10 replies to this topic

[Harryweekes]

im looking for break down cover and i am not sure what is a good price ive been quote £104 from green flag and that includes long distance recovery, but without long distance recovery its only £48??? i am going to do the odd long distance run would you go for the long distance option??? also what companies and prices do use lot use and recommend? 

[Fast Ivan]

how to they define a long distance recovery?

[iwatkins]

AA for £78 and that was roadside assistance and relay from anywhere within the UK to anywhere in the UK as long as the car is more than 1/4mile from home. I.e. no Home Start.

[JackF]

I'm currently with the RAC, and I dont think i'll be rejoining.

After they were taken over a few years ago, it is run with profit in mind, not customer focussed.

When i last broke down, I was talking to the patrol guy, and he said they are almost pushed to make money out of each breakdown, selling oil and things with extortionate mark ups etc.

[AVV IT]

If you do your own repairs then relay cover really is a must, otherwise with just basic roadside assistance cover, they will tow your car to the nearest garage if they can't repair it at the roadside. That's not much use to me, as I'm pretty fussy about who works on my mini and generally I want it back home where I can sort it myself, not at some unknown garage that knows nothing about classic cars and who are going to charge me £60 per hour for the privelage. I've also got home start because that means they'll tow me home if I breakdown within a mile of home and not to the garage down the road.

I'm with the AA, mainly because the majority of their patrols are now their own staff as opposed to just approved agents from local garages. In my experience, approved agents dont try very hard to fix your car at the roadside and have a tendency to just tow you back to their garage. This is mainly because they have a vested interest in doing so, (i.e they want the work and by towing your car to their garage they'll get it).

I now have AA cover through my bank account with Lloyds TSB, and it includes roadside assistance, relay and home start. It costs £17 a month, but I also get mobile phone insurance, sentinel card protection, worldwide travel Insurance and an interest free overdraft. As it's a monthly charge it also means that I don't have to find a chunk of money each year to pay for it.

[wolfie]

Up until November i worked in breakdown and recovery part time, i have never understood why people buy the local and roadside recovery when for £20 more you can get national recovery, a large percentage of people with local only recovery and so called recovery that was given free or cheap with bank accounts these people had to spend huge amounts to get home sometimes several hundred pounds but on average i would say around three hundred, there are policies out there where you pay a nominal join fee then pay for your recovery and claim the cost back but you have to have the means to pay for the recovery in the first place.

[petehuws]

I'm back with Footman James again this year insuring my Cooper as they include European breakdown cover as standard including home & relay, & European cover for up to 35 days.  Cost = £173.06, the breakdown alone for European cover was hovering around the £100 mark.

Edited by petehuws, 15 May 2013 - 12:30 PM.

[Mrpeanut]

Try Gem.  I've got cover for me and my wife on our dailies but with personal cover so it covers the mini too.  We have the top package and it's worked out at cracking value with the mini and an old beaten up Golf!

 

They use local garages for call outs.  In my area they use one in particular and the fella is a mini nut and actually spends time fixing the problem rather than just dragging me home.

 

The call outs are always short too - never more than an hour.

 

I can't tell you price but it's much cheaper than the big boys.

[Chris99]

I'd second AVV IT about local garages although beware that the AA/RAC also use them in remote areas and times of high demand.

 

For the OP I suppose the point is are you prepared to risk the potential cost/inconvenience of being stranded a long way from home in exchange for the saving on breakdown membership. I'm not one for buying unnecessary insurance (extended warranties etc.) but on the odd occasion I have needed it I've been very grateful.

 

A couple of other money saving tips:

 

Most of the breakdown companies are on the cashback sites such as Quidco, its been as high as £80 back.

 

My AA renewal came through at nearly £180, I rang them to say it was too expensive and they upgraded to the top level of cover (including European) and dropped the price to around £100. Before you ring check out the competition so you can quote their price when negotiating.

[miniyellowmini]

 
Most of the breakdown companies are on the cashback sites such as Quidco, its been as high as £80 back.
 
My AA renewal came through at nearly £180, I rang them to say it was too expensive and they upgraded to the top level of cover (including European) and dropped the price to around £100. Before you ring check out the competition so you can quote their price when negotiating.

Currently The AA are offering the following cash back on Quidco also worth looking on Topcashback as rates can vary

£70 for Policies of £151+ (can pay in full or monthly)

£45 for Policies between £101 and £150.99 (can pay in full or monthly)

£30 for Policies between £51 and £100.99 (can pay in full or monthly)

£15 for Policies up to £50.99 (can pay in full or monthly)

I once got RAC cover for less than £5 using a cashback site, sadly these sorts of savings are long gone.

Never just renew always worth a call to the AA/RAC I NEVER pay the renewal price anymore they will always give you a better deal if you ring to cancel. If not ditch and switch. I'm starting to sound like Martin Lewis here lol

[Harryweekes]

worth having a look into cheers for all the help i will research tonight and make a decision and update on my choice and reasoning