Flat tyre, puncture or blowout? Help from a tyre fitter at the roadside.
If you have a flat tyre or a blowout, tell Recovru where you are and send two photos of the damage. Operators nearby send one price each to fit your spare, use sealant or an inflation kit where the damage allows, or bring a new tyre in your size, and you track the one you choose to you.
Tyres and Punctures
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, where the damage is and what is in the boot, and add two photos. Asking is free and commits you to nothing.
- Operators nearby send one price each for the whole job, with a tyre in it if one has to be brought, and 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. They fit your spare or the new tyre, and your card is charged when the job is done.
What a tyre fitter can do at the roadside
What you have in the car decides the job, so the app asks before anyone quotes.
- Your spare
- A full-size or space-saver spare fitted, if it is in date and inflated
- Sealant or a kit
- Tried first where the damage allows and it is in date, with a tyre brought as well in case the puncture is too big for it
- No spare
- A tyre in your size brought out and fitted, priced into the quote
- Your tyre size
- Taken from your vehicle's original fitment where the lookup finds one, or confirmed by you
- Run-flats
- Tell the app, and operators quote knowing it
- Locking wheel nuts
- The app asks for the key; if you cannot find it, your operator brings a nut remover
Sidewall damage and blowouts
Damage in the sidewall, the curved part of the tyre, cannot be repaired, so your operator fits your spare or brings a replacement. A blowout or sidewall damage with no spare wheel to fit usually means recovery rather than a roadside fix, and the app says so before you send.
What the app asks about your tyre
After where the vehicle is and how safe it is there, whether it has hit anything and which vehicle it is, the app asks:
- Where is the damage?
- In the tread, in the sidewall, losing air from the valve, a blowout, or you cannot tell.
- Is the car still being driven on it?
- A wheel driven on while flat is usually damaged, so if it is still moving, stop as soon as it is safe to.
- What do you have in the car?
- A full-size spare, a space-saver, a bottle of sealant, an inflation kit, or none of these. It is usually under the boot floor, and each one changes what goes on the van.
- Is the spare, the sealant or the kit in date?
- A tyre more than about ten years old, or one that has sat flat, is not safe to fit, and out-of-date sealant does not seal.
- Do you have the locking wheel nut key?
- It is usually in the boot, the glovebox or with the spare. Say if you cannot find it, and your operator arrives equipped rather than turning round.
- Does any of this apply?
- Run-flat tyres, a tyre or wheel that is hot, smoking or smells of burning, a slope or a camber, or soft ground such as grass. A jack needs firm, level ground.
- Two photos
- At least two photos of the damage are required, up to ten, and a short video is welcome. They show your operator exactly what to bring.
Have these ready
- The locking wheel nut key, if your wheels have locking nuts
- Two clear photos of the tyre and the wheel
- Your vehicle's registration, so the app can find your tyre size
Staying safe with a flat or burst tyre
- If a tyre bursts while you are driving, hold the steering wheel firmly and let the vehicle roll to a stop at the side of the road.
- Stop as soon as it is safe to. Change a wheel yourself only if you can do it without putting yourself or anyone else at risk.
- On a motorway, do not try to change it yourself. Leave by the side away from traffic and wait behind the barrier; if you cannot get out safely, stay in with your seat belt and hazard lights on and call 999.
- If the tyre or wheel is hot or smoking, keep clear of it and do not drive on it.
- Elsewhere, put your hazard lights on if the vehicle is in the way, and a warning triangle at least 45 metres behind it, never on a motorway.
Who comes to fit it
Your request goes to operators our staff have cleared for roadside work, including mobile tyre fitters. 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 roadside work, the Operator Terms also ask for:
- 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
- An upper tier waste carrier registration if they take any waste away, such as old tyres, fluids or glass
How the price for a tyre 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.
If you have no usable spare, a tyre in your size is priced into the quote with its fitting, so the total you accept already includes it.
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.
When a flat tyre becomes a recovery
If the wheel itself is damaged and there is no usable spare, the vehicle has to be moved. That is a recovery, “Wheel damage, no spare”, booked as its own job and taken to a garage or wherever you pin.
The app also suggests recovery if the vehicle is still being driven on a blown tyre, if the tyre or wheel is hot or smoking, or if a blowout or sidewall damage leaves no spare to fit. It only suggests: you decide what to request. Recovery and Towing explains how a recovery works.
Questions
What if I do not have a spare tyre?
Say so in the app. An operator can bring a tyre in your size and fit it, priced into the quote. If the wheel itself is damaged, the vehicle needs moving, and that is booked as a recovery.
I have lost the locking wheel nut key. Can an operator still help?
Yes. Tell the app you cannot find it, and your operator brings a nut remover rather than arriving without one.
Do I need to send photos?
Yes, at least two. They show the operator the damage so they come with the right tyre and tools, and a short video is welcome too.
What about a space-saver or run-flat tyres?
A space-saver spare is fitted like any spare if it is in date and inflated, and run-flats are one of the things the app asks about, so operators quote knowing it.
How much does an emergency tyre fitting cost?
Each operator sets one price for the whole job, including a tyre if one has to be brought. You see the prices as they arrive, up to five at a time, with each operator's rating and arrival time, before you choose. Each price is the total you pay, with any VAT the operator charges included, and there is no booking fee.
Can I change a wheel on a motorway hard shoulder?
The Highway Code says not to attempt repairs on a motorway. Get behind the barrier and ask for help instead.
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.