The use of specialist lifting equipment is included in the price

With MAYDAY, we won't charge additional costs if your outfit requires specialist lifting equipment as part of your rescue.

No matter which of the three cover levels you choose from - Roadside & Recovery, Premium UK or Premium UK Plus – specialist lifting equipment is included as standard, and you won't have to pay more if used as part of your claim.

We spoke to our rescue provider, Green Flag, to understand what this product feature gives you and why this stands out against what some other rescue providers offer.

So, what do we mean by specialist lifting equipment?

Specialist lifting equipment is equipment that often isn’t carried on a standard Recovery vehicle and is requested at the point of need for that unique situation. Specialist lifting equipment includes winches, cranes, dollies and skates, which Green Flag can use to move an incapacitated vehicle.

When might we need to use this equipment?

One of the more obvious instances specialist lifting equipment might come in handy, is if your outfit becomes stuck in mud or snow. For something like this, technicians might require the support of a winch – a long metal cable attached to a motorised rotating spool. Winches can even pull your vehicle up steep inclines if needed.

If wheels or handbrakes become locked, a tool called 'skates' can also be used to move vehicles onto recovery trucks.

For some rescues, there may be a need to use a Fully Demountable or Slide Bed recovery vehicle. These are used to lift and transport a broken-down vehicle if they are experiencing symptoms such as alternator failure, clutch failure or even flat tyres. These recovery vehicles are well designed for caravans and motorhomes due to their height and weight-load specifications.

Please keep in mind the above examples are not an exclusive list of symptoms, but should help understand when and why a mechanic might need to use these tools.

You say you don't charge for specialist lifting equipment. What does this mean?

Unlike some other rescue providers, we don't charge extra when specialist lifting equipment is needed – they come as part of our MAYDAY UK Breakdown Cover service.

So with MAYDAY, you won’t get an unexpected bill for specialist lifting equipment if any is needed to get you out of mud, snow, or floods, even if it happens on-site.

MAYDAY UK Breakdown Cover is provided by Green Flag and underwritten by U K Insurance Limited. U K Insurance Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.