One British woman learned the hard way just how expensive a car breakdown can be after being charged £11,486.11 to have her car towed eight miles back to her house.

Bristol based 43 year old Janet Dickson was said to be ‘shocked’ when she received her credit card bill following the breakdown, especially as she had been quoted £40 by the breakdown company for the rescue.

As it turned out the charge had been a mistake by the car breakdown recovery company , as one of its staff had entered Mrs Dickson’s case number into the payment machine rather than the amount – hence the rather odd final number on her credit card.

The mum of three said she had waited a week for the refund and that the period had been ‘very stressful’ for her and her family.

The breakdown recovery company said the charge had been a ‘genuine mistake’ and added that the staff member that had entered the figures wrong had been retrained in order to avoid a similar thing happening on another car breakdown in the future.

To avoid expensive bills if your car breaks down talk to one of the Rescue My Car Advisors now on 0800 0199519 and they will be able to provide all the help and advice you will need to ensure your car is covered against any breakdown.