These include taxi and private hire firms, vehicle rental services, courier services, the police, highways agencies (responsible for major roads) and local authorities (responsible for minor roads).

Recovery service drivers use specialist vehicles to recover the vehicle to a location chosen by the driver of the broken-down vehicle, such as their home, business premises or a local garage, unless the recovery driver is able to diagnose and repair the vehicle at the roadside. Typical roadside repairs include replacing punctured tyres, draining engines that have been filled with the wrong type of fuel, and replacing wearable components such as spark plugs.

Recovery vehicle operators and drivers are exempt from the licensing system that applies to road hauliers and other HGV operators and drivers, and recovery vehicles also benefit from favourable vehicle excise duty rates.

Some vehicle recovery service operators also provide repairs from fixed premises. However, this is covered separately in our guides; Car Maintenance and Repair Service and Motorcycle Repair Service.

This profile provides information about starting up and running an independent vehicle recovery service in relation to the recovery of cars, vans, motorcycles and light goods vehicles, but does not cover specialist recovery of heavy goods vehicles, tankers or vehicles carrying dangerous loads. It describes the skills required, the training available, the current market trends and the key trading issues. It also explains the legislation that must be complied with and provides sources of further information and support.