Decent breakdown cover at a decent price?

RAC have just given me a renewal quote which has gone from c£100 to £140 for a car I barely use – 3k miles last year. It’s 10 years old and running fine but at that age, more likely to need breakdown cover than a newer car but there’s no justification to buy a new car, nor spend £140 on cover that’s not really that likely to be used.

Any other breakdown services around that offer cheaper prices but who don’t do that by offering a service which doesn’t actually deliver when you need it?

RAC have just given me a renewal quote which has gone from c£100 to £140 for a car I barely use

Just change providers, you’ll get an incremental increase every year if you stick with the same one.

AutoAid [/url]is the cheapest cover but it works weirdly – rather than being repaired / recovered for free, they manage the callout and recovery – you pay whatever the recovery costs are upfront then get refunded by Autoaid later. Its an odd way of doing things but if you rarely breakdown (three vehicle household, we’ve had to use our cover once in the last 10 years) then its the cheapest way to be covered for a service you don’t actually use. You just need to be happy, if anything did happen, that your credit card would cover the costs until you get reimbursed.

Autoaid .

£40 per year for recovery to anywhere in uk. They use local firms rather than their own mechanics/vans. Used them twice in the last year and they’ve got me home quickly and efficiently each time.

Again, Autoaid provided you have the facility to pay for recovery up front.

Buy a new policy rather than renew and check the cashback sites.
AA do;
Breakdown Cover £0 – £29.99
Cashtback – £11.05
Breakdown Cover £30 – £50.99
Cashtback – £12.01
Breakdown Cover £51 – £84.99
Cashtback – £38.48
Breakdown Cover £85-£104.99
Cashtback – £46.16
Breakdown Cover £105 – £150.99
Cashtback – £53.86
Breakdown Cover £151 – £240.99
Cashtback – £76.95
Breakdown Cover £241+
Cashtback – £111.58

If you are a Nationwide acc. holder (of fancy a switch) you can upgrade to a flexplus acc which includes increased warranties, mobile phone insurance, european breakdown cover, travel insurance for £10 a month fee

I’ve for full cover with AXA for about 40 quid. Mention it every time someone asks on here. No one ever seems to bother trying it. More fool them. It’s never gone up and I’ve I used it twice. Six year old mazda.

How do you get it for £40, it’s £80 on the website.

http://www.axa.co.uk/insurance/personal/breakdown/

I was going to suggest something similar to Drapoon. Lloyds do a deal with the AA for Silver and Platinum account holders. Yes, you pay for the account, but you get AA membership thrown in (Platinum account cover was better than my standalone AA cover) and also get travel insurance (European with Silver, worldwide with Platinum).

I worked out what it would cost for me to do the supplementals myself and just upgraded my account to platinum.

recovery costs are upfront

Not sure this is the case any more.

Had a breakdown two weeks ago and they just sent a truck which dropped the car at our designated local garage, no money changed hands.

I didn’t pay anything up front with my 2 recoveries with Autoaid either. 1st was 6 miles and apparently that’s local so autoaid deal direct with the recovery company for that. Last weekends was 200 miles – I tried to pay but was told I had recovery so didn’t need to pay. Don’t know whether something has changed (the website still says pay and claim) or the recovery firm has made a mistake and I’ll get an invoice in the post or whether the recovery firm has worked out a way to deal direct with Autoaid?

Seems strange that it’s happened to 2 of us though.

was going to mention nationwide. shout if you want to switch cos if you get recommended you get £100 and so does the recommender. hi! 😀

shout if you want to switch cos if you get recommended you get £100 and so does the recommender. hi

their marketing works then 🙂

AA/RAC via Quidco.

I get basic AA thrown in with my bank, but to upgrade would have cost more than taking out s policy from scratch.

Nationwide flexplus account works for me. Saves me a shitload

How is your German?

I have been with ACE (Auto Club Europa) for about 15 years. Before I moved back from Germany I went to see them and they were more than happy to cover me living in the UK. I still get the magazine sent here direct. Cover is now 62 Euros but covers me and all memebers of my family and any vehicle I (or they) are travelling in regardless of ownership. Also covers me for whole of Europe and North Africa with repatriation of vehicle and persons in event of illness/accident.

https://www.ace-online.de/mitglied-werden/jetzt-mitglied-werden.html

The ADAC (German AA) are also popular with Brits as they have a dedicated UK team of English speakers. Their terms are similar to the ACE but are a bit more expensive (109 euros)

https://www.adac.de/mitgliedschaft/mitgliedschaftsberater/

Autoaid here too as serial owners of sports, classic and bangernomics. Haul it to whoever I want for that particular vehicle. Some companies we have paid over the phone at the time, others have posted an invoice later. Autoaid have always paid and no increase in premium for multiple recoveries. Seems better than a road side bodge that will still need rectifying.

Just don’t do what I did and wait till you break down to get cover.

Sheepish phone call to RAC.. Can I join? Also I’ve broken down!

Of course sir! Thattle be £200..

In my defence, getting my maths head on.. I hadn’t had a break down in about 7 years, so on balance I pretty much broke even and got a years cover for free 😎

im with autoaid too as recommended by MSE, not needed to use them yet though…

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/car-insurance/breakdown-cover

My RAC went upto a stupid amount despite me having been with them since 1999.

