Bus and coach recovery and roadside repair, from minibuses to double-deckers.
If a minibus, bus, double-decker or coach has broken down, tell Recovru what kind it is and whether passengers are on board. Operators whose recovery vehicle suits the job send one price each to recover it, and a fault that can be fixed where it stands can be a roadside repair instead. Move passengers onto another vehicle first.
Bus and Coach
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 it is, what kind of bus or coach it is, whether passengers are on board and where it needs to go. Asking is free and commits you to nothing.
- Operators whose recovery vehicle suits the job 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. With the passengers off, it is loaded or lifted and taken to the depot or workshop you name.
Buses and coaches of every kind
The kind of bus decides which recovery vehicle can lift it, so the app asks for it before anything else.
- Minibus
- Up to 16 passenger seats
- Single-deck bus or coach
- Say how long it is: a long coach is past what some heavy recovery vehicles can hold
- Double-decker
- Over four metres tall, which limits the recovery vehicles that can take it and the routes it can use
- Bendy bus
- A bus in two parts, which the app asks about by name
- A roadside repair
- Choose the problem in the app, such as a flat battery or a flat tyre, with the bus as the vehicle
Passengers first
A bus cannot be lifted with people on it, and a recovery truck cannot carry them, so arrange another way for your passengers to travel before it is recovered.
What the app asks about the bus or coach
After where it is, the kind of road and how safe it is there, whether it has hit anything and which vehicle it is, the app asks the recovery questions and these:
- What kind of bus is it?
- Required: a minibus of up to 16 passenger seats, a single-deck bus, a double-decker, a coach, or a bendy bus in two parts.
- Does any of this apply to the bus?
- A few passengers on board, or a busy or full bus, and its length: under 10 metres, 10 to 12 metres, or over 12 metres.
- Where does it go?
- The depot, workshop or site you name.
Have these ready
- The vehicle's registration, and its length if you know it
- Another way for your passengers to travel
- The depot or workshop address
Keeping passengers safe
- Keep passengers away from the carriageway and children under control. On a motorway, get everyone behind the barrier where you can.
- If people cannot get off and away from traffic safely, keep them on board, put the hazard lights on and call 999.
- Do not let anyone stand between the vehicle and oncoming traffic.
- A warning triangle goes at least 45 metres behind the vehicle on the same side of the road, but never on a motorway.
Who comes to recover it
Your request goes to operators our staff have cleared for recovery whose recovery vehicle suits the job: operators who have told us they carry buses and coaches. 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 a bus or coach 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.
The kind of bus, its length and whether it has to be lifted decide the recovery vehicle, so operators price from them. The attendance and assessment fee has a higher cap for a bus or coach, set in the Terms of Use.
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.
Bus and coach operators
A bus or coach is recovered one request at a time, as this page sets out. Recovru's commercial plans currently cover an organisation's vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes, such as managers' cars, engineers' vans and minibuses: Commercial Plans explains them.
Questions
Will the recovery truck carry our passengers?
No. A recovery truck cannot carry them, and a bus cannot be lifted with people on it, so arrange another way for them to travel before it is recovered.
Can a coach be repaired at the roadside?
Choose the problem in the app with the coach as the vehicle, and operators who do roadside repair can send prices if any are nearby.
Can a double-decker be recovered?
Yes. A double-decker is over four metres tall, which limits which recovery vehicles can take it. Tell the app it is a double-decker, and operators whose recovery vehicle suits the job send prices if any are nearby.
Does Recovru work with bus and coach operators?
Any bus or coach can be recovered one request at a time. Recovru's commercial plans, priced for each organisation, currently cover an organisation's vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes, such as minibuses and engineers' vans. Contact us for a quote.
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.