced where you are.
If a window, the windscreen, a sunroof or a mirror is broken, tell Recovru which glass it is and send photos. Operators nearby send one price each to make it safe or replace it where your vehicle is, and you track the one you choose to you. If it was a break-in, report it to the police as well.
Broken Windows
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 when you ask for help
- Tell us where the vehicle is, which glass is broken and what state it is in, and add two photos. Asking is free and commits you to nothing.
- Operators nearby send one price each to make the glass safe or replace it where the vehicle is, 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. Once the glass is made safe or replaced, the job is done and your card is charged.
Which glass can be made safe or replaced
Every piece of glass is a different part, so the app asks exactly which is broken. You can pick more than one.
- Windscreen
- The front screen, including one with a camera, sensors, heating wires or a head-up display
- Side windows
- Any of the four, or a small fixed corner window
- Rear windscreen
- The back screen
- Sunroof
- A sunroof or a panoramic roof
- Wing mirrors
- Just the mirror glass, the casing too, or a whole mirror hanging off or missing
A camera behind the mirror
Many windscreens carry a camera for lane keeping or emergency braking, which has to be set up again once a new screen is in. Tell the app if yours has one, so operators quote knowing it.
What the app asks about the glass
After where the vehicle is and how safe it is there, whether it has hit anything and which vehicle it is, the app asks:
- Which glass or mirror is broken?
- Pick every one that is damaged. In a UK car the driver sits on the right.
- What state is the glass in?
- From a chip or a crack that is holding, to shattered in the frame, fallen in, or smashed out. If more than one is broken, pick the worst.
- Does any of this apply to the windscreen?
- A long crack, damage in front of the driver or near the edge, a camera behind the mirror, a rain or light sensor, heating wires or a head-up display. Each can mean a different screen.
- Does any of this apply?
- It locks but someone could reach in, it will not lock, rain is getting in, there is glass inside, or it was a break-in, reported or not. If rain can get in, your operator brings a temporary cover.
- Two photos
- At least two photos are required, up to ten, and a short video is welcome, so your operator brings the right glass.
Have these ready
- Two clear photos: one of the damage and one of the whole window
- The crime reference number, if it was a break-in and you have reported it
- Whether the windscreen has a camera behind the rear-view mirror
Staying safe with broken glass
- Keep children and pets out of the vehicle until the glass inside has been cleared.
- If someone could reach in, take anything valuable out until the glass is replaced.
- If the damage blocks your view of the road, do not drive it: the Highway Code says windscreens and windows must be kept free from obstructions to vision.
- If it was broken into or vandalised, report it to the police online or on 101, or call 999 if the crime is still happening or anyone is in danger. Your insurer will usually want the crime reference number.
Who comes to fix the glass
Your request goes to operators our staff have cleared for roadside work. Each is an independent business, checked before they can send you a single price, and each quote shows what the operator is equipped to do, so check it covers glass before you accept:
- 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 roadside work the Operator Terms also ask for the following, and an operator who fits glass must hold the glazing competence they set out:
- Public liability insurance of at least £1 million
- Motor insurance for the vehicle they work from, with a class of use that covers the work
- Motor trade road risk cover if they drive or move your vehicle at all
- Professional indemnity cover
- For glass, evidence of competence to the recognised glazing standard, and the ability to deal properly with vehicles fitted with driver assistance cameras
- An upper tier waste carrier registration if they take any waste away, such as old tyres, fluids or glass
How the price for broken glass 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.
Which glass it is and what it carries, a camera or sensors in a windscreen especially, shape the price, so the more exactly you answer, the closer each price is to the job. If rain means the glass has to wait, your operator may cover it first and fit the glass once it is dry.
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.
After a break-in
Report it to the police online or on 101 and note the crime reference number: your insurer will usually want it. Recovru arranges the booking, not the insurance claim, so ask your insurer what your policy covers before you accept a price.
If the vehicle has also hit anything, that is an accident, and the app books a recovery instead: see Accident Recovery.
Questions
Can I drive with a smashed window?
If broken glass affects your view of the road, or the vehicle cannot be secured, ask for it to be made safe first. The Highway Code says windscreens and windows must be kept free from obstructions to vision.
Is a broken window covered by my insurance?
Ask your insurer. Recovru arranges the repair, not the claim, and if it was a break-in your insurer will usually want a crime reference number.
My windscreen has a camera. Can it be replaced?
Tell the app about the camera, any sensors, heating wires or a head-up display, and operators quote knowing it. The camera has to be set up again once a new screen is in.
What if it is raining?
Tell the app rain is getting in. Your operator brings a temporary cover, and because new glass is hard to fit in the rain, they may cover it first and fit the glass once it is dry.
Do I need to send photos?
Yes, at least two, so your operator knows which glass to bring. You can add up to ten, and a short video.
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.