Get your price — 24/7, in minutes
Not one truck with one price — your job goes to the nearest of our 3,000 vetted drivers nationwide, so you get a keen price for your actual job, back in minutes.
Prefer to talk? Call 07301 118118
Broken down and need a recovery truck now? Here is exactly what happens when you call K9
When your car stops, the only thing that matters is how quickly a truck reaches you. K9 is not a garage with one van and a postcode. It is a dispatch service sitting on top of 3,000 vetted recovery drivers spread across England, Scotland and Wales. You call one number, we find the driver who is closest to you and free right now, agree a price with you, and send them. That is the whole model, and it works at 3am on a Sunday exactly as it does at 3pm on a Tuesday.
This page explains how the nearest-driver search works, what to tell us so the first truck sent is the right one, and what to do while you wait — whether you are on a hard shoulder, a supermarket car park or your own driveway.
📞 Call now: 07301 118118
How we find the closest driver to you
- You tell us where you are. A road name and the nearest junction, a what3words reference, a postcode or a landmark all work. On a motorway, the blue marker posts every 100 metres give us an exact position.
- We check who is nearest and available. Our network is organised by area, so the search is for a driver already working your patch, not someone setting off from a depot two counties away.
- We match the truck to the job. A flatbed for an EV, an automatic or a low car; a spec lift for a standard breakdown; something heavier for a van, a motorhome or a light commercial.
- You get a price before anyone moves. One figure, agreed with you, based on the distance and the vehicle. No membership, no call-out fee hidden in the small print, no renewal next year.
- The driver is dispatched and you are kept informed. You will know who is coming and roughly when.
What to tell us so the right truck is sent first time
Thirty seconds of detail on the phone saves an hour at the roadside. The things that change which vehicle we send:
- What you drive — make, model, and whether it is an automatic, four-wheel drive, hybrid or fully electric. EVs and many automatics must go on a flatbed rather than being towed on their driven wheels.
- Whether it rolls and steers. A seized wheel, a locked steering column or a car in a ditch needs a winch and possibly a second person.
- Where it is sitting. Live lane, hard shoulder, a multi-storey with a height limit, a narrow terrace street, a field gateway. Each one is a different recovery.
- Where it needs to go. Home, your usual garage, a dealer, or the other end of the country — we do onward transport as well as recovery.
- Who is with you. Passengers, children, a dog. Where the truck allows, people travel in the cab with the driver.
While you wait: the safety basics
On a motorway or dual carriageway
If you can, get onto the hard shoulder or into an emergency refuge area, hazards on, and get everyone out of the left-hand doors and behind the barrier. Never wait in the car in a live lane. On a smart motorway with no hard shoulder, stay belted in with hazards on and call 999 first if you cannot reach a refuge — National Highways will set the signs to protect you, and we recover you once the lane is closed.
In town or on an A-road
Pull as far left as you safely can, hazards on, and if it is dark or wet stand well back from traffic rather than beside the car. Put a warning triangle out only where it is safe to do so — never on a motorway.
At home or in a car park
Tell us about barriers, height limits and steep ramps. A flatbed will not fit under most multi-storey entrances, so we may send a spec lift or ask you to meet the driver at street level.
Where we cover
The honest answer is anywhere with a public road in Great Britain. Response is fastest where our driver numbers are deepest — London and the South East, the Midlands and the big northern cities — and can take longer in remote rural areas, which we will tell you on the phone rather than promise a time we cannot keep. Browse the areas we cover for local pages on your town, or go straight to London, motorway recovery or 24/7 breakdown recovery.
Why people use K9 instead of a membership
A breakdown membership charges you every year whether you use it or not, and when you do use it you join a queue with everyone else. K9 charges only when you actually need a truck, and because every job is priced individually, the price you are quoted is a keen one. Rated 4.9/5 from 200+ Google reviews, fully insured, and available every hour of every day. If you are searching for recovery near you right now, the fastest thing you can do is call 07301 118118 and give us your location.
What our customers say
“Broke down on the M25 in the third lane with my wife and kids. Andrew pulled up and got us to safety. Cannot thank him enough.”
— Jonathan
“Great service, quick arrival within the hour and a good rate compared to most.”
— Ibrahim Suleman
“Excellent service from the emergency call to the lads who picked me up. Would recommend to anybody.”
— Andrew Chambers
Questions people ask while they are stranded
How quickly will someone reach me?
It depends entirely on where you are and which driver is free. In cities and on the main motorway network it is often well under an hour; in rural areas it can be longer. We give you an honest estimate on the call, not a slogan.
Do I need to be a member to use you?
No. There is no membership, no annual fee and no sign-up. You call, we quote, you accept, the truck comes. Call 07301 118118.
Can you recover an electric car?
Yes, on a flatbed. EVs should never be towed with their driven wheels on the road, so we always send the right truck for them. See electric vehicle recovery.
What if my car is in a live lane and I cannot move it?
Call 999 first so the road can be protected, then call us. We recover from live lanes once the traffic officers or police have made it safe.
Common breakdown situations
Read our guides to a flat battery, the wrong fuel, recovery after an accident and caravan and motorhome recovery, or find your town on the areas page.