Breakdown cover

[unimatrix1066]

I am currently with the Aa, the renewal is due as usual they want big bucks.
Just seeing if any of the other recovery services are good

[jonty]

for the last ten years I have used tesco clubcard points for the R A C.£10=£40

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[first-things-first]

Try Nationwide. I have the Flex Plus account. It gives you travel insurance, mobile phone insurance, breakdown cover - home start, relay and european cover (all for you as driver or passenger) and white goods extra year warranty.

All for £120 year / £10 per month. I think they use Britannia for rescue. I have used them once and they responded fine, within 2 hours, but not so quick.

The AA wanted £200 (for joint cover) and £200 for European cover for a year. No way Jose.

AA when called upon by my brother, took 4 hours near Dover (that back water of the UK :icon_rolleyes:) and that was with a limited mobility passenger.

Other bank accounts have similar offers.

[Pete]

I phoned the AA, moaned about the cover renewal quote and got it knocked back to the previous year's price, which meant £70 knocked off. Might be worth calling them for a whinge about it.

[Dallas]

I swap between the AA and RAC each year, the renewal is always more expensive, so I go join the competition for half the cost.

This year the AA gave me £95 cover for just £20 to stay, I couldn't refuse. All I did was to call them to question the renewal.

If you join the money saving sites such as QUIDCO and TopCashBack, you can get upto half the cost back, sometimes it can workout with free cover with the cashback, all depends what deals are on at the time.

[Groundhog]

I phoned the AA, moaned about the cover renewal quote and got it knocked back to the previous year's price, which meant £70 knocked off. Might be worth calling them for a whinge about it.

I do this every year with the AA

They say the same thing, that my quote is computer generated, They put me on hold for a few minutes then come back with a cheaper price. Last renewal they knocked £75 off the quote and also gave me "Onward Travel" free.

[Dart2050]

I have Green Flag cover as part of my NatWest account. Used it a few times and service is excellent. Even come to your house. Unusually there is no car age limit, you won't get that if you buy it off the shelf. I won't quote account charges as there a number of choices available with different options to suit different book. Go have a look at www.natwest.com

[good_mojo]

I've used Autoaid (https://www.autoaidbreakdown.co.uk/) for years.

If you break down they send out a local company to deal with. You pay up front and then claim the costs back. They are very cheap, but I've never had any problems with them.

[SCP440]

Agree on all the above about calling to get the price reduced.

Be careful of going for an outfit you have never heard of especially one that uses local garage services to get you back on the road. I have a customer who used one of these services and was happy with his premium until he actually broke down. It was a bank holiday Monday and he made the call, the operator said he would have to wait a while as they were so busy and also the nearest garage they had to him was about an hours drive away. Eventually the mechanic tuned up in his beat up van and said there was nothing he could do so he would have to get recovered. The mechanic made some calls and told him he would have to wait a while. 4 hours later the truck tuned up and loaded him and then told him he only had an hour tacho time left so he would be taken back to the yard until they had a spare driver to take him home ( 3 to 4 hours). He had broken down at 11am and eventually got home at 3am the following morning and the breakdown was a snapped fan belt.

Also be careful of the breakdown cover that comes with some motor insurance, this often will only take you to the nearest garage to be ripped off. In some cases it will only take you a maximum of 10 miles.

Breakdown cover when you drive a 10 year or older car should be considered part of the annual running costs especially if you are thinking of keeping it a few more years.

[Kennyeth]

I had RAC with discount from being in this club, but last year changed bank account type and had it built into the Nationwide as mentioned above.
Ken.

[MSS]

Agree on all the above about calling to get the price reduced.

Be careful of going for an outfit you have never heard of especially one that uses local garage services to get you back on the road. I have a customer who used one of these services and was happy with his premium until he actually broke down. It was a bank holiday Monday and he made the call, the operator said he would have to wait a while as they were so busy and also the nearest garage they had to him was about an hours drive away. Eventually the mechanic tuned up in his beat up van and said there was nothing he could do so he would have to get recovered. The mechanic made some calls and told him he would have to wait a while. 4 hours later the truck tuned up and loaded him and then told him he only had an hour tacho time left so he would be taken back to the yard until they had a spare driver to take him home ( 3 to 4 hours). He had broken down at 11am and eventually got home at 3am the following morning and the breakdown was a snapped fan belt.

Also be careful of the breakdown cover that comes with some motor insurance, this often will only take you to the nearest garage to be ripped off. In some cases it will only take you a maximum of 10 miles.

