Caravan not roadworthy enough to tow? We still take it, just not for £350
Yes, a caravan not roadworthy enough to tow can still be collected. What changes is which job it becomes. A caravan with sound wheels and a chassis that will survive the journey is one service, priced from £350–£450. A caravan that's not towable is a different job entirely: it gets broken up rather than driven away, and that starts from £500–£850. Get a quote once you know which one yours is. It takes a couple of minutes.
What actually counts as "not roadworthy"?
A caravan is not roadworthy if it can't survive a motorway journey under its own wheels. In practice that usually means one or more of: wheels missing or seized on, brakes that have corroded solid, a floor that's failed and won't hold the weight of a hitch pulling against it, a chassis rusted through in the load-bearing sections, or an A-frame that's cracked or bent. Any one of those on its own is enough to move the job from a tow to a break.
Collection or breaking: how we decide
The deciding question is simple: is it towable, or not? If it's towable, it's collected whole for £350–£450. If it's not towable, the job moves into the breaking service instead, priced from £500–£850 for a touring caravan. The job itself has changed, which is why the price has too. A tow is hook up and drive away. A breaking job means a crew on site taking the caravan apart, sorting what can be recycled, and clearing the waste. For the detail on where the materials actually go, see what happens to a scrapped caravan.
The two routes once it's a breaking job
Once a tourer is confirmed as not roadworthy, there are two ways it gets dealt with: broken up where it stands, or lifted onto a tow bed and taken away to be broken elsewhere. Which one depends on access. A caravan on hardstanding with a clear route out might go on the tow bed; one wedged behind a fence or parked on soft ground usually gets broken on site instead. Either way, it's the same underlying job: the caravan is being scrapped, not restored or sold on.
Static caravans are never towable in the first place
A static caravan was never built to be towed on the road, so the roadworthy question doesn't really apply to statics the way it does to tourers. Every static goes straight into the breaking route: full dismantling on site, with the waste taken away afterwards, priced from £1,800–£3,980 depending on size, access and condition. If the wood can be burned on site, that usually brings the figure down. Static or touring, "not roadworthy" ends up in the same place: someone has to take it apart rather than drive it away.
Don't tow it to us yourself to save money
Can you tow an unroadworthy caravan to us to cut the cost? No, and it's not really about the money. A caravan with seized brakes, a failed floor or a rotted chassis can fail at speed on a public road, and there's no safe way to predict when. It's not a risk worth taking to shave a bit off a collection fee, and it wouldn't actually save you anything anyway: the price is set by the condition of the caravan, not by who does the driving. Send photos instead and let a crew that's set up for winching and low-loading come to it.
How much does it cost if your caravan isn't roadworthy?
A non-roadworthy touring caravan is priced from £500–£850, and a static caravan from £1,800–£3,980. Both are confirmed from your photos before anything is booked, so the figure doesn't move once a crew is on site.
| Caravan condition | What happens | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Touring, roadworthy | Collected whole as a tow | £350–£450 |
| Touring, not towable | Broken on site or moved on a tow bed | £500–£850 |
| Static | Dismantled on site, waste cleared | £1,800–£3,980 |
The skip for the waste isn't included in the touring breaking price. You'll need to arrange your own, usually 6–8 yards.
Send clear photos: it's the only way the quote holds
The whole reason this question comes up is that "roadworthy" isn't always obvious from the driveway. Send clear photos of the wheels, the chassis where you can see it, and any floor or panel damage, inside and out. A caravan quoted as towable that turns out not to be on the day is the single most common reason a job has to be re-quoted on the spot. Get the photos right before you book, and the price you're given is the price you pay.
Book quickly once you're quoted
We're heavily booked most of the time, so once your quote is confirmed, book within 24 hours. Leave it longer and you could be waiting several weeks for the next available collection date.
Quick answers
What if I'm not sure whether mine is still roadworthy?
Send clear photos of the wheels, chassis and any damage you can see, and we'll tell you which job it is before you book anything.
Can a non-roadworthy caravan still come off in one piece?
Sometimes. If it goes on a tow bed rather than being towed on its own wheels, it can still leave in one piece. It's just being moved to be broken elsewhere rather than driven away under its own steam.
Read more on why it's important to be clear when asking for a caravan scrapping quote, or see the full range of services on caravan disposal.