Beak down cover
Discussion
Classic Line, my insurer, has it bundled in, but I have to admit I prefer to use the RAC cover I have for my other cars.
I use the personal cover option, so my wife and I are covered for any car we are in, regardless of who owns it.
RAC are the best in my opinion. Their attitude is "we're here until we have fixed it. sir", whereas the AA seem to want to tow rather than open the bonnet.
You might think this is of no consequence, but it can be. The RAC diagnosed and fixed my blown 100 amp fuse on the TVR at the road side, and got me running again.
My AA member daughter had a breakdown on a Sunday afternoon, 30 miles after leaving our house, on a 200 mile journey home, with a 0ne year old child and a dog on board.
She had suddenly lost 85% of the power in a turbodiesel Renault, and it didn't have that much to start with.
AA were there reasonably quickly, as she was prioritised due to having the child. The AA guy didn't want to open the bonnet, he declared it to be "gearbox" and just towed her back to the A1 services and started to organise a relay - three 60 mile relays, front end suspended, small tow truck, swapping towing vehicle every sixty miles so no AA man was too far from home. We asked for a lorry to take her all the way, and were refused. In the end we had the car towed back to our house, I insured her mother's car for her to drive, and she set off again in her mother's car as she had to be at work on Monday.
Monday morning my local garage opened the bonnet at 8.15, and at 8.16 reattached the turbo pipe and had the car running fine.
Three weeks later I received a cheque for £185 from the AA for the 400 mile round trip my daughter had to make to collect her car, the extra insurance on her mother's car, and the tenner I gave the garage for fixing it.
I use the personal cover option, so my wife and I are covered for any car we are in, regardless of who owns it.
RAC are the best in my opinion. Their attitude is "we're here until we have fixed it. sir", whereas the AA seem to want to tow rather than open the bonnet.
You might think this is of no consequence, but it can be. The RAC diagnosed and fixed my blown 100 amp fuse on the TVR at the road side, and got me running again.
My AA member daughter had a breakdown on a Sunday afternoon, 30 miles after leaving our house, on a 200 mile journey home, with a 0ne year old child and a dog on board.
She had suddenly lost 85% of the power in a turbodiesel Renault, and it didn't have that much to start with.
AA were there reasonably quickly, as she was prioritised due to having the child. The AA guy didn't want to open the bonnet, he declared it to be "gearbox" and just towed her back to the A1 services and started to organise a relay - three 60 mile relays, front end suspended, small tow truck, swapping towing vehicle every sixty miles so no AA man was too far from home. We asked for a lorry to take her all the way, and were refused. In the end we had the car towed back to our house, I insured her mother's car for her to drive, and she set off again in her mother's car as she had to be at work on Monday.
Monday morning my local garage opened the bonnet at 8.15, and at 8.16 reattached the turbo pipe and had the car running fine.
Three weeks later I received a cheque for £185 from the AA for the 400 mile round trip my daughter had to make to collect her car, the extra insurance on her mother's car, and the tenner I gave the garage for fixing it.
I just moved from the RAC to LV Britannia, My daughters car = any driver, My wife and I on 'personal' so cover any car she or I are in (including trailers/caravan etc. which the RAC does NOT cover) RAC had been £220 which included £54 discount) and LV B is £135.
LV B came out as very good by Which Magazine
LV B came out as very good by Which Magazine
I just go with whoever is cheapest between RAC AA and Greenflag each year. They normally have cheap prices to get you in and then hike them up at renewal, so I just swap them around each time. Things like UK Hotdeals do cashback and voucher codes sometimes too, but I cant see anything on there today.
magpies said:
I just moved from the RAC to LV Britannia, My daughters car = any driver, My wife and I on 'personal' so cover any car she or I are in (including trailers/caravan etc. which the RAC does NOT cover) RAC had been £220 which included £54 discount) and LV B is £135.
LV B came out as very good by Which Magazine
Interested at keeping costs down - what are LV B like at fixing it at the roadside please? I am not wedded to the RAC, but they do have a "can do" attitude which I value.LV B came out as very good by Which Magazine
Little story for you. I was on a PH East Anglia run the Sunday before last, and there was some sort of Caterfield on the run. He suddenly pulled over near the end of the run, his battery was bulging and very hot and about to explode. Two guys stopped to help, and within half an hour the RAC arrived. The RAC guy had a quick look, stripped the battery out of his own jump starter battery pack, fitted it into the Caterfield to get it mobile and followed them quite a distance home. That's what I call service. That's why I don't belong to the AA. With them there would have been a long wait for a tow truck.
magpies said:
I just moved from the RAC to LV Britannia, My daughters car = any driver, My wife and I on 'personal' so cover any car she or I are in (including trailers/caravan etc. which the RAC does NOT cover) RAC had been £220 which included £54 discount) and LV B is £135.
LV B came out as very good by Which Magazine
+1 for Britannia - not TVR related except the Tamora was on the trailer towed by my Motorhome (Competing at Castle Hillclimb in Cornwall some weeks ago) when the rear nearside wheel blew and disintegrated whilst overtaking on a dual carriageway (A30). Managed to stay straight and got into a layby.LV B came out as very good by Which Magazine
Britannia reacted within 20-minutes with a local repair company - two-new tyres for the motorhome and we were on our way in 90-mins. Didn't want to consider putting motorhome on a recovery vehicle and the trailer with Tamora as well!!
Hope that helps.
Trev
Andy JB said:
Just to add to the above - partcularly for European cover many companies will only cover cars under 12 or 15 years old - so many Chims/Griffs can be excluded.
I had 'Personal Breakdown Cover' which covered me for any car I drove, however once they found out my Griff was sixteen years old they refused to include it.
If you are covered for breakdown within your insurance, check the small print.
Recently on the way back from a hillclimb with the competition car in tow on a trailer (not the TVR) I broke down on the M4. My cover is with Green Flag. The nice lady on the phone told me that I was only entitled to 10 miles free recovery. To get me home would cost £230. I won't bore you with all the details, but when I found somewhere within the 10 miles (a friends house) they were not at all happy (missing out on the dosh). They then told me that I would have to wait a further 5 hours for recovery.
To cut a long story short, I made my own arrangements and saved a load of money.
Recently on the way back from a hillclimb with the competition car in tow on a trailer (not the TVR) I broke down on the M4. My cover is with Green Flag. The nice lady on the phone told me that I was only entitled to 10 miles free recovery. To get me home would cost £230. I won't bore you with all the details, but when I found somewhere within the 10 miles (a friends house) they were not at all happy (missing out on the dosh). They then told me that I would have to wait a further 5 hours for recovery.
To cut a long story short, I made my own arrangements and saved a load of money.
slippery said:
I was really pleasantly surprised to get breakdown cover including home start thrown in by Classicline Insurance today with my new insurance policy, as they were also the cheapest quote by a fair margin. Win win for a change. 
I like them - friendly on the phone, and they cover track days too.....Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff