HGV and truck recovery for rigid and articulated lorries, loaded or empty.
If a rigid or articulated lorry has broken down, loaded or empty, tell Recovru its plated weight, its load and its axles. Operators whose recovery vehicle suits the job send one price each, you choose one, and the lorry is taken to the depot or workshop you name.
Truck 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 when you ask for heavy recovery
- Tell us where the lorry is, its plated weight, its load and its axles, 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. The lorry is lifted or loaded and taken to the depot or workshop you name.
What truck recovery covers
Heavy recovery for rigid and articulated lorries, empty or loaded. The weight on the plate decides which recovery vehicle can lift it, so the app asks for it first.
- Up to 7.5 tonnes
- Often carried on a heavy slide bed
- 7.5 to 26 tonnes
- Often lifted and towed on an underlift
- Over 26 tonnes
- Or an articulated lorry: often needs the heaviest recovery vehicles
- Loads
- Part or fully loaded, which changes what the recovery vehicle has to lift
- Trailers
- One that has to come too, or one that can be unhitched and left
- Axles
- Three, or four or more, counted on the lorry itself, not the trailer
Dangerous goods
If the lorry carries dangerous goods with orange plates, tick it and tell the operator the numbers on the plate: some loads have to be made safe before the lorry can be moved.
What the app asks about the lorry
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 about the lorry:
- How heavy is it, going by the weight plate?
- Required. The gross weight is on a plate in the cab or on the door frame. If you are not sure, say so and send a photo of the plate: a recovery truck too light for it cannot lift it.
- Does any of this apply to the lorry?
- Part or fully loaded, dangerous goods with orange plates, a trailer that has to come or can be left, three axles, or four or more.
- Where does it go?
- The depot, workshop or site you name.
Have these ready
- A photo of the weight plate
- What it is carrying, and the orange plate numbers if it carries dangerous goods
- Whether the trailer has to come
- The depot or workshop address
Staying safe while you wait
- On a motorway, leave by the side away from traffic and wait behind the barrier, not in the vehicle. If you cannot get out safely, stay in with your seat belt and hazard lights on and call 999.
- If a lorry carrying dangerous goods is involved in an incident, switch the engine off, keep well away from it, and tell the emergency services what the labels and markings say. Do not use a mobile phone close to a vehicle carrying a flammable load.
- On any other road, get the vehicle off the road if you can, put your hazard lights on if it is in the way, and do not stand between it 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 lorries. 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 truck 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.
Weight, load, axles and any trailer decide which recovery vehicle can do the job, so operators price from them. The attendance and assessment fee has a higher cap for a lorry, 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.
Lorries for work
Recovru does not store vehicles or loads: the lorry goes to the depot, workshop or site you name. A lorry 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 cars and vans: Commercial Plans explains them.
Questions
How much does HGV recovery cost?
Each operator prices the whole job from the weight, load and axles you give and the trip to where it is going. You see the prices as they arrive, up to five at a time, each with its arrival time, before you choose. Each price is the total you pay, with any VAT the operator charges included.
Can a loaded lorry or a trailer be recovered?
Tell the app about the load and whether the trailer has to come or can be left, and operators quote knowing it. If it carries dangerous goods, tell the operator the numbers on the orange plate.
Does Recovru store vehicles or loads?
No. Recovru does not store vehicles or loads: the lorry is taken to the depot, workshop or site you name.
What if I do not know the weight?
Say you are not sure and send a photo of the weight plate, which is in the cab or on the door frame. A recovery truck too light for the lorry cannot lift it.
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.