If a car has come to the end — failed its MOT on something structural, been written off, or simply reached the point where the next repair costs more than the car — scrapping it should be the easy part. Often it is not, because the car will not move and the yard wants you to bring it to them.
We collect, and it does not need to run
Free collection anywhere in our coverage area, running or not, with or without keys, off a driveway or out of a garage. We are a recovery firm first, so a car that will not roll, steer or brake is an ordinary morning for us rather than a reason to refuse the job.
The paperwork, done properly
This is the part worth getting right, because getting it wrong stays your problem. When a vehicle is scrapped it must go to an Authorised Treatment Facility, and you must tell the DVLA. We handle the notification and arrange your Certificate of Destruction so the car is formally off your name and you stop being liable for it.
Never hand a car to somebody who offers cash and no paperwork. If it is not destroyed properly and the record is never updated, the fines and the liability follow you, not them.
Paid before it goes on the truck
You get the figure on the phone, and you are paid before we load. Bank transfer, in your name — it has been illegal to pay cash for scrap vehicles in England since 2013, and anyone offering it is not operating legally.
Are you sure it is only worth scrapping?
Sometimes it is not, and we would rather tell you. A car that has failed on corrosion is genuinely finished. A car that has failed on a cambelt, a clutch or an emissions fault may be worth more repaired and sold than weighed in, and because we run our own workshop we can price the repair as easily as the scrap. Ask us for both figures before you decide.
The same goes for a car that is intact but simply old. If the parts are in demand it is worth more than the scrap price, and we will say so rather than quietly taking the difference.
What to do before we arrive
Take your belongings out, including the boot and the glovebox. Remove the number plates only if you are keeping the registration, otherwise leave them on. Cancel the tax and the insurance after we have collected, not before, and keep the V5C to hand — we need the yellow section. If the V5C is lost we can still take the car; it just needs a form and a little longer.
Available across our whole coverage area
Questions we get asked
I searched for vehicle recovery near me — how close are you?
Our yard is at Standard Wharf, 189 Manor Road in Erith, DA8 2AD, and every truck starts from there. If you are in Bexley, Dartford, Greenwich or anywhere in that belt we are usually with you inside half an hour. Further into London or out towards Medway and Maidstone it is closer to an hour. Ring us with your postcode and we will give you a real number rather than a hopeful one — and if somebody closer would genuinely reach you faster in an emergency, we will say so.
Do you do MOTs and servicing as well as recovery?
Yes, and it is a bigger part of what we do than most people realise. We MOT, service and repair vehicles at our own workshop in Erith, and we collect and deliver free of charge across London and Kent — so you do not need to take a morning off to sit in a waiting room. If the MOT turns up work, we can do it there and then rather than sending you somewhere else, and we stock new and used parts ourselves.
Can you fit a tyre at the roadside, or only tow the car?
Both. If you have a serviceable spare we will change the wheel where you are. If you have no spare — and most new cars are sold without one — we can bring a replacement tyre out and fit it on the spot. Tell us the tyre size when you ring; it is on the sidewall, something like 205/55 R16. The exception is a fast road or a motorway, where we recover the car somewhere safe first, because kneeling beside a live carriageway is how people get hurt.
How quickly can you get to me?
Across our home patch — Erith, Belvedere, Bexleyheath, Crayford, Welling and Dartford — we are typically with you inside 30 to 60 minutes. Further out across London it depends on distance and traffic, and we are honest about that: when you ring, we give you a realistic arrival window based on where our nearest truck actually is, rather than an optimistic guess. If traffic changes it, we call you and tell you.
Are you really available 24 hours?
Yes. We operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including Christmas Day and bank holidays. There is always a real person answering 07961 100260 — no call centre, no queue, no automated menu.