A new Emergency Recovery Assistance (ERA) service has launched to slash roadside recovery and storage charges for insurers and fleet operators.

Neil Joslin, COO, e2e Total Loss Vehicle Management

Developed by e2e Total Loss Vehicle Management during lockdown to help keep the highways clear and provide rapid support to key workers, the new service has been extended to cover repairable vehicles as well as total loss vehicles. According to the firm, it more than halves roadside recovery and storage charges.

The service guarantees to recover a vehicle from the roadside within 90 minutes of client instruction. The vehicle is then delivered to an appointed salvage site in the e2e network or, if repairable, to the client’s approved repairer as appropriate.

According to e23, it can save insurers and fleet operators on average £277 per case on approved police recovery charges for 2020 year-to-date.

The service, which operates 24/7, includes two days of free storage at the recovery agent’s site for collections that take place out of business hours. If the vehicle is a total loss, e2e’s appointed salvage agent will collect it from the recovery agent’s site within the free 48-hour period ready for processing. Where the vehicle is repairable the client will organise vehicle delivery or collection directly with the recovery agents.

The instruction process can be automatically integrated with existing artificial intelligence  systems deployed by clients to determine if a vehicle is a total loss or repairable. e2e has developed a tool which enables claims handlers and vehicle fleet managers to determine if the vehicle should be handled as a total loss.

Neil Joslin, COO at e2e Total Loss Vehicle Management, said: “The challenging pandemic environment created opportunities for joined-up, inspired thinking and the insurance industry, alongside many others, adapted its processes dynamically and embraced change as a result. It’s good for us all to see positives coming from a place of adversity.”