Car and bike breakdown cover
Discussion
I'm trying to sort out insurance for my bike and thought I might as well investigate breakdown cover as well.
I've also got a car but surprisingly in all the years I've been driving/riding (nearly 50) I've never had breakdown cover or needed it (well that's probably cursed me)
Has anybody got combined car/bike breakdown cover?
I can find a couple on Google that do both I'm not sure if they do a combined policy and I thought of asking on here before contacting anyone.
Nationwide current account plus.
£13 a month and you'll get UK & European personal breakdown/recovery cover that'll cover you in any vehicle as driver or passenger & for anyone driving one of your registered vehicles ( car or bike), you'll also get world wide family travel insurance & mobile device insurance, plus a travel friendly debit card. Get it in joint names & your partner will get the same too so both of you covered individually for one £13 monthly payment.
£13 a month and you'll get UK & European personal breakdown/recovery cover that'll cover you in any vehicle as driver or passenger & for anyone driving one of your registered vehicles ( car or bike), you'll also get world wide family travel insurance & mobile device insurance, plus a travel friendly debit card. Get it in joint names & your partner will get the same too so both of you covered individually for one £13 monthly payment.
Edited by vonhosen on Sunday 31st May 16:06
I'm with the RAC because they have far less restrictions on vehicles than the AA etc regarding age, type etc
They also cover partners / family very cheaply so I have 4 members with UK relay cover, in any vehicle including a trailer for £120
Haven't used them for years, then had 4 call outs in one year (that's daughter's for you)
They also cover partners / family very cheaply so I have 4 members with UK relay cover, in any vehicle including a trailer for £120
Haven't used them for years, then had 4 call outs in one year (that's daughter's for you)
When looking at the AA and RAC for covering the bike it's worth remembering what their operational model is. They have their own vans/staff and so their primary focus is to get one of them to you first. Likewise, they don't send a recovery truck until one of their staff say the vehicle needs recovery.
For me, when I was with the AA, that resulted in a couple of occasions when I phoned up to tell them I had a motorcycle with a puncture and needed recovery. Just under an hour later a man in a small van turned up and said "Oh! It's a motorcycle with a puncture, you'll need recover for that!".
No s
t Sherlock!
I then waited a further 3 and a half hours (on the worst occasion) for the recovery truck which wasn't AA, but was an independent contractor. He explained that the AA got to me within 1 hour (man in small van) so I was a "success statistic". They then spent 3 hours trying to find an AA recovery truck available to collect me before putting the job out to the independents. He also explained that the insurance based services like Britannia Rescue simply put the job out to the local independents immediately and true enough, having had about 6 punctures since I left the AA and moved to Britannia Rescue about 10 years ago, I've never had to wait more than about 45 minutes for the recovery truck to arrive.
The AA (and I assume the RAC) may be great for cars but, in my experience, their operational model doesn't really work well for bikes.
For me, when I was with the AA, that resulted in a couple of occasions when I phoned up to tell them I had a motorcycle with a puncture and needed recovery. Just under an hour later a man in a small van turned up and said "Oh! It's a motorcycle with a puncture, you'll need recover for that!".
No s
t Sherlock!I then waited a further 3 and a half hours (on the worst occasion) for the recovery truck which wasn't AA, but was an independent contractor. He explained that the AA got to me within 1 hour (man in small van) so I was a "success statistic". They then spent 3 hours trying to find an AA recovery truck available to collect me before putting the job out to the independents. He also explained that the insurance based services like Britannia Rescue simply put the job out to the local independents immediately and true enough, having had about 6 punctures since I left the AA and moved to Britannia Rescue about 10 years ago, I've never had to wait more than about 45 minutes for the recovery truck to arrive.
The AA (and I assume the RAC) may be great for cars but, in my experience, their operational model doesn't really work well for bikes.
black-k1 said:
When looking at the AA and RAC for covering the bike it's worth remembering what their operational model is. They have their own vans/staff and so their primary focus is to get one of them to you first. Likewise, they don't send a recovery truck until one of their staff say the vehicle needs recovery.
For me, when I was with the AA, that resulted in a couple of occasions when I phoned up to tell them I had a motorcycle with a puncture and needed recovery. Just under an hour later a man in a small van turned up and said "Oh! It's a motorcycle with a puncture, you'll need recover for that!".
No st Sherlock!
I then waited a further 3 and a half hours (on the worst occasion) for the recovery truck which wasn't AA, but was an independent contractor. He explained that the AA got to me within 1 hour (man in small van) so I was a "success statistic". They then spent 3 hours trying to find an AA recovery truck available to collect me before putting the job out to the independents. He also explained that the insurance based services like Britannia Rescue simply put the job out to the local independents immediately and true enough, having had about 6 punctures since I left the AA and moved to Britannia Rescue about 10 years ago, I've never had to wait more than about 45 minutes for the recovery truck to arrive.
