Member roles explained
Every member of a GarageHQ organisation has one of three roles. The role decides what they can see and do inside that org. Roles are scoped to the org: someone can be an owner of one org and a regular member of another at the same time.
What each role can do
| Capability | Owner | Admin | Member |
|---|---|---|---|
| See every vehicle in the org | ✓ | ✓ | their own only |
| Add a new vehicle | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ (within plan limit) |
| Edit any vehicle | ✓ | ✓ | only ones they own |
| Reassign vehicles between members | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Delete a vehicle | ✓ | ✓ | only ones they own |
| See all garages and insurers | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Add or edit garages and insurers | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Run history checks | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Invite new members | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Resend pending invites | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Remove members (except owners) | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Promote/demote between admin and member | ✓ | – | – |
| Rename the organisation | ✓ | – | – |
| Edit org-default alert windows | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Manage subscription / billing | ✓ | – | – |
| Open Stripe billing portal | ✓ | – | – |
| Transfer ownership to another member | ✓ | – | – |
| View compliance dashboard (Garage+) | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| View org-wide reporting (Garage+) | ✓ | ✓ | – |
When to use each role
- Owner — the person paying for the subscription. Always one (and only one) at a time. Carries the keys to billing and ownership transfer; nobody else can lock them out.
- Admin — your second-in-command. Trusted to manage members, edit vehicles, and run reports. Can't change billing or kick the owner. Use for office managers, head mechanics, deputy fleet managers.
- Member — the day-to-day user. Sees their own vehicles, can add and edit them, books appointments, runs history checks. Use for drivers, junior staff, family members. Promote them to admin when they need org-wide visibility.
Changing someone's role
Open Settings → Team. Each non-owner member shows a role dropdown beside their name. As an owner, you can flip them between Member and Admin. Admins can't change roles, only owners can. This stops admins from silently elevating each other.
Transferring ownership
You can have only one owner at a time, so the transfer is two steps:
- Promote the new owner to admin first (if they aren't already).
- Email hello@garagehq.uk from the current owner's email asking us to swap. We do it manually because billing is on the line, we want a paper trail. Include the org name and the new owner's email.
We're working on a self-serve owner-transfer flow but it's not live yet.
What happens if the only owner leaves?
If the only owner removes themselves before transferring, the org is stuck: nobody can manage billing or invite. Don't do that. If it does happen, email us and we'll restore the most recently active admin to owner.
What about the system admin role?
If you're the founder of GarageHQ or one of our staff, you'll see an extra Admin badge on your user menu (separate from org admin). That role gives access to the GarageHQ admin portal and a few internal tools. Customers never see this role; it's not part of the team-roles model on this page.
What next?
- Inviting team members, send the first invite.
- Reassigning vehicles between members, hand a vehicle from one member to another.
- Switching between organisations, work across orgs without signing out.