best breakdown cover ?

[paddymarsden]

What it says in the title, what cover do you guys have and how much do you pay ? Im looking at the AA but would consider others. i did have one with my insurance but you have to put a claim in first then get to the breakdown what a load of pants !

 

[James]

I was with RAC for 2 years and they're pretty good, you also get a discount on RAC insurance if you're a breakdown member

 

[Spike]

green flag !

 

[p11sr20]

got greenflag free with my bank account with barclays

 

[Turtle]

Mums with RAC and they've helped us out once and it was excellent.

 

[Layla]

i had green flag, and they were an absolute load of rubbish. i broke down in the middle of november on the motorway and they took four hours to get there, then charged me £300 because my car was "modified" (had alloys) and had to get a "specialised" truck to pick it up. Me and ian ended up sitting on the hard shoulder freezing nearly to death.

i got breakdown cover with elephant when i got ym insurance, £30 for national cover, unlimited pick ups and they'll put me up in a hotel if they cant get my car back to a suitable garage

 

[R05_Micra]

got greenflag free with my bank account with barclays

yeah ya still pay for it lol, additions account aint it, when i worked there, the amount of people who had an additions account and then had AA/RAC etc cover was daft, used to ask "you have green flag with you additions acount, you do you pay for it seprate too lol"

ya know after that ^^^^^ i dunno why i got sacked! :S

 

[p11sr20]

yeah ya still pay for it lol, additions account aint it, when i worked there, the amount of people who had an additions account and then had AA/RAC etc cover was daft, used to ask "you have green flag with you additions acount, you do you pay for it seprate too lol"

ya know after that ^^^^^ i dunno why i got sacked! :S

yes but with the other benefits that come with the account (which i also use) its worth the extra for the additions account

 

[TriNode]

I was with RAC (with my insurance), my motorbike had a fuel leak, not more than 1km from home (unfortunately up a steep hill)

They sent out a van 90 mins later he arrives, I by this point have located the leak, the takes off the fuel tank and tries to fix it with quicksteel I'd just like to point out my fuel tank is directly above the engine....

Eventually they gave up, he then said he couldn't get me home, and would arrange a bike trailer, 2 hrs later I get picked up by a non RAC van. (5 hours total to go 1km)

Before that I was with NCI, I called out 3 times, and every time they sent someone with a bike trailer and knowledge about bikes, one of the times was an accident, the guy also took me back to the diesel slick to photograph the area.

Another time the bike was dead, turned out someone had yanked on the wires near the handlebars, I located the wire before they got there, and when they did, they fixed it on site, even though it was severely awkward job.

So NCI's my recomendation.


Layla, how did they justify charging you £300 for havng alloys? How does that affect them?

 

[mike]

AA FTW for me, must of called them out 10 or so times in the last 3 years and they have always been good about it. Even took the NME home on a flat bed when it died

 

[sonic]

I've tried Green flag, RAC, AA and National Breakdown over the years, Green flag are absolute trash, most of their work is done by subcontractors who are IMO careless and slow minded, National Breakdown are a bit better, the RAC have a little publicised maximum call out per year, or they did when I was with them, after 4 call outs you started to get charged for it, but the best by far is the AA, they always turn up when they say they will, they keep in touch via text or they ring you to tell you of their progress in getting to you, I've never had to wait more than 30 minutes for them to arrive, plus if you have a small child in the car you are made a first priority, they are definately the best of the bunch in my opinion.

 

[SammoHung]

I cancelled mine years ago

I broke down once so far and tha was on a previous motorcycle

The was I see it is that if your car is well mainteined you reduce the likelyhood of a breakdown massively..and the likely hood of multiple closely grouped breakdowns is infintecimally small on a well manntained car too

So I estimate that a breakdown recovery for a non member will average between 150 & 200 quid for a local job and maybe around 300 out in the sticks.....amotrise this across all the years that you dont breakdown and you either break even or save money by not haviing cover..its more inconvenient at the time but......differernt strokes for different folks I guess

theres always the option of a tow for short distances too from a mate

 

[lewic]

Gem Motoring Assist - £72 for full cover, including home start. They do use subcontractors though, so service may vary.

 

[Gurpreet]

I was with the AA for a year and they couldnt make me a decent renewal quote so I switched to RAC... Thank God I have never had to use either... they are just there for peace of mind... I don't need homestart as my next door neighbour is a retired mechanic... and if I ever broke down I'd just need the tow to the destination of my choice i.e. him.

 

[solarice]

...is the type you never need to use

couldnt say whats best as havent needed you use any, all my cars have never broken down (*touch wood*) to the extent of needing a tow truck and the like.

 

[bombz4]

yep green flag are utterly rubbish once my leads were shorting badly (some guy i know made them for me dont ask!). The guy replaced the leads and put the plugs on wrong and didnt know what to do! I had to sort it myself in the rain! and the second time was after id been to eds, my piston ring was on the way out! i pulled over on the motorway had basically no oil, so rang them for some it took two and a half hours and it came in a lemonade bottle with no lid, the guy said it was all they had! wtf lol it was clean but still that looks terrible. its not me in the garage with a lemonade bottle its a "proffesional" garage!

 

[s-racing]

hmmm.i dont use any breakdown cover

if i break down (unlikley in a new nissan) i will fone a mate or a recovery service to get me home and fix it myself..that would probably cost me 1 pint of larger or £50 depending who gets me and how far to home it is.

costs of breakdown cover is about £90 per year and you dont know if you will break down anyway ..its like buying sledges in summer

 

[Ed]

I have RAC which seems fine, I have however only used it to recover one of my friends cars!! (covers me personally not my car) They seem fine, and having cars that are a bit highly strung the last thing you want to do is break down on a motorway... (mega money recovery)

 

[Arnold]

Im with RAC. They messed me around financially last month and have just received a refund by cheque through the post - took several weeks to get it here despite being told 3 days. Anyway, i've only called them out once for someone elses K10 ;p . Had to wait hour and a half in the freezing cold. When the bloke turned up, i asked him if he had come far & he said just a few miles away, and only received the call to come out about half hour before he got to us! Bit of a joke it took that long, i'l probably go with the AA next time. My step dad's had a few shed's broken down over the years and they've always seemed pretty good for him