Questions about Breakdown cover
Discussion
My AA renewal letter has just arrived and as I have now got a TVR, I am starting to pay closer attention to it!
For about 3 or 4 years, I have been paying for AA Roadside and Relay. I have never actually needed it so far and I hope that I never will *touch wood*.
I am thinking of adding Home start – good idea?
What cover do you have?
Also, my renewal has come through at£110 for Roadside and Relay. It suggests adding Home start, it will be another £52 on top.
I went on to the AA website (as if I was a new customer) and priced up Roadside, Relay and Home start for just £99. If I ring them up, do you think they will give me this discount price? If I cancel my existing membership and start again would I lose my loyalty bonus years?
Are there any other Breakdown cover providers I should be looking at or would it be foolish to break 3 or 4 years continuous membership?
Any advice appreciated.
For about 3 or 4 years, I have been paying for AA Roadside and Relay. I have never actually needed it so far and I hope that I never will *touch wood*.
I am thinking of adding Home start – good idea?
What cover do you have?
Also, my renewal has come through at£110 for Roadside and Relay. It suggests adding Home start, it will be another £52 on top.
I went on to the AA website (as if I was a new customer) and priced up Roadside, Relay and Home start for just £99. If I ring them up, do you think they will give me this discount price? If I cancel my existing membership and start again would I lose my loyalty bonus years?
Are there any other Breakdown cover providers I should be looking at or would it be foolish to break 3 or 4 years continuous membership?
Any advice appreciated.
I use RAC for home start, roadside repair, recovery and European recovery. TVRCC membership attracts an RAC discount that more than covers the cost of TVRCC membership.
I didn't need home start as I have more than one car, but the TVRCC discount didn't apply to the package without home start.
I didn't need home start as I have more than one car, but the TVRCC discount didn't apply to the package without home start.
most banks do breakdown cover if you upgrade your account.
the question to ask here is what does it cover, in most cases very little.
The package sounds good but 9 times out of 10 you are paying for the breakdown providers very minimum cover which in most cases can be absolutley useless.
I'm not saying don't go for it just find out exactly what it covers because a bill for towing as well as an annual fee for breakdown cover does not make financial sense.
the question to ask here is what does it cover, in most cases very little.
The package sounds good but 9 times out of 10 you are paying for the breakdown providers very minimum cover which in most cases can be absolutley useless.
I'm not saying don't go for it just find out exactly what it covers because a bill for towing as well as an annual fee for breakdown cover does not make financial sense.
With Several motors I have Personel cover, which means Roadside, Revcovery and homestart, But I gave up on AA this year as I got fed up every year getting my renewal through and finding that new members could get a better deal online, Did a few internet searchs and joined GEM Motoring assist, www.motoringassist.com no I did not know who they were! Lots cheaper than AA RAC Joining was easy and cards and things turned up quick no problem.
Yesterday yes Sunday of a bank holiday weekend I had gone to get a paper not in the TVR but my trusted 1994 Honda Civic which has not let me down in six years and 90000 miles of driving UNTIL THEN!
It would not start in the car park of the shop, Completely dead.
So a first call to Gem 11.55 am, Call answered on first ring details taken easy no problems get to you soon sir, 10 minutes later got text saying be with you which was in 40 minutes time arrived 5 Minutes early, Sorted car no issues,
Great service
Yesterday yes Sunday of a bank holiday weekend I had gone to get a paper not in the TVR but my trusted 1994 Honda Civic which has not let me down in six years and 90000 miles of driving UNTIL THEN!
It would not start in the car park of the shop, Completely dead.
So a first call to Gem 11.55 am, Call answered on first ring details taken easy no problems get to you soon sir, 10 minutes later got text saying be with you which was in 40 minutes time arrived 5 Minutes early, Sorted car no issues,
Great service
I got the full beans from the RAC (relay, home start etc.). I wanted European cover as well, which the AA would only do separately (and wanted a pretty penny for to say the least). When I did the online quote with the RAC the end result was I had to call (I was expecting to get a comedy figure) but when I told them that I could go with another provider for ~£200 all-in they matched it (twas a small, tiny fib). I haven't had to use it (touch wood), but I reckon that's because I've got a decent car, she's maintained at Fernhurst plus I use her every day. I'm just back from a week in Vancouver which is the longest she has been left dormant, and she started first time and during a 30 minute blast to get the fluids going (as much for me as the car!) all was well 
I didn't know about the TVRCC discount which is a bit of a fecker
, but for peace of mind I'd definitely get the full package (especially if like me you're not of a fantastically mechanical disposition) - hope that helps 
I didn't know about the TVRCC discount which is a bit of a fecker
, but for peace of mind I'd definitely get the full package (especially if like me you're not of a fantastically mechanical disposition) - hope that helps Thumbs up for the AA for me. We have full package from Lloyds premier account. My son has homestart as well as roadside and recovery and on Weds evening at 11pm he needed a 30 amp wide blade fuse for the fan before he set off to Leeds - rang the AA and a local mechanic appeared with fuse in 35 mins and off he went, great service.
www.britanniarescue.com
As for bank account recovery policies - just cross your fingers they aren't busy as you will be firmly at the bottom of the priority list.
As for bank account recovery policies - just cross your fingers they aren't busy as you will be firmly at the bottom of the priority list.
We got AA to drop to new customer pricing and got another 15% off.
