Looking for some recommendations for breakdown assistance. Have been switching between the AA and RAC, mainly because their renewal prices are ridiculous compared to what you pay in the first year.

Not looking for the cheapest, but the best value with some form of home start and onward journey cover.

Should be able to get it for less on your car insurance.

Greenflag can be good value – they tailor the quote to your needs rather than having to pick from a menu – can result in a lower price, can result in a higher one.

I currently use QDOS who work out better value for us covering 3 vehicles on one policy (only a little bit more than we were paying for just one individually) and they cover the girt-big-van as part of that. Their policy is a bit weird in that you front the costs of recovery and they refund you. But in practice (in the rare occasions actually using them) the company picking me up has just billed them directly and its been no different to any other company I’ve used in the past.

I’ve had the best service from the AA- RAC were a disaster, the drivers were alright but the organisation and the control centre were just beyond awful. “My motorbike went on fire” “fine we’ll send a van” “I need a recovery, the bike’s been on fire, you’re not getting this one going”. “Fine we’ll send someone”. 2 hours later, van turns up, man gets out, takes one look, says “that’s been on fire, you need a recovery, I’m not getting that going” and gets back in the van and **** off. 2 hours later the relay turns up.

AA actually fixed a wiring fault in my car at the roadside, I only had basic recovery but we spent ages recreating the fault, then the mechanic got on the phone and called a Ford Whisperer, diagnosed the fault, traced the damage in the loom and bodged it all back together, while showing me what needed fixed. Way way above the service I’d paid for, I’ll not forget that one. Or the slightly unsafe recovery they did for me when my turbo blew up and I accidentally shoved the car miles into a field 😆

I had pretty good service from my insurer but that obviously varies so much- they had a network of local garages which did mean I got a local expert, but also meant they had no real resiliance- I had a long wait because bad weather had led to a lot of trouble on the road. I’d choose that over the RAC to be fair.

We are with Auto-Aid.

another auto-aid user here, not much money and both me and the missus are covered. i believe this was the company martin lewis recommended on his live show a few months back.

I’ve used GEM who had the best results in reviews and cost £90-100 for us with full relay/homestart/onward travel/hotel etc.

When I renewed though we went for AutoAid too – £43 for the year for a couple (only if you’re married/civil partnership). Hard to beat. Same full coverage as GEM.

They used to make you pay for any costs up front and then reclaim it all from them but now they just work like any other breakdown service and you pay nothing.

U.K Breakdown Cover for only £59.99!

Autoaid for me too, £40 or so for the year and recovered me just fine when my turbo wastegate solenoid died last year. They took the car home as it was late in the evening, then took it from home to the garage the next day. Me and my wife are covered at home as well as away from home for that price.

AutoAid as well for the last 5 years.

Touch wood not had to use them.

Another very happy AutoAid customer, £42.54 to cover both my wife and I. Used them once, it was a week before the cover started (my screw up on dates) and they waived all the charges for recovery.

I’m with Green Flag through my bank account, was fine the one time I needed to use it.

Used to be with RAC and a relay went in my VW Passat. Called it in to RAC and as she started briefing me on waiting time the van pulled up in front of me. He was driving past, got the callout and turned left to where I was standing. Driver reckoned the official response time was 8 seconds.

He sorted the relay by hitting the casing with a spanner.

RAC here, they’ve always been good to me.

Alternate between the AA & RAC and Green Flag. For the same level of cover aka the small print the difference in premium is very small. Try and get a definition of a ‘nearby’ garage and insure the vehicle not the person if possible

but also meant they had no real resiliance- I had a long wait because bad weather had led to a lot of trouble on the road

To be fair, I would expect that to be the case regardless of the provider – they’re all going to be busy in extreme weather (compounded by taking longer between jobs if the traffic is snarled up).

Used to just go with renewals without checking, but prices were getting silly. Then Barclays gave me cover, but then they took it away again (unless I pay extra), and then Honda gave me cover as part of servicing. Not sure this year if I’ll stick with dealer service as found a local independent I like and is way more convenient, so then I’ll need to find something else.

