Best Breakdown cover these days?
Discussion
A500leroy said:
Im thinking about start rescue.
We are with Start Rescue. £47.54 for both cars in total, then £30 per call-out. It is Three Star, which is: Roadside Assistance/ Nationwide Recovery/Home Assist.2013 Skoda Fabia, and
2016 BMW 335d
I can’t remember the last time we had a breakdown that needed a call out, so that sort of excess type policy seems best for us
They are all much the same, what you need to do though is to use Topcashback or similar, take the introductory offer and then the £62 cashback, as it makes 2 of us have cover for around £100
We flipflop between RAC and AA - although last year the RAC gave us 27 months cover for just under £200
We flipflop between RAC and AA - although last year the RAC gave us 27 months cover for just under £200
We had the misfortune of needing to use the AA's 'service' a few weeks ago when my wife tore a hole in the side of a tyre on a new (and thus sharp) kerb recently installed at the exit to her work in Birmingham.
She rang at about 6.40pm on a Friday evening and explained that she was a lone woman in a dodgy bit of Birmingham, that the tyre couldn't be repaired, and that she didn't have a spare (mini convertible).
Apparently the AA don't operate their own patrols during rush hour in England's's second largest city so she was palmed off to a 'valued partner' with an ETA of 8.30pm. I drove to meet her so she could feel safer, but the AA didn't know that. There are no live updates with their partners, so the ETA became 8.35, then 8.40, then 8.45....
At half 9 we rang up again to ask what the hell was happening and they promised to chase up, but we'd definitely see someone by 10.
The recovery bloke eventually rocks up in a van at 10.40 and asks "where's the spare?"
After going over the whole 'no, there really isn't another wheel' rigmarole, the bloke went "well my winch is broke and I'm the only one working tonight but I'll definitely definitely 100% pass you back to the AA as a priority and it'll be the AA proper who turn up, promise", then sods off about 5 minutes after arriving.
Unsurprisingly I wasn't feeling particularly trusting by this point so rang the AA again, and the job had been marked as complete with no further action needed. Yay. Having gone through the situation a third time they agreed to reopen it as a priority... then assigned it to the same company as before, but with a 3am ETA for a van that couldn't help even if it got there.
The final (much less polite) call finally had them go "yeah it was never going to happen today, we'll come and get it between 8.30 and 10.30 tomorrow
And that's how a single puncture 12 miles from home took more than 14 hours for the AA to recover.
She rang at about 6.40pm on a Friday evening and explained that she was a lone woman in a dodgy bit of Birmingham, that the tyre couldn't be repaired, and that she didn't have a spare (mini convertible).
Apparently the AA don't operate their own patrols during rush hour in England's's second largest city so she was palmed off to a 'valued partner' with an ETA of 8.30pm. I drove to meet her so she could feel safer, but the AA didn't know that. There are no live updates with their partners, so the ETA became 8.35, then 8.40, then 8.45....
At half 9 we rang up again to ask what the hell was happening and they promised to chase up, but we'd definitely see someone by 10.
The recovery bloke eventually rocks up in a van at 10.40 and asks "where's the spare?"
After going over the whole 'no, there really isn't another wheel' rigmarole, the bloke went "well my winch is broke and I'm the only one working tonight but I'll definitely definitely 100% pass you back to the AA as a priority and it'll be the AA proper who turn up, promise", then sods off about 5 minutes after arriving.
Unsurprisingly I wasn't feeling particularly trusting by this point so rang the AA again, and the job had been marked as complete with no further action needed. Yay. Having gone through the situation a third time they agreed to reopen it as a priority... then assigned it to the same company as before, but with a 3am ETA for a van that couldn't help even if it got there.
The final (much less polite) call finally had them go "yeah it was never going to happen today, we'll come and get it between 8.30 and 10.30 tomorrow
And that's how a single puncture 12 miles from home took more than 14 hours for the AA to recover.
luckystrike said:
And that's how a single puncture 12 miles from home took more than 14 hours for the AA to recover.
I think all the anecdotes here are showing is that it's luck of the draw.I had a blowout in the middle of nowhere on the way to work. RAC turned up in 30 mins. Car was booked in for new tyres anyway (but in the wrong direction) so they put a universal spare on (no spare wheel) and followed me home. I put it on stands and took the (now loose) wheels to the garage. All back together by lunchtime. Can't really complain at that.
Pica-Pica said:
A500leroy said:
Im thinking about start rescue.
We are with Start Rescue. £47.54 for both cars in total, then £30 per call-out. It is Three Star, which is: Roadside Assistance/ Nationwide Recovery/Home Assist.2013 Skoda Fabia, and
2016 BMW 335d
I can’t remember the last time we had a breakdown that needed a call out, so that sort of excess type policy seems best for us
I've just cancelled my renewal with RAC - been with them since 2009 with the full take your car anywhere as opposed to the nearest garage cover.
During that time I had no requirement to call them.
After hearing ever increasing experiences like this, I'm glad I did.
Given the fact I have never needed the RAC, I'm more than happy to pay an expensive ad-hoc recovery fee to a local company if needed.
(Now I've said this, I'm probably going to break down once a month for the next 5 years).
