Plumbers, electricians, builders, couriers and delivery drivers all depend on one thing: the van starting in the morning. When it does not, every hour off the road costs money. Plenty of trades run without breakdown cover, or find their policy does not cover a heavy or loaded van. You still have options.

You do not need a policy to get recovered

Independent recovery firms, including us, work on a pay-per-job basis. You call, we confirm the price and the arrival window, and you decide. There is no membership and no sign-up. For many trades, paying for the occasional recovery works out cheaper than a year of commercial cover.

If you do have cover, check what it actually includes before you rely on it. Some policies have weight or size limits, exclude loaded vehicles, or only take you a short distance.

Decide what matters most: today's jobs, or the repair

Need to finish the day? If it is a flat battery, a puncture or a simple fault, a roadside fix may get you back on the road. We only do this where it is safe.
Need it at your mechanic? Tell us the garage. If it is closed, we can take it to your yard or home and move it on later.
Got a spare van or a hire van lined up? We can take the broken one wherever it needs to go so you can swap over the tools and stock.

Keep the van's details somewhere handy

The fastest recoveries happen when the caller has the facts ready. Save a note on your phone, or for a fleet, in a shared document, with each van's:

Registration, make, model, wheelbase and roof height
Plated gross weight (from the plate in the door frame or under the bonnet)
Usual load, and anything hazardous carried, like gas bottles or chemicals
Preferred garage or depot address, and its opening hours

Our guide to what recovery needs to know explains why each of these matters.

Protect the tools and stock

A loaded van can be too heavy to recover safely, and expensive tools in a van left at the roadside are a theft risk. Where it is safe, take your most valuable kit with you, or ask us whether the load can travel with the van. If the van has to be part-unloaded, we tell you before we arrive so you can plan.

For small fleets: set it up once

One contact. Agree who calls recovery, so drivers are not ringing around.
Approved destinations. List your depots and preferred garages so every job goes to the right place.
Job references and invoices. We give a clear job reference and an invoice your accounts team can process, with fleet invoicing available.

Planned moves cost less than emergencies

Not every van move is urgent. Taking a non-runner to a garage, returning a lease van, collecting an auction purchase or moving vans between depots can all be booked ahead. A planned transport job is usually cheaper than an emergency callout.

Need a van moved now?

Call 07846 899 694, 24 hours a day. We cover Birmingham and the West Midlands, including the M6, M5, M42 and A38. The price is agreed before the truck sets off. Read more on our van recovery page, or get a guide price with the instant estimate.

Van breakdown with no cover? How trades and fleets can cut downtime