I just need try to avoid any repeating payment, else I’ll never get round to cancelling. Which is what they rely on.

As for the wait. Had one breakdown a couple of decades ago now I guess, very hot day on a hill on the A303 with long queues and there was a line of 5 of us at the side broken down. The rest had a constant stream of AA vans turn up quickly, while I waited for ages for RAC. Though they did a good job when they arrived. Cars have much improved since then though and overheating* in these situations seems to be less common. * – in my case blew head gasket as well.

I have been with Britannia through LV Insurance over the last few years and received consistently excellent service. I think the Green Flag/Britannnia business model really makes sense: use a network of subcontracted local providers who will always be near the vehicle. Using your own fleet inevitably means delays in reaching vehicles at busy times. Worth considering ‘personal cover’ ie covers you on any vehicle you happen to be driving, useful esp. if you also have motorcycle.

Thanks for these, I’ll see what the AA offer as a returning customer (from RAC) and check out the others suggested

We used auto aid on the landy when the fuel pump failed. Towed it an hour back on a flat bed.

When the replacement pump then became detached going up a local hill the guy got there before I did (OHs car) and it was only 10 minutes away.

Third time we used them was after a blow out on the sheep trailer with a small tractor inside and no spare wheel. They loaded the trailer onto a flat bed and dropped it off home for us no problem.

One thing is, if you go for a big name don’t pay what they ask. I’m actually fairly brand loyal, I’ve been with AA for years and they know that but even then every year I go “So it says £X”, they say yup, I say “I could get the same for £Y as a new customer, or about the same from RAC”, they say “OK £Y it is” and then I say “And I’d get £10 from topcashback” and they go “how does £Y-£10 sound”. It’s kind of like haggling but with only one person.

edlong – Member

To be fair, I would expect that to be the case regardless of the provider – they’re all going to be busy in extreme weather (compounded by taking longer between jobs if the traffic is snarled up).

That’s fair but in this case they had literally one garage and one truck covering a block of Scotland from the central belt to about aviemore, it’s not ideal. But there was a lot of good about that setup too so it wasn’t all one way.

£39 on Groupon for Auto Aid cover.

12-Month Personal Breakdown Cover for Policy Holder and Spouse from AutoAid
http://gr.pn/2fSF6kp

RAC ever since AA refused me.
They will always send a van first due to roadside waiting times. once the van has been there is no rush to send recovery, because they have responded to callout.
Last time I had to callout RAC, motorhome was leaking fuel from fuel filter. quarter tank 10 miles. I had filter out and in bits before he turned up. told him what I needed. He took me to Crewe Euro car parts, back to motorway services and let me use his vice to reassemble filter, waited to see if it was fixed, followed me to next junction then peeled off to next job.
This was the type of reason the AA refused me, I’d tell them what I needed then had too wait four hours for recovery. Was told we are not a parts service. I told them they were a poor service when they would mess about with recovery all for the sake of a part you can get from motor factor and fit by roadside. Was when I was told go elsewhere. So I did. No regrets

Was told we are not a parts service

They aren’t though are they.
I’ve never seen them offer parts delivery so you can fix your own vehicle.

Why not get recovered to the motor factors, where you can buy the parts and fix it yourself. Then you would be using the service they actually offer.

They didn’t offer that , just turn up in patrol van to tell me what I needed then said wait for recovery. By the time recovery turned up, three hours later, motor factors were at home having tea, unlike me.
RAC where more interested in getting me going the easy way. Get the part needed, help me fix it, and wave goodbye. Got to be cheaper than a recovery truck for a 6+ meter, 3.5 ton motorhome.
If it can’t be fixed by roadside, happy to wait but if I can fix it in under an hour with basic tool kit I’d rather be able to do that.

just renewed my autoaid cover and its brought up a question that i cant find the answer to.
is it me or the vehicle thats insured? the policy lists myself and my wife, no vehicle details, so i assume that if either of us break down we ring up and get sorted.
but what if we’re in a mates car in the middle of nowhere, do we have any cover to get out of dodge? jus wundrin…….