Breakdown cover

[Simpo Two]

My breakdown cover with the AA will go up by 50% in October from £200pa to £300pa. It includes Roadside assistance, National recovery, At home and Onward travel.

Is £300 about right or would I do better to shop around? Or do nothing and hope they have a special offer?

Thanks very much.

[leef44]

It depends how much cover you want. I'm happy to pay for AutoAid at under £70 p.a.

I had one year cover included with RAC car insurance renewal for one of my cars but the other was not covered so I ended up bottling it half way through the year and got AutoAid anyway (it covers all the cars in the household which the covered person drives i.e. covers both my cars on the one policy)

[Xenoous]

You pay what?! That's insane. I paid £84 for AA nationwide cover. It's vehicle cover though. Just looked and realised I don't have nationwide cover. Whoopsies.

Still, that's far too much.

[Simpo Two]

Xenoous said:

You pay what?! That's insane. I paid £84 for AA nationwide cover. It's vehicle cover though. Just looked and realised I don't have nationwide cover. Whoopsies.

Still, that's far too much.

It started two years ago as a special offer for £10pm, then last year it went up to £16.66pm. now they want £25pm.

[Pica-Pica]

That is a ridiculous amount. Try StartRescue. For our two cars it is £47 a year and £30 per call out.

This, along with insurance costs, are regular recurring topics.

[The big yin]

I was with the RAC and the renewal more or less doubled , so I went to Auto Aid for less than £80.
I don't see why they keep upping the price for renewals and giving discount for new customers , I used to call them and they would do it cheaper , have been member for 16 years .

[alscar]

I find the AA virtually double my price each year whether I have even had to use their services or not and I go through the same exercise each year.
I phone the cancellation / leavers line , rant politely then they usually put the price back to what it was.
This year I must have been extremely polite as they reduced to its lowest ever - for the record £193 for the two of us in any car with everything you have other than onwards travel.

[Honourable Dead Snark]

That’s crazy.

My autoaid renewal just came through. Increased from £50 to £52…

Includes:

Nationwide Roadside Recovery
Home Breakdowns
Emergency Accommodation
Onward Travel
Caravan & Trailer Cover
Emergency Message Service
Loss of Keys
Accident, Theft and Vandalism
Vehicle Cover

That being said never had to use them so couldn’t comment on whether they are reliable.

[alscar]

The big yin said:

I was with the RAC and the renewal more or less doubled , so I went to Auto Aid for less than £80.
I don't see why they keep upping the price for renewals and giving discount for new customers , I used to call them and they would do it cheaper , have been member for 16 years .

This type of behaviour has apparently been outlawed for Insurers but clearly breakdown cover isn’t classified as Insurance.
On one of my phone calls the young lady agreed that it must be really frustrating !

[Pica-Pica]

Honourable Dead Snark said:

That’s crazy.

My autoaid renewal just came through. Increased from £50 to £52…

Includes:

Nationwide Roadside Recovery
Home Breakdowns
Emergency Accommodation
Onward Travel
Caravan & Trailer Cover
Emergency Message Service
Loss of Keys
Accident, Theft and Vandalism
Vehicle Cover

That being said never had to use them so couldn’t comment on whether they are reliable.

This is a screenshot of StartRescue plans, 1,2 and 3 star from left to right. As said before, pay £47 +£30 a call-out, which we have never used, but that is for two cars and both of us. There are also 4 and 5 star plans, but they are pan-European plans.

[Gad-Westy]

I used autoaid for a few years and they're still very much recommended from me but I have now left for a few reasons. Firstly, that the cost had crept up a bit for older cars. It's still pretty good though. At the time I left, they didn't offer euro cover although I think they now do that. I also had a bit of painful experience when getting a puncture about 120 miles from home. 3 different relay services turned it into a 6 hour+ journey. Nothing was especially terrible but it takes a while to load/unload from each flat bed and the trucks weren't there waiting when we arrived at the change over points. One of them took an hour or two extra. Not the end of the world, just not as slick as autoaid had been on a couple of other previous call outs. Admittedly the others have been closer to home.

Anyway, I recently moved to a nationwide flex+ account. Currently £13 per month but gives you full AA euro breakdown cover for any vehicle you own (even if you are not in it) or are travelling in. Also gets you phone insurance (for the whole family) and worldwide family travel insurance. It's a total no brainer for us and has saved us a lot of money whilst offering much better cover.

Edited by Gad-Westy on Thursday 15th August 16:02

[Hoofy]

One thing the AA once pointed out to me is that most places support a car up to 15 years old. Any confirmation of this? I didn't check tbf.

Oh yeah, and the AA cover me not the car, which was useful once when we went away in her car.

[markymarkthree]

Re: AutoAid Breakdown Membership – Renewal Date 08/09/2024 at 00:01.
This Years premium for me and the Mrs.
Covers 2008 van, 2014 car, 2016 bike, 1972 car.
£ 63.64
Spouse Premium
£ 10.00
16 yr+ Vehicle premium
£ 21.90
Total Payable
£ 95.54
(Inclusive of £9.00 service charge and Insurance Premium Tax @12.00%)
Cover Includes -
Home start, roadside assistance, nationwide recovery to any UK destination, unlimited call outs, cover for cars, bikes, vans & classics cars, and covers you in any eligible vehicle

That will do nicely.