Breakdown cover when you drive a 10 year or older car should be considered part of the annual running costs especially if you are thinking of keeping it a few more years.

Excellent advice.

I have always been with the RAC. Only had to call them out once - about two years ago - but the service was outstanding. The car was put on the back of an RAC truck and taken all the way to stourbridge from the Bury St Edmunds area.

As with most things, you get what you pay for.

[BigAde]

Agree on all the above about calling to get the price reduced.

Be careful of going for an outfit you have never heard of especially one that uses local garage services to get you back on the road. I have a customer who used one of these services and was happy with his premium until he actually broke down. It was a bank holiday Monday and he made the call, the operator said he would have to wait a while as they were so busy and also the nearest garage they had to him was about an hours drive away. Eventually the mechanic tuned up in his beat up van and said there was nothing he could do so he would have to get recovered. The mechanic made some calls and told him he would have to wait a while. 4 hours later the truck tuned up and loaded him and then told him he only had an hour tacho time left so he would be taken back to the yard until they had a spare driver to take him home ( 3 to 4 hours). He had broken down at 11am and eventually got home at 3am the following morning and the breakdown was a snapped fan belt.

Also be careful of the breakdown cover that comes with some motor insurance, this often will only take you to the nearest garage to be ripped off. In some cases it will only take you a maximum of 10 miles.

Breakdown cover when you drive a 10 year or older car should be considered part of the annual running costs especially if you are thinking of keeping it a few more years.

Well said, agree 100%.

Every year for the past 15+ years I've played the same game with the AA. They send me a ridiculous renewal quote. I phone and threaten to leave as the RAC are only X amount, then they drop the price. It's got more difficult the last couple of years, but I've still always been able to get a reduction of around 30% on the renewal. They also introduced Gold Member benefits which in my opinion was only introduced to entice people to renew and from threatening to leave.

That charade aside, I've never had a problem with the AA in the 20+ years that I've been a member. The odd patrol has been only 'okay', but the vast majority have been truly fantastic and have gone above and beyond the call of duty to get me back on the road again in the shortest possible time... one patrol told me that they get incentives to fix rather than recover.

So if you can separate the sales/marketing side to the AA which is a PITA, the actual breakdown service you're buying from them is superb.

[Nobby]

I've used Autonational Rescue's super-service cover for the last 10 years and have had no problems with their service in the 2 times I've had to call them out. The price remained at £66 per year until 2014 when it increased to £71 plus they covered my 2nd car at 50% discount.

[tdi90]

Used Greenflag for years and never had issues with price or service until earlier this week.
Stopped to get some derv in my truck, but on turning the key to re start, nothing not even a click. Whacked the starter, rocked it in gear but still no joy. Called G/flag who estimated 30mins to an hour max wait. 2 hours later I called em back, 'sorry sir, 30 more mins at most'. Another hour passed so I managed to flag down a confused motorist to pull start my truck.

When I called them to cancel the recovery (if it was ever even coming), the operator was very rude saying I 'wasted their time' :huh: my temper got the better of me and I let rip a torrent of abuse :Ball: .Didnt ressolve owt or get me a refund but felt good :xmas-smiley-008:

[Sector-9]

I pay around £18/year for national recovery with rescuemycar.com - the caveat at that price is that each callout is £40. In the three years I've been with them, I've never had to call them out...Until last week when I stupidly left my FBH switched on when I left to start my 12hr shift. When I came back the battery was too flat to even turn the engine over. They sent a big recovery lorry to fetch me and take me home, if needed, but it started straight away on their jump leads so I got home under my own steam.

If I had to call them out more than once a year then it'd be cheaper going with someone else, but in three years I feel I've saved some money this way.

[iandux]

I'm with StartRescue - £34 per year and Which recommended.

Used three times last year, ( filled up with petrol, crank pulley failed, replacement also failed) and more than happy with the service.

Clean recovery truck (no complaints from my Better Half!), and delivered home with no fuss.

What's not to like?

[Rev Jules]

Last year whilst on a fishing holiday in Worcester the tank strap broke, causing the tank to sag, needless to say got the car transported all the way home to Runnymede, a 140 mile trip well worth the money paid for breakdown.
Rev

[DMGRS]

I'm with the RAC - if you go through a site such as Quidco you can get a lot of cashback with them.
I paid £210 for the policy (full Euro cover and any car) but got £85 back.