Car breakdown cover

[fiza]

I am looking to get myself some breakdown cover for my car and the wifes. Looking at the usual AA,RAC etc but also seen Autoaid UK Car breakdown recovery insurance the cheap way | AutoAid Breakdown

 

Anyone ever use them? Recommended or not?

[glennda]

I used to have greenflag - I think i paid 2.55 a month

 

Edit: i never actually called them though!

Edited November 13, 2013 by glennda

[laserblazer]

I used Green Flag until I was old enough for Saga.

[mac_shinobi]

One year went with these : http://breakdown.insurancechoice.co.uk/compare.php?ad_id=AFF0178300035

 

Now get breakdown cover as apart of Lloyd's bank platinum account that we pay each month

[SpuffMonkey]

I used Green Flag until I was old enough for Saga.

 

Hah - me too....sadly

[twin--turbo]

Very very very carfuly read the T's and C's of any offer.

 

For example RAC and AA "Relay" will only deliver you home if your car cannot be repaired in a reasonable time at one of their local garages to the breakdown.

 

If your car is of lilited value then this can be a dangerous option.

 

For example... circa 2006 I had a car worth ~£150 . On route back from Devon to Carlisle the propshaft coupling broke up 30 miles into the journey. Leaving 340!

 

I Knew instantly the part was unavailable, had been for years ( which was fortunate ) but the AA turned up after an hour and then insisted on trying to see if a local garage could fix the problem.

 

It would have been £75 for the part and probably £150 labour after a few cups of tea..

 

Fortunatly as expected they could not get a garage to repair.. Unforuntalt it took from 8AM breakdown to 8:30PM for us to get home!!

 

That's a low value example, but a larger cost breakdown could land you with an awkward situation..

 

Rob

[Sirbendy]

I was once with the AA for 20 years. Never again.

 

Several years ago when we had widespread flooding, my previous Astra, having just passed the MOT, had a catastrophic rear brake failure that totaled the rear axle and stranded me (disabled and unable to walk far), and the missus (Pregnant) in the middle of a deserted back road, in the semi-darkness.

 

So I called the AA, explained. "OK, you fall under "Priority" - we'll have someone out within the hour. Fine with that - the engine runs, we have heat plus a car full of shopping to eat.

 

90 minutes later I call back - "We're quite busy, we'll be with you in the next 30". Nothing. Again called. More delays. More Promises.

 

In the end, they said "We won't be able to get anyone to you until tomorrow - can you park the vehicle up somewhere safe?"

 

I blew my stack at them. Vehicle is crippled, rather like the owner. Of course it won't f***ing move. We got out and between us managed to walk 3-4 miles, with LOTS of stopping to sit, in the wind and rain to a friends house. He drove us back in his car, with a boot of tools and a lumphammer. Battered seven bells out of the hubs, ripped off the rear brakes totally and got it rolling again. Drove it to a garage with 50% of the brakes operating and the rear lines clamped off with 2 mole grips.

 

I hurt for days after that little episode..didn't do the missus any favours either.

[jamesreedersmith]

We have Green Insurance Company - The Greener road to great deals on car insurance and have had for a long time (great cover and good prices too)

[broc]

Britannia Rescue have special rates for Unison members, they are part of the LV insurance group.

[jinnantonnixx]

Yes, I've been with AutoAid for a few years. In my experience they are excellent, as long as you understand that you have to pay upfront then get reimbursed. Don't think you have to carry cash, either! I paid my breakdown invoice over the phone the next day with my credit card, then sent the invoice off to Autoaid for reimbursement. Simple.

 

It worked out very well for me, as the policy covers multiple vehicles and covers spouse's,vehicles too. At one point I had my car, wife's car and a camper van covered for £36/year. The camper broke down in Barnstaple. I had a courtesy car from the towing company for the evening (it was too late for the driver's hours), the van was flat-bedded back to South Wales the next morning. The tow back cost just shy of £400, reimbursed within a week by AutoAid, even before it showed up on the credit card statement.