Just called them up and told them I am going to cancel unless they gave me equivalent pricing - and added that if I went through Quidco, I get another x% off (The person I was talking to had no idea what Quidco was) and they dropped it to new customer price with an additional 15% off.
Job done.
Just called them up and told them I am going to cancel unless they gave me equivalent pricing - and added that if I went through Quidco, I get another x% off (The person I was talking to had no idea what Quidco was) and they dropped it to new customer price with an additional 15% off.
Job done.
I Also have full AA cover with LLoyds Premier, together with other 'benefits' and works well for me and covers both of my cars.
Im addition I also have paid £65 per annum for AA mechanical beakdown which covers up to £500 repair costs to the named car for an unlimited number of times. I have used this once when a front caliper siezed and the AA took me to a TVR garage and all was fixed for a £25 excess.
Im addition I also have paid £65 per annum for AA mechanical beakdown which covers up to £500 repair costs to the named car for an unlimited number of times. I have used this once when a front caliper siezed and the AA took me to a TVR garage and all was fixed for a £25 excess.
I used to have full cover with the AA, but every time I broke down, and I had to call them, they ended up sending third party recovery trucks. I rarely see an AA/RAC/Greenflag van on the roads these days.
The trouble is that the third party (or local garages) tend to send a recovery truck to tow you car to your chosen garage - they don't seem to be interested in fixing anything at the roadside. For me these have frequently turned up with no tools - just the tow truck. And those that have brought tools, it has literally been one of those cheap plastic multi-tool cases that you can buy from the supermarket for a fiver.
So I figured, why pay a premium for the AA or RAC for a service which will just get subbed out anyway. I therefore use Tesco breakdown, and get the full cover - this service is provided by the Greenflag, but you pay less for it. However, I can't remember the last time I actually saw a livered up Greenflag van. So I just accept that a local garage will come out regardless.
The trouble is that the third party (or local garages) tend to send a recovery truck to tow you car to your chosen garage - they don't seem to be interested in fixing anything at the roadside. For me these have frequently turned up with no tools - just the tow truck. And those that have brought tools, it has literally been one of those cheap plastic multi-tool cases that you can buy from the supermarket for a fiver.
So I figured, why pay a premium for the AA or RAC for a service which will just get subbed out anyway. I therefore use Tesco breakdown, and get the full cover - this service is provided by the Greenflag, but you pay less for it. However, I can't remember the last time I actually saw a livered up Greenflag van. So I just accept that a local garage will come out regardless.
WOO5IE said:
Im addition I also have paid £65 per annum for AA mechanical beakdown which covers up to £500 repair costs to the named car for an unlimited number of times. I have used this once when a front caliper siezed and the AA took me to a TVR garage and all was fixed for a £25 excess.
I like that idea though. Is that only for newish cars, or can they cover any age/type? With that premium, it wouldn't take long for it to pay!Teetertank said:
However, I can't remember the last time I actually saw a livered up Greenflag van. So I just accept that a local garage will come out regardless.
That's because they only have a few of them, and they are all operated by their agents anyway. Britannia have 4, all operated by agents. I have had AA cover for a number of years and couldn't really fault them apart from a few minor issues but when I tried to add European cover I found them very expensive. After extensively searching for alternates I read a lot of good info about ADAC in Germany and their Plus membership which is only €79 and is Europe-wide. Their level of service is excellent and despite all the paperwork being in German (and having to call Munich) they cover a lot more than the UK companies.
I would and have recommended them to a number of people since returning from my various European road trips this year.
Edited to add that for UK breakdowns they use the AA and you call them direct and have their full cover.
I would and have recommended them to a number of people since returning from my various European road trips this year.
Edited to add that for UK breakdowns they use the AA and you call them direct and have their full cover.
Edited by stub101 on Wednesday 1st September 08:11
Teetertank said:
I used to have full cover with the AA, but every time I broke down, and I had to call them, they ended up sending third party recovery trucks. I rarely see an AA/RAC/Greenflag van on the roads these days.
I think they do a triage over the phone and if it's something they can fix, they send a patrol, otherwise its a reecovery. I've got the full monty with the RAC and they always seem to send a patrol first, including one time when I knew what the problem was and specifically asked for a recovery truck, they still sent a patrol!I didn't know about the TVRCC discount though, I'll have to look into that.
profstoff said:
Teetertank said:
I used to have full cover with the AA, but every time I broke down, and I had to call them, they ended up sending third party recovery trucks. I rarely see an AA/RAC/Greenflag van on the roads these days.
I think they do a triage over the phone and if it's something they can fix, they send a patrol, otherwise its a reecovery. I've got the full monty with the RAC and they always seem to send a patrol first, including one time when I knew what the problem was and specifically asked for a recovery truck, they still sent a patrol!I didn't know about the TVRCC discount though, I'll have to look into that.
Since then, I've taken out multi-trip European cover for this year (2 x trips to Le Mans, trip to Ireland and shortly going to Spa) which I got for ~ £100....which I thought was very good. They are open to negotiation on prices - - as well as TVRCC discount.
Nick
I have the full RAC package courtesy of tesco clubcard points, had 2 calls to the TVR in 5 years, one for a flat battery (must get that headlight warning buzzer) , the other to a split fuel line. In both cases they got me going within minutes of arriving on the scene, both guys had a good knowledge of the marque.
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