AA Breakdown repain, anyone use it?

[tuscan_al]

I need to renew my breakdown this month, RAC are not flavour of the internet discounts this month. The AA offer breakdown repair cover for £65 per yr upto £500 per claim for most things that can break, esp on a TVR, seems like a no brainer, anyone use this?

[blueyonder]

I use it and am about to renew it as I think it is a no brainer. Thankfully I've not had to make a claim yet but it still good value for the peace of mind! They will only cover cars aged 10yrs or less when you apply by the way.

[tvrbob]

I've had this cover for 3 years. Only made one claim, new radiator. No problems claiming but you do need to follow their rules very carefully.

[tuscan_al]

Was looking at the small print etc, but seems would help out if something like the clutch or a mount went like they seem to.

Anyone had old service repair bills requested by them, seems to be something in the small print. Not keen on sending off all my bills to them??

[blueyonder]

The car has to be serviced at the manufacturers recommended service intervals too.

[tvrbob]

The simple rule is that the car must have broken down; you must call the AA roadside assistance to attempt a repair even if you know they can't repair it. You must inform the AA man that you have breakdown cover. The failed part must be covered. If you fail to do this step by step then they will wriggle out of it. For example, if you tell them you managed to get it to your local service centre, they will tell you that you have made other arrangements and that cover is void. Just follow the procedure and all will be OK

[petclub]

I guess I've been with them for about 10 years. 1 callout in the first 8 years (my MG electrical fault). Then, I had a year with 5 call outs (Cerbie catching fire, V8S battery connection in the boot, MG shredded 2 tyres in one go, wife called them out to stop the damaged Cerbs alarm going off and something I can't remember). They were quick and courteous each time. I got a letter saying if I called them out again it would cost £95+.

I hadn't noticed that and not too happy but I have renewed again. 1 callout this year, my lad's Corsa. My V8S is more than 10 years old and they did not question it.

Overall, a very good service IMHO.

[DJC]

Brilliant service and essential.

I think Ive used up my 5 free call outs each yr for the past 3 yrs!

[tvrbob]

petclub said:

Overall, a very good service IMHO.

DJC said:

Brilliant service and essential.

The OP is asking about the add-on Parts & Labour cover not roadside assistance.

[Ali-D]

I have breakdown and recovery, only used it once but it proved it's worth as there was an engineer out in about 35minutes and then a flatbed truck out within a further 35-40minutes!!

The cover is not just for the Tiv but for any vehicle i am in, not necessarily driving.

Wouldn't be without it.

Nev

[RUSSELLM]

I used the parts & labour before on my old Cerb, clutch fingers snapped.

They asked for the details of the last service when I put the claim in, but they only wanted a photo copy.

That was in the day's when they used to pay out £975 instead of £475.

Excellent service, well worth the money.

[THB]

What I don't understand is, they say things like the air conditioning compressor are covered, but you couldn't really call their breakdown service out if it stopped working - so how do you claim?

[s6boy]

Ali-D said:

....

The cover is not just for the Tiv but for any vehicle i am in, not necessarily driving.


Nev

Can you tell me how you arranged this as they wouldn't entertain covering my other 2 cars unless I took out a seperate basic breakdown cover on each one. As they're pretty new and Japanese I didn't bother, but it would be nice to have them covered even for an added premium.

[Mark_G]

It's possible that items above have mixed up the Breakdown recovery options (roadside, relay, home start etc) from the Breakdown Repair cover that you're asking about. I have had the home-start and relay recovery options on my AA membership since 1994 (I owned an Alfa GTV at the time and, yes, the AA did come and help out on a couple of occasions...also used it once for the Griff when the rad got a stone hole in it). The roadside recovery options do cover any car you're in - not just eg the Tiv - I guess that the AA want to limit the risk and thus charge for the Breakdown Repair insurance per car - from the website it looks as though a 10+ yr old car costs 85 quid to cover and 65 quid for less than 10 yrs old. I would recommend the breakdown recovery service that the AA provide - they've always been very helpful - no experience of the repair cover that you're after though.

[s6boy]

Mark_G said:

It's possible that items above have mixed up the Breakdown recovery options (roadside, relay, home start etc) from the Breakdown Repair cover that you're asking about. I have had the home-start and relay recovery options on my AA membership since 1994 (I owned an Alfa GTV at the time and, yes, the AA did come and help out on a couple of occasions...also used it once for the Griff when the rad got a stone hole in it). The roadside recovery options do cover any car you're in - not just eg the Tiv - I guess that the AA want to limit the risk and thus charge for the Breakdown Repair insurance per car - from the website it looks as though a 10+ yr old car costs 85 quid to cover and 65 quid for less than 10 yrs old. I would recommend the breakdown recovery service that the AA provide - they've always been very helpful - no experience of the repair cover that you're after though.

Doh! you're quite right I didn't read the first line properly

[rev-erend]

Yep - I had one too .. when I had a T350.

Clutch went - called the AA .. who approved the repair..

£475 towards the new clutch ..

Snag is the car must be broken down and not able to move.

So - for instance if the A/C compressor is broken it's covered but if the car will still run then it's not covered.. as it only covers breakdowns.

[tvrbob]

rev-erend said:

So - for instance if the A/C compressor is broken it's covered but if the car will still run then it's not covered.. as it only covers breakdowns.

I challenged this point and these parts are covered. You must call out the roadside assistant though.

[THB]

tvrbob said:

rev-erend said:

So - for instance if the A/C compressor is broken it's covered but if the car will still run then it's not covered.. as it only covers breakdowns.

I challenged this point and these parts are covered. You must call out the roadside assistant though.

So if your air con is broken, you call out the roadside assistance (even though you haven't broken down) to confirm it is broken, then claim?

[tvrbob]

THB said:

So if your air con is broken, you call out the roadside assistance (even though you haven't broken down) to confirm it is broken, then claim?

Yes, if you don't call roadside assist then the claim will be void. That's what they told me.

[andyoleary]

Yep, I claimed for a fractured rad, went through their required process and, even though I could drive the car, they were happy for me to take it to Fernies and reimbursed me for the costs.

Well worth it,

Andy