Grown up and Boring but, Breakdown cover!!

allthegearnoidea

evening all,
appologies for the Insanely Boing thread on Beakdown cover, but have been thinking abot it lately,
normally we'd get it through the insurance btu fr oe reason and o other we didnt, - mostly due to the wife arranging it this time! But, last tie i had some through the insuance they were pretty poor!! if your car was under 5 years old free call outs, uder 1 years then £10 call out, over 10years old £20! seemed aswell that all they did when you rage hem was ring a recovery truck and not send anyone out that could actually help!! prior to tat was RAC that came wth the policy,

Anyone got any advice on who's best?? wheres bes to get it from?? internet or chap with his display in the car park etc. we dont need european cover could probaby cope with out home start as am quite handy with the spanners, but onward travel/recovery and roadside,Greenflag sund promising but o idea whathey are ike in the rura parts of the country, (Deep dark Kernow!)
An help or guidance would be gratefully received,

Timmo.

The Northern Monkey

I got AA for £8 a month with everything apart from european cover.

Although, now I've been with them a year, they have decided to 'upgrade' me to silver membership which offers the same benefits but is £18 a month.

Needless to say, if it goes up, I'll be moving on..

solsurf

I bank with First Direct where I get phone , travel and car breakdown insurance for the family for 12 a month. Seems pretty good to me

Rucks

Be wary of these types of cover that come with insurance policies and similar, might appear to be good but in the fine print are pretty crap, we had one once and tried to use it when the car broke down turned out it only applied if the car was 30 miles or less from home...
Was with the AA until the policy went up and changed to the RAC they've been pretty good

allthegearnoidea

just been doing some quotes on line but the Rac site plays havoc with the netbook, but both the AA and greenflag are similar prices monthly for both my car and the wifes with a Decent level of cover, wlll look at the rac on the tablet in a mo, but guess it'll be similar, is looking through and seeing if we really need Personbal cover etc. and how much of the cover we need rather tha want!!
i knwo what your saying about bundled cover, often sounds great but reality isnt close!! thelst time we woud have needed it was witin 1/4m ofthe house on the old car in the snow a few yars back, Hadbeen out the village to pick a mate up to go riding, stopped back at home as left shoes and lid behind! but bottom of the hill the cambelt tensioner seperated from the bearing and engine made lots of metally noises hahah! grabbed a neighbour to give it a tow backup the hill, After w'd gared up and gone for a Local ride! ;-)

thanks for the help chaps,

The Northern Monkey

Had Greenflag previously, didn't like them.

They use local garage recovery vehicles instead of a dedicated fleet, so depending on where you are, the service can be sketchy.

Rucks

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Had Greenflag previously, didn't like them.

They use local garage recovery vehicles instead of a dedicated fleet, so depending on where you are, the service can be sketchy.

AA and RAC do the same, go for personal cover rather than specific to the motor,your always covered then even if your a passenger in somebody else's car.

The Northern Monkey

Rucks wrote:

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Had Greenflag previously, didn't like them.

They use local garage recovery vehicles instead of a dedicated fleet, so depending on where you are, the service can be sketchy.

AA and RAC do the same, go for personal cover rather than specific to the motor,your always covered then even if your a passenger in somebody else's car.

Huh? I've always had an AA van when breaking down... not a random garage!

Rucks

Broke down on the m1 100 miles from home, AA towed me to the services and left me to wait for a local firm to bring me home, broke down at 7:30am didn't get back home till nearly 6pm, have been recovered quite a few times over the years and never been on the back of an RAC or AA flat bed, might just be me being unlucky.

allthegearnoidea

It is quite common practice to franchise the recovery out, which is why the garahes often have all the signs up for AA, RAC etc. Back in the early mini days of my driving world I spent a Fair bit of time behind or on various recovery wagons, and most of them were franchised ones, but you still call the main place and relevant to where you have stopped they dispatch the closest, Sadly, down here you can be Quite close as the crow flies, but a Long way by road!

97th choice

Lots of cashback deals on quidco for breakdown cover.

allthegearnoidea

Oooh thank you! Will go and have a look!

Northwind

Think there's a bit of luck of the draw tbh. In short- AA best for me, insurance company's network of independants erratic, RAC worst by miles.

(AA- Focus died on the M6 on a sunday. Roadside recovery only. Came and towed me off then spent 2 hours spannering on the car trying to get it going again. Read the codes, phoned a friend, figured it was a sensor, cleaned the sensor, no difference. Looked further, found a chafed wire up inside the wing, ended up removing a whole chunk of wiring loom and repairing it there and then. Absolutely bang on and way beyond what he was required to do)

(RAC- motorbike caught fire slightly. Refused to send a relay til I'd had a van out to look at it. Van driver turns up after 2 hours, sniffs the air, says "That's been on fire, I'll order a relay". Another 2 hour wait)
(RAC again- broke down on the road between innerleithen and edinburgh, middle of nowhere. Refused to attend without a postcode. "Just ask at the nearest house". Nothing in sight but sheep.)

The actual breakdown dudes were always fine but their control room specialised in slaps to the face.

Lagrange

Insurance due today - renewal with Direct line inc £64 home start. Monday - my focus serviced at the dealer. Expensive but game me a Ford 12 month / 12.5 k recovery - inc Europe! Nice one, cancelled the direct line!! Bet you they hassle me for insurance next year.