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Kevin Milne: Roadside assistance

Can roadside assistance insist on driving you home?

My car recently broke down in a town about half an hour from my own. I called the AA and was told it was a starter motor problem. They rang for a tow truck to take my car to the garage near my home. The tow-truck driver got my car started, then began to drive it up onto his truck. Seeing as the car was going, I told him I’d drive it home. He said there was too much risk the car wouldn’t make it home and insisted he take the car, and me, back by truck. Was he permitted to give me no option?

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Going on the facts as you’ve presented them, I don’t think he had any right to insist on taking your car. He may have had your interests at heart, but if you wanted to drive home, you had a right to do so. It was, after all, your car. And if you wanted to risk a further breakdown, that was your call. It would have also, presumably, saved you a towing fee, given there was a lengthy distance involved.

I would contact the AA head office and complain. They are a reasonable organisation, and I’m sure will refund any costs they think are due you.

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