Left waiting by the roadside? You’re not alone after breakdown complaints double

Complaints about breakdown companies have doubled in a year and are set to rise even higher, according to Resolver, the consumer resolution service.

Figures given to The Daily Telegraph show that 446 complaints were registered between April and September this year. In the last financial year, complaints hit 711, double the 2016-17 figure.

Half related to call-out issues, with the majority being that the recovery vehicle took too long to arrive.

Martyn James, from Resolver, said: “These companies tend not to offer minimum service standards because they say they can’t guarantee them, but consumers tell us that at the point of sale they are being told they will definitely be picked up within three hours, which often isn’t the case.”

In one widely publicised incident earlier this year, a motorist from Bristol who broke down on the way home from a camping holiday in Wales was left stranded on the side of the road overnight, eventually being picked up from a nearby service station 31 hours after calling his breakdown company. He got home 35 hours after his initial breakdown.

Stephen Smith, of the Association of Vehicle Recovery Operators, the trade body, said aggressive competition between the biggest companies had meant the amount paid to local specialists, often sub-contracted to do the work, had been slashed. “The major players are causing a crisis,” he said. “The punchline is that you pay for what you get. People are happy to pay the minimum amount they can for a policy, but they should look carefully at what they will get.”

Mr James said anyone who received substandard service should first complain to the company in question. Consumers do not have the right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service (Fos) about most aspects of a breakdown service. However, they are entitled to complain about misselling.

Mr James encouraged consumers to complain to the Fos, highlighting anything relating to the negative experience that wasn’t mentioned when signing up.

Sam Meadows