Vehicle recovery and towing, taken wherever you need it.

Recovery or a roadside repair: how to tell

Roadside help tries to get the vehicle going where it stands: a jump start, a spare wheel, fuel, a quick diagnosis. Recovery accepts that the vehicle should not go any further under its own power, and loads it onto a recovery truck to be taken somewhere else. Driving a vehicle that should have been carried is where most further damage, and most of the danger, comes from.

Recovery is almost always the safer choice when any of these is true:

• It has hit anything, even a kerb. Damage you cannot see, such as a bent suspension arm or a cracked wheel, can make it unsafe to drive, which is why the app always books recovery after an impact
• It will not move under its own power, or it will not go into neutral
• It is stuck or grounded: beached on a kerb, in mud or snow, or in a ditch
• A wheel is damaged and there is no usable spare
• The gearbox or transmission has failed
• It has stopped somewhere dangerous, such as a live lane with no hard shoulder
• It has been through deep water, or the wrong fuel has run through the engine

How a vehicle is moved

A flatbed, sometimes called a tilt and slide, carries the whole vehicle on a platform with all four wheels off the road. It is the usual choice for accident damage, non-runners and vehicles that must not be towed on their own wheels. An underlift, or spec lift, raises one axle and tows the vehicle on the other two: quicker to rig in a tight spot, and suitable only for some vehicles. A vehicle that will not roll, because the steering is locked, the handbrake is stuck or the keys are missing, is lifted onto wheel skates first.

Your operator chooses the method from what you tell the app, which is why it asks what state the vehicle is in and anything that stops it rolling. Say in your description if it is an automatic or four-wheel drive, or sits very low: towing some vehicles on their own wheels can damage the gearbox or the drivetrain.

Electric vehicles

Most electric cars must not be towed with their driven wheels on the road, because the motor turns with them, so they are usually carried with the wheels off the ground. Many will only roll in their tow or transport mode, which needs a little charge left to switch on. When your vehicle is electric, the app asks how much charge is left and whether it goes into transport mode, and if it will not, your operator knows to bring wheel skates.

A damaged main battery is a fire risk that can start hours later. If there is smoke, hissing or popping, get everyone well away from the vehicle and call 999.

Very low and valuable cars

Many sports and performance cars sit too low for a standard recovery truck: the nose meets the ramp before the wheels do. Tell the app if yours scrapes on speed bumps or has a nose lift, and whether you want it moved in a covered truck. Fewer operators run covered transport, so expect fewer prices back. Supercar Recovery and Prestige Transport goes further.

Lorries, buses, vans and motorbikes

Bigger and smaller vehicles each have their own questions. A lorry's plated weight decides which recovery vehicle can lift it, a bus has to be empty before it is lifted, a van's size and load decide the truck, and a trike or sidecar needs a car deck rather than a bike chock. Truck Recovery, Bus and Coach, Van Recovery and Motorcycle Recovery explain each one.