Following advice from here, I went on their website and realised I could get the same level of cover for a lot less. ( can’t remember the exact amounts )

So the phone call went

Me – hi mate can I cancel my cover ?

RAC – OK sir, why are you wanting to cancel ?

Me – I can get the same level of cover cheaper

RAC – who is that with sir ?

Me – RAC, and if you can offer it cheaper to new customers, why are you ripping loyal customers off by charging loads more ?

RAC – * silence *

Eventually he said he could ” apply some discount codes ” and it dropped to less than I was paying the previous year. Personally, I’ve had good service from the RAC and the local guy is sound and really goes above and beyond to help out.

Euro assistance are good. Used them as our recovery provider when I was doing all of motorpoints warranties

In 11yrs of driving in countless cars I’ve not once broken down. I had a dead battery but that involved a taxi trip to Halfords for a new one.

OP do you really need it? Do you regularly give your car point checks, listen for any sounds etc? Things like cambelt etc you can’t but a leak, fluid drop, sound, vibration can all be picked up and jumped on.

I took a 1600£ bargain basement 07 Xsara Picasso that I bought off eBay to Bruge and back but only after a few months of long journeys and a once over by chrisdiesel from here.

3k miles a year , i wouldnt bother unless they are work related and your job depends on getting soemwhere

I would and do spend my money on keeping the motors tip top shape

And will do as above and take my chance when it comes to getting cover on the time i need it.

In the last 12 years the only time ive needed recovery was after a boot in a corsa drove into my passengers door and forced us into a bus rendering the car immobile cost me 120 quid.

If all your miles are local just self insure and have a number for a local recovery / breakdown operator with you. A local recovery would only be ~£60 plus taxi fares if your journey is really important.

As long as you don’t break down more than once every 18months – 2 years you should be quids in.

Just found the policy, apologies, it’s 47 quid for full nationwide recovery and homeostart.

another autoaid user here – never used them but at 40 quid am not overly bothered. Peace of mind

Previously used Autoaid for many years. Very good. Basically works as an insurance policy and reimburses your expense.

Now got a Nationwide Flexplus account instead. Make it a joint account and you’re both covered. £10 a month for family travel insurance inc Winter sports and for full European breakdown cover for two. I can’t find two separate products for cheaper than the account fee.

Switched to Green Flag this year after years of RAC.

Ring and threaten to leave and they will take a chunk of the renewal though.

A local recovery would only be ~£60 plus taxi fares

Recovery from a motorway can be a bit more expensive and you don’t have a lot of time or option to shop around

Do you regularly give your car point checks, listen for any sounds etc?

They prevent your car being involved in an accident? from floods and storm damage?

Times I’ve required to make a call out:

1 Debris on road tears off gear linkage cable

2 Drunk man makes such a cack handed attempt to steal car over night that in the morning it looks like its been attacked by a bear – undrivable and unsecurable and not weather tight and needs to be towed to somewhere secure for repair

3 The nut that holds the driving wheel locks keys in the van with the engine running blocking the security gate to the BBC 😆

Non were really things that could have been preempted by ‘listening to sounds’ 🙂

I’ll vote for Nationwide, it’s an extra on my car insurance with them.

Maccruiskeen I doff my cap to you 😆

Yep either he does alot more than 3000 miles a year or he needs to stop walking under ladders.

Try Adrian Flux, the insurance broker.

I used to have cover with my bank account, but that stopped covering one of my cars – a long wheelbase Shogun – for European travel once it was over 10 years old.

Trying to find someone who would cover me for 3 weeks of European cover with a vehicle of that size and age with a bike on the roof and four more on the tail was a complete nightmare! The best I’d found was, from memory, the RAC at something like £223!! 😯

I was just about to run the risk of going without cover when someone suggested Adrian Flux. I phoned to find out if they’d cover me, and the lady on the phone said yes, and for something like £56.

I was amazed at how cheap this was compared to the next best quote, and asked to double check that this would cover me for a full 3 week extended holiday. “Oh no”, she said. “It’ll cover you for the full year, including unlimited European cover”!

Roll forwards 1,200 miles and a month, and the engine seized completely on a dual carriageway in Brittany. 😥

At this point, needless to say, I was panicking at just what sort of help I was going to get from my cheapo bargain cover, but they were simply amazing!

A minibus was arranged to get us and our kit to our campsite, then a taxi the following day to the nearest big town (60kms away) to pick up a rental car, which was swapped for a larger one to take us and our kit back up to the ferry port. A bit of cunning negotiation around the challenges of putting the truck with bikes and roof box still attached onto a car transporter resulted in them bringing it up to the ferry as well and sending it back with us.

All in all, the service I got couldn’t have been better, and everything was paid for directly by them, with no need to pay and claim back or anything. I’ve never felt happier about recommending someone’s service.

Yep either he does alot more than 3000 miles a year or he needs to stop walking under ladders.

Thats 15 years worth of incidents (and probably close to half a million miles) – my point to Hora was reliability, maintenance and milage covered aren’t the only factors. In that time I’ve not required assistance because of a breakdown (even in cars and vans between 10 and 30 years old) , its been the result of accidental damage, vandalism and my own ****wittery.