 

I'm sticking with them, they suit me.

Edited November 14, 2013 by jinnantonnixx

[sippo]

I use greenflag through quidco. Don't forget to get your cashback!

[ICTDirect_Dave]

Green Flag are very good, however if you take home insurance with the AA (I think it cost me £65 for a year) they give you breakdown cover for 1p. Which was nice!

[creese]

Mine is free with Nationwide. Have used it once and can't fault it. Not sure if it works for couples.

[Disaster]

Getting cover with insurance or bank has to be the best way as in my experience you get top cover. I get mine through smile and absolutely caned the breakdown cover due to all the crap cars I've had. Plenty of home starts and a lift back from Bristol included, courtesy of Green Flag/Axa and others...

[fiza]

Getting cover with insurance or bank has to be the best way as in my experience you get top cover. I get mine through smile and absolutely caned the breakdown cover due to all the crap cars I've had. Plenty of home starts and a lift back from Bristol included, courtesy of Green Flag/Axa and others...

 

Just looked at Halifax (my bank) offer the Ultimate reward current account. £15 per month fee gets you AA breakdown cover (but not relay) , travel insurance, mobile phone insurance and home emergency cover.

Edited November 14, 2013 by fiza

[rich_tech]

my friend just informed me that the AA repaired his car for £35 when the clutch went on it, as he was with their repair cover (up to £500 of repairs a few times a year), think he was paying about £20 a month for him and his wifes car.

[Gibbo]

I'm getting very tired of the AA. As I do Peugeot diagnostics part time I'm getting lots more reports of the AA reading the fault code on their reader and basically just making a guess. It would be like us replacing a power supply on a desktop on the basis of a teacher's comments that it wouldn't turn on - completely ignoring the fact it might be the power socket switched off, fuse blown, cable unplugged or even a faulty power button.

 

They'd condemned the ABS system on one car because it wasn't responding on the diagnostics. It was a dirty fuse.

 

They've suggested to another owner that the high pressure fuel pump was faulty. It turned out to be bad fuel in an area of the North East. Peugeot knew about it. The SMMT knew about it. Why didn't the AA?

 

They might be OK to pick you off the motorway, or help if you've got a flat battery, but I wouldn't trust one of their diagnostics.

[jmak]

We're with GEM motoring assist - not the cheapest, but good value if you have more than one car / person to cover. We pay about £90 per year for two of us in any car, driver or passenger. Includes all the extras like home start, relay etc. haven't tried them as a passenger, but they we're very effective when my wife broke down in our car. Turned up in less than 30 minutes.she had to be somewhere else for work, so they just said leave us the keys and we'll sort it out. And they did.

 

Also had good experiences with Greenflag - just a bit more cover for a bit more money for GEM seemed worth it when I came to renew. They get good reviews too, for what it's worth.

[MatthewL]

I've been with AA since day one of driving, touch wood never had to use them but they cover me rather than the car and its for £70 a year. Fight with them every year for price but know they are there with me doing 25+k a year.

[SpuffMonkey]

Similarly to Sirbendy - I've only ever called on the AA once and they were absolutely useless and wouldn't turn out - my old (automatic) car got stuck in "1st" gear and wouldn't shift - in the end I drove it all the way home at about 8mph - it was still quicker than the times they were quoting to come and "help".

 

Personally I'd sooner pay a nominal fee for somebody just to deal with arranging a tow to a reputable local garage for me in these circumstances, rather than an insurance type deal where the small print limits seem to outweigh the benefits

[john]

Late to the party but my 50p's worth, the RAC were brilliant when I had a motoring incident, I have nearly the top package and they recovered me from the motorway leaving London to Bristol and took my car back to Yorkshire for me and had a hire car for me to drive home. All sorted no fuss or mess I was very pleased with the service from them it was no hassle or stress with them so well worth it and I bought through Qudico so got half my membership fee back through them