The AA (and I assume the RAC) may be great for cars but, in my experience, their operational model doesn't really work well for bikes.
I’ve heard all kinds of stories like that about the AA and RAC .For me, when I was with the AA, that resulted in a couple of occasions when I phoned up to tell them I had a motorcycle with a puncture and needed recovery. Just under an hour later a man in a small van turned up and said "Oh! It's a motorcycle with a puncture, you'll need recover for that!".
No s
t Sherlock!I then waited a further 3 and a half hours (on the worst occasion) for the recovery truck which wasn't AA, but was an independent contractor. He explained that the AA got to me within 1 hour (man in small van) so I was a "success statistic". They then spent 3 hours trying to find an AA recovery truck available to collect me before putting the job out to the independents. He also explained that the insurance based services like Britannia Rescue simply put the job out to the local independents immediately and true enough, having had about 6 punctures since I left the AA and moved to Britannia Rescue about 10 years ago, I've never had to wait more than about 45 minutes for the recovery truck to arrive.
The AA (and I assume the RAC) may be great for cars but, in my experience, their operational model doesn't really work well for bikes.
I’m leaning towards Autoaid but I’ll investigate a few.
Drawweight said:
I’ve heard all kinds of stories like that about the AA and RAC .
I’m leaning towards Autoaid but I’ll investigate a few.
I've had the same experience with the RAC, and have heard others say the same about the AA.I’m leaning towards Autoaid but I’ll investigate a few.
One particular instance was leaving work - I got about a mile up the road and the cambelt snapped. Absolutely catagorically unable to fix by the roadside, and I made that clear to them over the phone, and even offered to send a picture to show them.
Nope, have to get someone out to you - being a chilly November evening it was a 2h wait for the first responder van, I just opened the bonnet and asked him to look at it, immediately said it needed recovering (shock). Then it was a 4h wait for a flatbed to recover the car as the first chap wouldn't tow it on a rigid bar (fair enough, it was 10 miles to go).
Set off for home at 5:30, didn't get in until nearly midnight.
Almost all 'personal' breakdown cover includes any vehicle (car, van or motorcycle) but excludes commercial vehicles and those over a specific size. Some camper vans for example are too big to get on a standard breakdown flatbed.
Check out the terms and conditions carefully of each company's cover, and there's another reason. Many of them have an age limit, some as little as 8 years old! OK, that's up to them, but it's often not on the front page key points, but way down in the T&C.
I'm an occasional biker and don't go far so I consider mine sufficient, but if you go touring, or travel long distances, a specialised bike breakdown policy may still be best.
Check out the terms and conditions carefully of each company's cover, and there's another reason. Many of them have an age limit, some as little as 8 years old! OK, that's up to them, but it's often not on the front page key points, but way down in the T&C.
I'm an occasional biker and don't go far so I consider mine sufficient, but if you go touring, or travel long distances, a specialised bike breakdown policy may still be best.
Edited by V8fan on Monday 1st June 09:18
Krikkit said:
I've had the same experience with the RAC, and have heard others say the same about the AA.
One particular instance was leaving work - I got about a mile up the road and the cambelt snapped. Absolutely catagorically unable to fix by the roadside, and I made that clear to them over the phone, and even offered to send a picture to show them.
Nope, have to get someone out to you - being a chilly November evening it was a 2h wait for the first responder van, I just opened the bonnet and asked him to look at it, immediately said it needed recovering (shock). Then it was a 4h wait for a flatbed to recover the car as the first chap wouldn't tow it on a rigid bar (fair enough, it was 10 miles to go).
Set off for home at 5:30, didn't get in until nearly midnight.
To be fair, they nearly all do this. Unfortunately, there are many instances of drivers 'disabling' their cars to get a free trip home, so they always check if it can be fixed first. They don't know or trust their customers. One particular instance was leaving work - I got about a mile up the road and the cambelt snapped. Absolutely catagorically unable to fix by the roadside, and I made that clear to them over the phone, and even offered to send a picture to show them.
Nope, have to get someone out to you - being a chilly November evening it was a 2h wait for the first responder van, I just opened the bonnet and asked him to look at it, immediately said it needed recovering (shock). Then it was a 4h wait for a flatbed to recover the car as the first chap wouldn't tow it on a rigid bar (fair enough, it was 10 miles to go).
Set off for home at 5:30, didn't get in until nearly midnight.
It's why they have introduced a charge for repeat offenders. I once broke down and they sent a recovery vehicle straight away because it was on the hard shoulder of the M6, they won't attempt a fix in those areas.
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