During that time I had no requirement to call them.
After hearing ever increasing experiences like this, I'm glad I did.
Given the fact I have never needed the RAC, I'm more than happy to pay an expensive ad-hoc recovery fee to a local company if needed.
(Now I've said this, I'm probably going to break down once a month for the next 5 years).
Reading these above it really is luck of the draw.
I have AA cover through my Halifax account but found out it doesn't include recovery. That costs something like £140 and 40p a mile!
2 weeks ago when the snow hit my car wouldn't start in the works car park. I logged it on the app and was impressed with the Uber style process. It took about 40 mins for the guy to arrive.
I even could see that he parked around the corner from me to phone his mate in Jag to see what to expect and what to ask!
We got it started and as there were no faults logged he offered to follow me to the garage where it was coincidentally booked for a service the next day. I got there fine and he relayed to odd fault he had witnessed to the mechanic and off he went.
He did tell me that the bank account membership's do catch a lot of people out for the extra charges.
Overall I was really happy with him and the AA.
I have AA cover through my Halifax account but found out it doesn't include recovery. That costs something like £140 and 40p a mile!
2 weeks ago when the snow hit my car wouldn't start in the works car park. I logged it on the app and was impressed with the Uber style process. It took about 40 mins for the guy to arrive.
I even could see that he parked around the corner from me to phone his mate in Jag to see what to expect and what to ask!
We got it started and as there were no faults logged he offered to follow me to the garage where it was coincidentally booked for a service the next day. I got there fine and he relayed to odd fault he had witnessed to the mechanic and off he went.
He did tell me that the bank account membership's do catch a lot of people out for the extra charges.
Overall I was really happy with him and the AA.
Been with Autoaid for a number of years now, never had to use them so can't comment on service.
They now apply a surcharge for older cars from this year, previously because i'm a repeat customer the older car cover has been included, still cheaper than most others
EDIT, just reread the renewal docs, its not a surchrage its an excess of £25, presumably payable at time of breakdown for older cars.
They now apply a surcharge for older cars from this year, previously because i'm a repeat customer the older car cover has been included, still cheaper than most others
EDIT, just reread the renewal docs, its not a surchrage its an excess of £25, presumably payable at time of breakdown for older cars.
Edited by Smint on Tuesday 21st March 16:15
AlexGSi2000 said:
I've just cancelled my renewal with RAC - been with them since 2009 with the full take your car anywhere as opposed to the nearest garage cover.
During that time I had no requirement to call them.
After hearing ever increasing experiences like this, I'm glad I did.
Given the fact I have never needed the RAC, I'm more than happy to pay an expensive ad-hoc recovery fee to a local company if needed.
(Now I've said this, I'm probably going to break down once a month for the next 5 years).
This. If you simply must have RAC or AA or whatever, just join at the point of calling them up for your roadside breakdown. The only thing they won't cover is a breakdown at home that's already happened.During that time I had no requirement to call them.
After hearing ever increasing experiences like this, I'm glad I did.
Given the fact I have never needed the RAC, I'm more than happy to pay an expensive ad-hoc recovery fee to a local company if needed.
(Now I've said this, I'm probably going to break down once a month for the next 5 years).
When you call them and they send someone, a fair amount of the time you're going to be dealt with by a local company when they contract the rescue out anyway. For those areas, it often doesn't matter who you're with, the same dude with the same lowloader is going to attend.
Another way of saying this: if you have a breakdown, the "I had cover or not before I called RAC|AA|GreenFlag|whoever" isn't going to get you better service. It'll just change the price of that service.
Paying for cover ahead of time -- or alternatively, on the spot -- is primarily a financial decision rather than one about service.
People often buy insurance ahead of time so they can relax and stop thinking (it's in a box in their head marked "RAC"). Realistically, that sort of thinking is a bit deluded.
If you have a breakdown your day is going to suck anyway.
Green Flag for our extended family. “Mum and Dad” tend not to have to use recovery ( touch wood, but we are members)as cars are well maintained a checked by a PH. However, daughter is away from home and from my trade contacts, and GF have been good.
Edited by Lester H on Tuesday 21st March 16:40
Edited by Lester H on Tuesday 21st March 16:43
vikingaero said:
I've said this many times - Autoaid.
If you must have AA/RAC buy via TopCashBack/Quidco to roughly halve the price. Never renew. Cancel and take out via a cashback website with the opposition. Rotate each year between them.
The AA will make you believe that renewing each year for silver/gold/spanglyb
ks level is worth it each year - it just appeals to the terminally stupid.
Yup, I'm with Autoaid. If you must have AA/RAC buy via TopCashBack/Quidco to roughly halve the price. Never renew. Cancel and take out via a cashback website with the opposition. Rotate each year between them.
The AA will make you believe that renewing each year for silver/gold/spanglyb
ks level is worth it each year - it just appeals to the terminally stupid.Used them once to get my car from home to my local garage. I made clear I was at home so not a dangerous situation / I don't need to be a prioritiy.
Local contractor turned up within 90mins and got the car where it needed to be.
Nice chap as well, even correctly diagnosed the problem whilst loading the car onto the back of his truck. .
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