car rescue and breakdown providers

[jackdaww]

its renewal time for what is for me an essential service .

after many satisfactory years with britannia rescue - i note that which? rates a few others as better .

AA come top but are expensive .

autoaid and start rescue are also recommended providers and cost quite a bit less.

britannia come slightly lower .

green flag and RAC are quite a bit lower .

cover can be personal or vehicle based .

particular concerns for me are caravan cover and car having no spare tyre , just a repair kit .

are accidents covered or just breakdowns?

DAK -- views , info , opinion welcome .

[Imbiber]

I am with the AA. I know they are more expensive but a phone call at renewal always pretty much gets the payment reduced to the previous years payment. I have used them a couple of time in the past two years, the response has always been fast, efficient and courteous. I have confidence in them. On both occasions I used them I was back on the road very quickly. I shop around every year for insurance, energy etc but have never been tempted to change breakdown cover.

[richlist]

I've been with all of them at some time or other. Currently with AutoAid. I picked them cos they were the cheapest at £48. The cover includes Mr & Mrs and covers all of our cars. Never had to make a claim yet.

[kempiejon]

My AA membership cost me £15 this year it was offered at a discount when I bought my insurance through the AA who had the best quote this year. I've only got the roadside assistance, I've previously been with the RAC a service I bought by having a paid for bank account. I've had some sort of cover since 2010 and never used it.

[staffordian]

Maybe not relevant, but I have used a main dealer for servicing for the last decade or so and in each case, the service has included 12 months European breakdown cover.

When this is taken into account the higher cost of a main dealer service is mitigated to some extent, and in addition my service history has main dealer stamps, for what that might be worth...

Staffordian

[tea42]

Autoaid has never let me down. You had to pay the man and claim it back...... not any more. Inexpensive and brilliant.

[jackdaww]

Autoaid has never let me down. You had to pay the man and claim it back...... not any more. Inexpensive and brilliant.

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pleased to hear that - ive just joined them .

[sg31]

Autoaid has never let me down. You had to pay the man and claim it back...... not any more. Inexpensive and brilliant.

==========

pleased to hear that - ive just joined them .

Me too, They include the spouse free of charge which is great because I bought her a car to learn in and she passed her test today. Two people and 2 cars for £60 has got to be excellent value.

[DrFfybes]

Due to an ageing fleet I just moved to RAC from Green Flag.

I had an email with quite a low price for 2 person personal cover with all the various home start addons, so it seemed a good choice.

The joining email said...
" An insurance premium of £47.51 payable to RAC Motoring Services and/or RAC Insurance Limited.
- An arrangement and administration fee of £61 under a separate contract between you and RAC Financial Services Limited for arranging and administering your cover."

So, 2 person personal cover for £48, plus an admin fee that dwarfs the premium!

Paul

[jackdaww]

Due to an ageing fleet I just moved to RAC from Green Flag.

I had an email with quite a low price for 2 person personal cover with all the various home start addons, so it seemed a good choice.

The joining email said...
" An insurance premium of £47.51 payable to RAC Motoring Services and/or RAC Insurance Limited.
- An arrangement and administration fee of £61 under a separate contract between you and RAC Financial Services Limited for arranging and administering your cover."

So, 2 person personal cover for £48, plus an admin fee that dwarfs the premium!

Paul

=============================

surely that should have been made clear before purchase ?

if not its misrepresentation or something like that .

i hope you have time to cancel within the cooling off period.

[dionaeamuscipula]

autoaid and start rescue are also recommended providers and cost quite a bit less.

particular concerns for me are caravan cover and car having no spare tyre , just a repair kit .

are accidents covered or just breakdowns?

DAK -- views , info , opinion welcome .

I am with AutoAid and have done a number of claims. I've been very happy with the service but they use independents for the rescue (as do AA and RAC, depending on circumstances) so the experience at roadside is dependent on how good the attendee is - I've had mostly very good experiences.

On tyres, AutoAid will charge you unless you have a working spare or kit with you. Therefore always make sure that the vehicle driver knows where the repair kit is hidden . I believe others have a similar condition.

DM

[DrFfybes]

Due to an ageing fleet I just moved to RAC from Green Flag.

I had an email with quite a low price for 2 person personal cover with all the various home start addons, so it seemed a good choice.

The joining email said...
" An insurance premium of £47.51 payable to RAC Motoring Services and/or RAC Insurance Limited.
- An arrangement and administration fee of £61 under a separate contract between you and RAC Financial Services Limited for arranging and administering your cover."

So, 2 person personal cover for £48, plus an admin fee that dwarfs the premium!

Paul

=============================

surely that should have been made clear before purchase ?

if not its misrepresentation or something like that .

i hope you have time to cancel within the cooling off period.

Sorry - just re-read what I wrote and see how you could have interpreted it.

The quote (£108) included both aspects but I was showing how little of it actually goes towards the cover.

The advantage of RAC is they offer short term upgrades to EU cover at very competitive rates if you are in an Owner's Club.

Paul

[Maroochydore]

I was with AutoAid for years, only used them once and was pleased with the service. When they changed ownership they changed from paying the contractor and re-claiming from AutoAid to a no pay situation like AA/RAC etc. A good move.

However I got a bit peeved last year when they jacked up the premium by £5 with an admin charge and moved to Green Flag even though they were a few quid dearer (literally £2 or £3).

Today I got my Green Flag renewal. Peeved doesn't begin to describe my feelings. They increased the premium by £16.80 (26.7%) and tried to slip it through on an automatic renewal if I didn't call them. I called them.

So now I'm also looking. AutoExpress list the results of their Driver Power survey for 2019 and comments on the individual suppliers here: https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/ ... cover-2019

Top 6 are :

1 GEM Motoring Assist
2 Green Flag
3 Britannia Rescue
4 AutoAid
5 AA
6 RAC

I just need to check out pricing/cover for what suits me.

[airbus330]

Lot to be said for ringing up the retentions dept. and haggling. I have always stuck with the RAC, 40 years a slave, sorry member. But they have been very good when needed, including representing me for free in a court case some years ago. So, renewal time and the premium has jumped from £140 to £178. Did the screen scrape and came up with a cashback deal for the entire family (currently just me) for £138. Now the gotcha for me is that I have a 3.5 ton motorhome and a motorcycle, which is excluded on lots of policies, so I rang the RAC, told them the above and they price matched including the motorhome cover. Worked out fine.

[swill453]

I use the breakdown cover that comes with the Nationwide Flexplus bank account for £13 per month (£156 per year). Includes the equivalent of the top cover from the AA etc. The key aspect to this is that it will cover all our vehicles in the whole of Europe, including our campervan. I haven't had to actually use it but have read good reviews from some who have.

The account also includes worldwide travel insurance and mobile phone insurance.

Edit: and also fee-free cash withdrawals abroad.

Scott.