Breakdown Cover - what's what?

[Smitters]

Lots of good tips to try. I have a month, so will see where I get to. Much appreciated.

[hyphen]

I haven't got any breakdown cover and haven't had any for last 5 years or more
Where is your sense of adventure folks




(You can join them whilst actually broken down and they come out to you straight away, so will join if needed!)

[Sir Bagalot]

Year 1 - Sign up to AA through Quidco
Year 2 - Sign up to RAC through Quidco
Repeat

[Garvin]

hyphen said:

I haven't got any breakdown cover and haven't had any for last 5 years or more
Where is your sense of adventure folks




(You can join them whilst actually broken down and they come out to you straight away, so will join if needed!)

Indeed. But it’s a bit of a ball ache trying to get and compare quotes in order to make a decision whilst stuck on the hard shoulder of some motorway with an iffy phone connection

[markymarkthree]

Autoaid covers me Mrs Marky and my fleet of 4 all for the princely sum of £59.99.

[Sheepshanks]

Garvin said:

hyphen said:

I haven't got any breakdown cover and haven't had any for last 5 years or more
Where is your sense of adventure folks




(You can join them whilst actually broken down and they come out to you straight away, so will join if needed!)

Indeed. But it’s a bit of a ball ache trying to get and compare quotes in order to make a decision whilst stuck on the hard shoulder of some motorway with an iffy phone connection

One of my son-in-laws did that when he left the lights on and flattened the battery - IIRC it was £225 for the AA.

Stupid thing is his car should have had the cover automatically renewed when it was serviced (Honda) but that hadn't happened for some reason.

I'd have kicked off about it, but he couldn't care less. Whatever happened to borrowing a set of jump leads off a neighbour?

[Mr Tidy]

Sheepshanks said:

Whatever happened to borrowing a set of jump leads off a neighbour?

Probably because nobody has any, and wouldn't know how to use them if they did!

I've been with RAC for quite a while, but I got a stupid renewal price last year so I got an online quote from the AA as a new member that was less than half the price!

Called the RAC to cancel, and suddenly they decided they could do their new member price that was about a fiver cheaper than the AA.

So no doubt I'll be doing the same nonsense next month.

I'm wary of any other options as they mostly just cover the car (I have 2) rather than the member, and they don't like older cars (mine are both 10+).

So it seems it's just like car insurance, house insurance, utility suppliers, etc. - as in they'll see what they can get away with.

[ninepoint2]

Another vote for AutoAid, covers policy holder and spouse in any car...

[Pothole]

vonhosen said:

Supplied by bank current account along with world wide travel insurance.

+1.

Also includes mobile phone/device insurance. I've used the breakdown cover 5 times and mobile insurance 3 times in the last 5 years. (my winter stter doesn't remind me to turn my lights off, I once put petrol in my diesel and I have a teenage stepson who drops things) I think I've had value for my £10 a month (now £13)

[ninepoint2]

Mr Tidy said:

I'm wary of any other options as they mostly just cover the car (I have 2) rather than the member, and they don't like older cars (mine are both 10+).

You will be fine with AutoAid

[Croutons]

Pothole said:

vonhosen said:

Supplied by bank current account along with world wide travel insurance.

+1.

Also includes mobile phone/device insurance. I've used the breakdown cover 5 times and mobile insurance 3 times in the last 5 years. (my winter stter doesn't remind me to turn my lights off, I once put petrol in my diesel and I have a teenage stepson who drops things) I think I've had value for my £10 a month (now £13)

Is this nationwide too?

[Fuzzarr]

After a few years of managing to agree a decent price every year, I've sacked off the RAC for Green Flag. They have a promo at the moment - tell them what your AA/RAC renewal price was and they'll likely beat it by 30 or 50% depending on whether it's vehicle-based or personal. (Cars need to be under 10 years old though.)

I was tempted by AutoAid but had some reservations, but will consider them again next year.

RAC wanted £112, Green Flag £55.

[RazerSauber]

I went with the AA and am paying about £33 a month but I went for a load of extras. I'm now a "Gold" member and get free Key Cover, not entirely sure what this entails but it's free so I'll have it! Rental car if mine breaks down for 3 days is handy, getting covered for all sorts of repairs up to £500 has taken the sting out of a few hefty repair bills, national recovery and all the usual stuff. Admittedly I don't use them a lot but it's rare when I call them that I'm waiting long. One recent one took them 8 hours to get me recovered from a car park, to which I complained and got £80. £10 an hour tax free for sitting and listening to the radio I suppose!

[anonymous-user]

I get personal cover with Rescue My Car for £83 a year covering myself and my ex wife on any car, with onward travel and so on. I think it was £60 just for me.

I've used them three times, once was just a tyre on the motorway, another they moved a dead car from Bournemouth to Cardiff, and most recently they moved a dead car from Bristol to Cardiff. Turned up quickly, did the job well, no complaints at all.

[Byker28i]

Torquey said:

If you want to use TheAA at least appear as a new customer each year and use topcashback. This might mean switching to a different company for a year before going back, if you cant sign up in your wifes name etc... Also claim topcashback if you go with another company.

Never paid more than £30 a year.

Sir Bagalot said:

Year 1 - Sign up to AA through Quidco
Year 2 - Sign up to RAC through Quidco
Repeat

This - you get no real benefits from being a repeat member. We have joint cover for me and my wife and switch each year which is £100 less on the renewal, then usually another £60 back on topcashback.

[carboy2017]

Been with RAC since 2008 however as of late I find their service poor as they took more than 2hrs to turn up in couple of occasions and they charge me around 140 quid for 2 cars and home start

[Drawweight]

hyphen said:

I haven't got any breakdown cover and haven't had any for last 5 years or more
Where is your sense of adventure folks




(You can join them whilst actually broken down and they come out to you straight away, so will join if needed!)

I’ve been driving nearly 50 years and not needed breakdown/ recovery yet (touch wood) so even if it costs a couple of hundred quid if I ever need it I reckon I’m still ahead

[so called]

I've had the German ADAC Plus cover for over 12 years now.
It was Euro 92,50 this year and hardly gone up in that time for full European Breakdown Cover.

They've ship 3 cars back to the UK for me in that time and have been fantastic.

[anonymous-user]

Drawweight said:

hyphen said:

I haven't got any breakdown cover and haven't had any for last 5 years or more
Where is your sense of adventure folks




(You can join them whilst actually broken down and they come out to you straight away, so will join if needed!)

I’ve been driving nearly 50 years and not needed breakdown/ recovery yet (touch wood) so even if it costs a couple of hundred quid if I ever need it I reckon I’m still ahead

They'll only tow you a short way if you join when broken down. You have to pay seperately for more than a couple of miles of towing which can be very expensive if you're far from home. You can guess how I found that out

I offered the subcontractor cash in hand to do it in the end, but if he's a proper AA/RAC man then you're stuffed.

[thebigmacmoomin]

I use Ford Assist that comes free with servicing at my Ford garage.

Used it once, called up then 30 mins later the AA comes out and fixed my issue (flat battery). Perfect and free aswell.