If the Vehicle Develops a Fault During Your Journey

The first priority is not the schedule

When something goes wrong mechanically, the immediate concern is getting the vehicle and everybody in it somewhere safe. That may mean leaving a motorway at the next junction, stopping in an emergency area rather than a live lane, or pulling into a side road rather than continuing to a more convenient spot.

Passengers occasionally push to continue because a meeting matters. It is worth understanding that a chauffeur declining to press on with a warning light showing is exercising exactly the judgement you are paying for, and that a car stopped voluntarily is a better outcome than one stopped by the roadside.

What to do on a motorway

If the vehicle has to stop on a motorway, the guidance is consistent and worth knowing before you need it. Get as far left as possible, ideally into an emergency area, put the hazard lights on, and leave the vehicle by the nearside doors. Wait behind the safety barrier, up the bank and away from the carriageway, not in the car and not on the verge beside it.

On stretches without a hard shoulder this matters more rather than less. Follow the chauffeur's instructions immediately, because the difference between a safe stop and a dangerous one is measured in seconds rather than opinions. This is one of the few moments on a journey where the person driving is giving instructions rather than taking them, and it lasts only until everybody is safe.

• Leave by the doors on the nearside, away from traffic
• Get behind the barrier and away from the carriageway
• Take phones and essentials, leave luggage in the vehicle
• Keep children and animals with you and under control

How a replacement is arranged

Once everyone is safe, the second problem is continuing your journey. What can be arranged depends on where you are and when: a fault in central London at ten in the morning and one on the A66 in Cumbria on a Sunday evening are different situations with different realistic answers.

That is why nothing is promised in advance here. What happens for your journey is handled at the time and communicated on the WhatsApp thread, which is also the fastest way to reach somebody who can organise the next step while the chauffeur is dealing with the vehicle.

Flights, and when to make a different decision

If the journey is time-critical, say so immediately rather than waiting to see how the recovery goes. A flight, a train or a hard meeting deadline changes the calculation, and the right answer may be to get you moving by another means rather than to wait for a replacement car.

That decision is best made early while options still exist. Twenty minutes spent hoping is the difference between catching a service and watching it leave. Say the deadline out loud, with the time attached, so the decision is made against a fact rather than a general feeling of urgency.

Afterwards

Where a mechanical failure has affected your journey, raise it on the WhatsApp thread once you are where you were going. How the booking is treated in those circumstances depends on the terms of your booking and on what actually happened, and it is a conversation to have with the facts written down.

It is also worth saying that this is genuinely uncommon. Licensed vehicles are tested more frequently than private cars as a condition of their licences, and the great majority of journeys pass without a warning light of any kind. It is worth knowing what happens anyway, in the same way it is worth knowing where the emergency areas are on a motorway you use often.

Plan your chauffeur journey

London Chauffeurs provides itinerary-led private travel for airport transfers, executive travel, private aviation, events and long-distance UK journeys. Availability and pricing are confirmed for the requested itinerary.

Frequently asked questions