Why breakdown cover doesn't mean you'll avoid a £150 charge

Break down or have an accident on the motorway and you can be landed with a £150 recovery fee, even if you’ve got breakdown cover.

Most of us will have heard horror stories of big bills for anyone unlucky enough to break down on the motorway without cover. 

But even if you’ve got a fully comprehensive breakdown policy and break down or have a minor accident, this still isn’t your passport to a free trip off the motorway.

My husband found himself in exactly this situation last week. After being involved in a minor accident on the M1, both he and the other driver pulled over to the hard shoulder where the police arrived, along with an ambulance that took my husband to our local hospital for a check up.

Luckily he wasn’t seriously injured and after being discharged around an hour later set about organising the recovery of his car. But he found his car had been taken to a garage thirty miles away and the only way of getting it back was to fork out £150 to the Highways Agency. Having a fully paid up annual breakdown policy, which he assumed would have done the job for free, he was a bit unhappy to hear about the £150 bill. 

And even more puzzling was that this £150 charge didn’t go to the Highways Agency but had to be paid to a company called FMG.  I’d never heard of this company but later discovered it has a contract with the Highways Agency to recover vehicles from motorways and major trunk roads after breakdowns or accidents.

Is your car in a vulnerable position?

Now quite clearly if you’re involved in a serious accident, what happens to your vehicle is going to be the last thing on your mind. But in a relatively minor accident, or even a breakdown, if your vehicle is on the hard shoulder surely you should be allowed to make use of any breakdown cover and save yourself a bill?

In theory, yes. According to the Highways Agency: "Where a vehicle has been cleared to the hard shoulder or emergency refuge area and is not causing obstruction or danger to other road users, the vehicle owner will be given the opportunity to arrange their own recovery." 

But even on the hard shoulder, if your car is determined to be in a vulnerable position the Highways Agency "may take the decision to move you to the nearest safe area, like a motorway service station", says David Williams, chief executive of Gem Motoring Assist. And if this is the case, you can expect to get a bill.

And with the increasing number of managed motorways (where sections of the hard shoulder are used as live lanes during busy times) Williams believes motorists can expect to see more enforced recoveries.

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Accident recovery

In the event of an accident, and even if your vehicle is parked on the hard shoulder, a final decision over whether you can use your own breakdown company or face a bill for a recovery is going to be down to the Highways Agency Traffic Officers according to a Highways Agency spokesperson. This decision may be discussed with the Police, if they’re in attendance. 

How much does recovery by the Highways Agency cost?

The Highways Agency says statutory recovery fees are set by the Home Office.  These start from £150 for vehicles under 3.5 tonnes (your average car) but charges increase according to the size of the vehicle, position and level of damage if it’s been involved in an accident.

Can you claim back the cost?

Even if you’ve got breakdown cover,  Williams says that you can’t insist on using your own breakdown cover, meaning any charges could well come out of your own pocket.

The RAC says that if the police, emergency service or Highways Agency Traffic Officers insist on immediate recovery by a third party it’s down to members to foot the bill.

And the AA will only reimburse motorists for any statutory recovery fees incurred if any charge is due to its patrols being unable to reach you within a reasonable time, for example due to bad weather, although it says this situation would be extremely rare.

If you’ve incurred recovery charges due to your vehicle being moved following an accident on the motorway then any costs for recovery will form part of your insurance claim, although you will have to stump up the initial charge.

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