GET IT WRONG AND RISK LOSING YOUR VEHICLE!
The South African Towing and Recovery Association was formed by a group of heavy duty towing operators on the 26th Nov 1986 and formalized in terms of section 21 of the Companies’ Act of 1973 in 1990. SATRA became dormant thereafter and was resurrected in 2001 after resounding interest by the Towing and Recovery Industry in response to the Proposed Tow Truck Bill, which was aimed at regulation of the Towing and Recovery Industry by the National Department of Transport. SATRA commenced operations in January of 2002 and was structured in terms of our constitution.
While SATRA’s primary focus was to comply with the regulatory requirements of the National Department of Transport, SATRA believes that in order for the Towing and Recovery Industry to self regulate effectively, the Industry needs to achieve sustainable growth and maintain high standards of service delivery, ethics and integrity. SATRA’s long term strategy is to relentlessly drive the standards of the the Towing and Recovery Industry upwards by the achievement of sustainable and continued empowerment of its members and the maintenance and protection of the interests of all its stakeholders. SATRA’s stakeholders are SATRA’s customers, suppliers and employees as well as the government and the public.
Get it wrong and you may risk losing your vehicle.
• SATRA is able to manage and guide you through the whole process, whether it’s a breakdown or an accident.
You can call SATRA 24/7 for free advice and assistance arrangement on 0861 0 SATRA (0861 0 72872)
• Know who your insurer is. Your policy document will detail the name of the underwriting insurer.
As an example, Santam underwrites a policy from ABC insurance brokers. If you are not insured, we do offer
a 24/7 credit card facility and will always assist you.
• Make sure your insurer will pay your entire towing bill. If they will only pay a portion. Or have given you a
limit, we suggest you change your insurer, because you will find yourself having to negotiate on behalf of your
insurer after having paid full premiums for “half a product”. This will never happen if you are insured with a
SATRA business partner.
• If you make use of a roadside assistance product. Make sure you know your rights: in almost all cases you or your
insurer will be liable to pay the costs of towing an accident-damaged vehicle.
• Only use the services of the first SATRA member to arrive at the scene of an accident. You have the right to
choose to use a SATRA member, who is bound by a contractually enforceable code of conduct, and protects you, the
consumer, from being charged above market related rates.
• Check the SATRA decal is valid and displays the current year.
• Check the inventory with the SATRA member and sign it off with him. This is what we call the SATRA accident tow
authorization form, which is branded with our logo.
• Make sure the SATRA decal number, and registration number of the recovery vehicle is written down on the SATRA
accident tow authorization form. Keep a copy on hand for yourself.
• Insist that the SATRA member tows the vehicle to his yard. This is very important to make sure you’re your
vehicle is taken to the correct repairer. If you have instructed our member to tow the vehicle anywhere else,
SATRA will not intervene.
• Make sure that the accident-damaged vehicle is delivered to a repairer approved by your insurer or, if you are
not insured, make sure to collect your vehicle as soon as possible to prevent the accrual of storage charges.