[The Mad Monk]

Simpo Two said:

My breakdown cover with the AA will go up by 50% in October from £200pa to £300pa. It includes Roadside assistance, National recovery, At home and Onward travel.

Is £300 about right or would I do better to shop around? Or do nothing and hope they have a special offer?

Thanks very much.

Why don't you put it on your car cover or house insurance?

https://www.lv.com/breakdown-cover

Edited by The Mad Monk on Thursday 15th August 16:02

[Pica-Pica]

Gad-Westy said:

I used autoaid for a few years and they're still very much recommended from me but I have now left for a few reasons. Firstly, that the cost had crept up a bit for older cars. It's still pretty good though. At the time I left, they didn't offer euro cover although I think they now do that. I also had a bit of painful experience when getting a puncture about 120 miles from home. 3 different relay services turned it into a 6 hour+ journey. Nothing was especially terrible but it takes a while to load/unload from each flat bed and the trucks weren't there waiting when we arrived at the change over points. One of them took an hour or two extra. Not the end of the world, just not as slick as autoaid had been on a couple of other previous call outs. Admittedly the others have been closer to home.

Anyway, I recently moved to a nationwide flex+ account. Currently £13 per month but gives you full AA euro breakdown cover for any vehicle you own regardless of whether you are in it or not. Also gets you phone insurance (for the whole family) and worldwide family travel insurance. It's a total no brainer for us and has saved us a lot of money whilst offering much better cover.

Most are transported on a flat-bed. Towing is pretty much out now.

[Hoofy]

markymarkthree said:

Re: AutoAid Breakdown Membership – Renewal Date 08/09/2024 at 00:01.
This Years premium for me and the Mrs.
Covers 2008 van, 2014 car, 2016 bike, 1972 car.
£ 63.64
Spouse Premium
£ 10.00
16 yr+ Vehicle premium
£ 21.90
Total Payable
£ 95.54
(Inclusive of £9.00 service charge and Insurance Premium Tax @12.00%)
Cover Includes -
Home start, roadside assistance, nationwide recovery to any UK destination, unlimited call outs, cover for cars, bikes, vans & classics cars, and covers you in any eligible vehicle

That will do nicely.

I may have to go to Autoaid! Have you had to call them out? How was the service?

[ro250]

I just switched ours from Auto Aid to rescuemycar.com. Now our son is driving I went to vehicle cover for 3 cars, including national recovery and at home assistance which was £78 (and got some back via Topcashback). Auto Aid now charge extra for spouse cover but the main reason for switch was the 3rd car.

Not used them but online reviews looked decent.

[Gad-Westy]

Pica-Pica said:

Gad-Westy said:

I used autoaid for a few years and they're still very much recommended from me but I have now left for a few reasons. Firstly, that the cost had crept up a bit for older cars. It's still pretty good though. At the time I left, they didn't offer euro cover although I think they now do that. I also had a bit of painful experience when getting a puncture about 120 miles from home. 3 different relay services turned it into a 6 hour+ journey. Nothing was especially terrible but it takes a while to load/unload from each flat bed and the trucks weren't there waiting when we arrived at the change over points. One of them took an hour or two extra. Not the end of the world, just not as slick as autoaid had been on a couple of other previous call outs. Admittedly the others have been closer to home.

Anyway, I recently moved to a nationwide flex+ account. Currently £13 per month but gives you full AA euro breakdown cover for any vehicle you own regardless of whether you are in it or not. Also gets you phone insurance (for the whole family) and worldwide family travel insurance. It's a total no brainer for us and has saved us a lot of money whilst offering much better cover.

Most are transported on a flat-bed. Towing is pretty much out now.

Yes, I know. The point of me mentioning it was that I was relayed rather than direct recovery to home. Some services don't rely on relay. It's worth knowing when you select cover. Generally I'd be happy to take the risk with more basic cover but with so many cars now not having spare tyres, a puncture really can make quite a drama out of what used to be a frustrating 20 minute pause to swap wheels. One of the recovery drivers in that little episode I mentioned said that punctures accounted for almost all of the recovery work he now did.

[SkodaIan]

What make of car do you drive? Quite a lot of the manufacturer specific schemes can be extended (or restarted) beyond the free period when the car is new.

These are often surprisingly cheap and usually identical in what they cover to the most expensive AA and RAC schemes. Mine (for a Suzuki) is £85 a year and is operated by the AA. I had a Skoda before, and they had a very similar scheme.

[markymarkthree]

Hoofy said:

I may have to go to Autoaid! Have you had to call them out? How was the service?

Called them out once 2019 about 1500pm ish broke down in a petrol station, 2 hours from home.
They were mega busy got to me in 1hr. Said they could get me home about midnight at the best. Or take me to a train station, pay for my ticket, take the car to their yard. Which they would then deliver to my home or local garage the next day.
I took the train option.
Van arrived next day.
Cant fault them.