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THE COST or RECOVERY
Page 24
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In response to recent comments on recovery operators you may be interested to hear what happened to my husband Aden on 5 February.
While travelling along a minor road near Wombourne pulling an empty potato bulker he pulled over to allow a car to pass and unfortunately ended up in a stubble field. The vehicle was upright with the rear offside corner of the trailer level with the edge of the road. Informed the insurance company so that a recovery vehicle could be arranged at 16:45hrs.
However, during the ensuing three-hour wait, Aden decided that damage to the vehicle was minimal and he would rather not claim from the insurance. On asking the recovery driver whether it would be possible to invoice us direct Aden was told charges were £80 per hour. The driver then rang his base and Aden was told this should be no problem and to speak to "R" tomorrow to confirm.
The recovery did not seem to be as simple as expected and a further recovery vehicle was called to anchor the trailer during retrieval. Eventual arrival at home was 02:00hrs. I have since discovered it is this insurance company's policy to be invoiced themselves if they arrange the recovery operator, so upon speaking to "R", who had also discovered this, I was informed that it would be much more than the .£80 per hour and the final cost would be more like £2,000 because of charges such as the police. No police involved, I said. Doesn't matter; we still have to pay for them, I was told.
The report sheet I have from the recovery driver shows time out as 19:20hrs; time at scene 20:15hrs; and time clear 01:55hrs. Even allowing for an extra recovery vehicle for two hours I cannot arrive at £2,000.
I did speak to 'R" the following day to see whether he could give me a proper price if I arranged it with the insurance company. He said it would have to be the same price because he obviously wasn't going to lose money on it.
Aden spent two days repairing his unit, running around for parts, getting panels sprayed, etc. Had we known the insurance price some recovery operators charge the unit would have gone to the ERF agent and we too could have benefited from the insurance company. I think it is unlikely that we shall be able to claim our full costs now.
i spoke to Bill Ratcliffe after seeing his letter (CM14-20 Feb) and he pointed me in the direction of the Road Rescue Recovery Association. I have had a word with Alex there and he has requested that I forward a copy of the invoice when I receive it together with a covering letter to Peter Cosby and he will take a look at it. Jane Hare, Uttoxeter, Staffs.