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What is recovery operator insurance?
Recovery operator insurance – also known as breakdown and recovery operator agent insurance – protects motor trade businesses that recover vehicles from the roadside or repair vehicles following a breakdown or an accident.
A flexible and comprehensive policy, breakdown, transportation and recovery operator insurance through Jensten Motor Trade can cover risks such as:
- Road risks, including the option for vehicle transportation
- Damage, loss, or theft of specialist recovery vehicles
- Own and customers’ vehicles in transit
- Premises
- Accident and injury
- Public and employers’ liability
- Tools
- Business interruption
- Contents of recovered vehicles and commercial vehicle loads

For comprehensive recovery operator and breakdown agent insurance, call 0208 298 2100
What can recovery operator insurance cover?
While every breakdown and recovery business’s insurance needs will be different, there are some common risks. These include road risks insurance, public liability insurance, vehicles in transit, and personal possessions cover. Jensten Motor Trade’s policies allow you to pick and choose from a range of policy elements, including:
- Your vehicle(s) – your recovery trucks can be covered on a third-party, third-party fire and theft, or comprehensive basis. If you have a fleet of recovery vehicles, these can be insured on a fleet insurance policy
- Carriage of vehicles – protects the vehicle(s) you are transporting
- Public liability insurance – if a member of the public is injured or their property damaged while on your premises, you can be held liable. Public liability insurance will protect you financially should you be sued for damages
- Employers’ liability insurance (EL insurance) – EL – is a legal requirement if you have any staff, full-time, part-time or contracted. EL insurance protects motor traders from compensation claims from their employees should a claim be made against them for loss or injury at work. Your policy must have a minimum of £5m cover, with £10m being the industry standard
- Business premises cover – if you’re trading from premises – be it a forecourt, yard, garage or compound – you’ll want to have them protected. If your premises were damaged or destroyed, business premises insurance would cover the cost of repairs or a rebuild
- Tools and machinery cover – without your tools and machinery, you can’t operate your recovery operator business. This covers tools and expensive pieces of machinery, such as diagnostic equipment. It can also provide Mac and Snap-On tools insurance, plus employees’ tools and toolbox options
- Business interruption insurance – should disaster strike – a fire, a flood, or an explosion – and you can’t trade, business interruption insurance will provide an income until you can get to your previous trading level
- Engineering inspection insurance – if, as part of your trading, you use testing equipment or machinery, engineering inspection insurance will cover the cost of a safety assessment of it. Having this can also help you satisfy your health and safety at work requirements
- Money and keys – if money or keys are stolen from your premises, this is designed to cover the cost of their replacement. Most policies will stipulate that money needs to be left in a safe, locked cashbox, or a cabinet
- Engineering inspection service – if, as part of your trading, you use testing equipment or machinery, an engineering inspection service element to your policy will cover the cost of a safety assessment of it. Having your equipment assessed is a legal requirement as it’s part of 1998’s Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) and Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER). It can help satisfy your health and safety at work requirements, and it also means you’re less likely to have downtime owing to essential equipment such as vehicle lifting tables, jacks, and pressure systems failing
- Business contents – including your stock in trade, computers, portable hand tools, own and customers’ vehicles on the business premises, contents of recovered loads and other business equipment
- Public, products liability and defective workmanship insurance – provided cover for third-party property damage, injury or disease and defective workmanship claims
- Sales and service indemnity – protects you against claims of damage or injury after selling or repairing a vehicle. It can include cover for faulty parts or repair work that’s contributed to the problem
* Data collected from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the England, Wales and Northern Ireland Police forces.

Which motor trade businesses can recovery operator insurance cover?
Breakdown and recovery operator insurance through Jensten Motor Trade is a flexible policy that can protect businesses such as:
- Breakdown and recovery for cars
- Breakdown and recovery for commercial vehicles, trucks, vans, and lorries
- Motor traders who offer breakdown and recovery as part of their business
Why get breakdown and recovery operator agent insurance through Jensten Motor Trade?
As well as flexible, quality cover, insurance through Jensten Motor Trade offers you the following benefits:
- Dedicated in-house claims service
- Service from quote to claim
- Discounts available for claims free driving
- Automatic cover for your own vehicle
- Legal liability insurance
- Road risk-only options
- The option of comprehensive, third-party fire and theft or third party only cover

‘Polite professional advice and service, quick and easy cover, completely hassle-free and renewed my cover very quickly at a very competitive rate – the overall experience was totally refreshing’
Mr. E. March 2023

How much does breakdown and recovery agent insurance cost?
As we’ll create your cover around your business, that’s not an easy question to answer. What we can say is that your recovery operator insurance quote will be based on factors such as:
- The value of your recovery vehicles
- The size and value of your premises – if you have any
- The value of your equipment
- Whether you need road risk cover and how many people you need it for
- The turnover of your business
- Your claims history
- Whether you want to pay monthly or annually – annually will usually be cheaper
- Your business’s postcode
For some tailored insurance help, please contact the Jensten Motor Trade team today or call them on 0208 298 2100.
Recovery operator insurance FAQs
It’s important for motor traders to get the right insurance for their business, and to help you do that, here is our recovery operator insurance frequently asked questions. We hope they are of use, but if you’d like some independent advice, please call us on 0208 298 2100, and the team will be happy to help.
Elements are compulsory. If you are going to drive vehicles on the road, you will need a road risks element to your policy. You’ll also need employers’ liability insurance (EL insurance) if you employ staff within your business and engineering inspection service if you service or repair vehicles
Yes, but only in connection with the business if it is owned by the business or is in custody or control of your motor trade business. It may be more cost-effective to limit the covers to keep your premium down
While these policies may look the same, road risks only covers driving vehicles on the road. Traders combined insurance, on the other hand, can offer a much wider range of essential protections, such as premises, material damage cover and liabilities amongst others.
That will depend on things like the size of your business, your claims history, the value of your vehicles, whether you have premises and where they are. For a personalised breakdown and recovery agent insurance quote, please call us on 0208 298 2100, and the team will be happy to help
There are several ways of cutting motor trade insurance costs, including:
- Limit the number of employees on your road risks policy
- Building up your no-claims bonus
- Employing drivers with low or no motoring convictions or claims
- Making sure your premises (if you have any) are secure and have CCTV/a web-based security system
- Always use an independent broker such as Jensen Motor Trade. A specialist independent motor trade insurance broker will have the knowledge to ensure you get the recovery operator insurance you need and can do the shopping around for you
At Jensten Motor Trade, we are more than happy to discuss the different ways we can help you save on your motor trade premium. All it takes is a call to our specialist motor trade insurance team to start the quote process. Alternatively, you are welcome to complete our online quote form, and we call you to discuss your requirements
Getting a quote is easy. You can call us on 0208 298 2100, and the team will be happy to help you find the protection you need. We work with a panel of different insurance companies and can help find the appropriate cover to suit your individual needs.
Speak to Jensten Motor Trade about breakdown and recovery agent insurance today
If you’d like some assistance with your recovery operator insurance or a breakdown and recovery agent insurance quote, contact the Jensten Motor Trade team by calling 0208 298 2100.