Breakdown Cover

[Maydup]

I've always been member of the AA but in this day and age where loyalty counts for nothing I'm thinking of shopping around.

Does anyone have any direct experience of the other options and how well they performed when you needed them?

I'm nervous about swapping to an unknown provider to save a few quid only to find they don't turn up when you need them most.

[theshedman]

Hi, do you renew it from the renewal notice they send or do you check on-line first. Most of the time the quote you get on-line will be cheaper and if you phone them and tell them that they will let you have it at the lower rate. May be an idea if you don't really want to change companies.

[sara3]

I have a very bad experience with the AA, but that was many years ago. I'm now with http://www.startrescue.co.uk/home and they have been excellent. hopefully I won't need to see them again with this new car, but they were really very good.. last used them in August.

[Maydup]

Hi Shedman - I've just checked and it was £96 for 2 people road and recovery online . But I have seen similar with other companies for less and wondered what they were like. Plus I fancied another option if they refuse me the online price on the phone and I feel like a flounce!

To be honest I doubt I'll move but I didn't want to feel like a mug if people are enjoying a great service for a good price elsewhere.

[Maydup]

thanks sara - i'll check that one out

[theshedman]

Hi Maidup, I always phone up as the on-line quote is always cheaper than the one they send you. That applies to most things these days and have never not been given the on-line price. Once my car insurance said I could not have the on-line deal so I told them I would not be renewing but would take out the deal found on-line which was still with them and then was told I could have the cheaper quote. The only loyalty they have these days is to themselves. They just hope that most people will accept the renewal and not check on-line to see if it's cheaper.

[SlackAlice]

Nowadays always get quotes online just before renewal. I'm with Greenflag at £58 covers me for everything except Homestart. Used them 3 times with no problem.
Try your Car Insurer as well they often offer breakdown insurance when you come to re-insure.

[Paul22118]

Green Flag is reasonable and efficient. Use them twice over the years and satisfied.

[gingejbee]

I have both cars covered with my insurance company: each costs about £60- that's everything including Homestart and cover when abroad. Mind you - I've not needed it in all the time I've had it!

[Maydup]

Thanks for the feedback on Greenflag. Just what I needed.

I have quotes from both of our insurers, (we switch those every year) and also via mail shots such as AXA, Co-op etc but I have no idea if the level of service is delivered when you need it most. Personal experience of using them would be most welcome. Thanks all

[SpikeyBush]

I couldn't fault Greenflag (or National Breakdown as they were called when I was with them) but I needed foreign cover and they wouldn't extend foreign cover to cars over 10 years old. So when my car's age hit double figures I switched to the AA. One year I relied on the free breakdown cover that came with my motor insurance. What a mistake that was. I may as well have called my dog for assistance when I needed it. It was free for a reason. No bloody good! Took out AA cover again PDQ.

[Maydup]

Another vote for Greenflag and the AA, thanks SB

[Andyvon]

Hi Maidup,

I'm with the RAC. I've only needed to call them to my car twice in ten years (both times a snapped clutch cable) as I carry a toolbox and emergency kit and usually sort any minor problems out beside the road. I have called the RAC about three times when I've been with someone else who broke down as they cover me and any car I'm in at the time.

However, my problem with the RAC is their renewal procedure. Two years ago I was paying about £90 a year for three different features. They sent me a renewal of £141, despite me not having called them out! I rang them to say I was leaving - and they immediately reduced it to £82! Last month they send me a renewal price of £121 - despite me not having called them out again! When I again called them to say I was leaving they wittered on about increased fuel prices - then reduced it back to £82! What next year I wonder? The RAC have been very quick and reliable when I called them, but just be careful with their pricing.

My father's with Green Flag and he had no end of trouble with his Astra until he recently bought another car. Green Flag kept coming out and he seemed pleased with their speed and service (despite the fact no mechanic working for them ever identified the running fault). Green Flag use local garages under contract rather than employ their own staff.

I was with the AA years ago but they left me stranded on the M40 for 6 and a half hours in the middle of winter one night! At the time they had a policy of 'stranded women first' and I kept slipping back down the list as women kept calling in. Despite the fact I was dangerously parked on the hard shoulder, several police patrols had called them and I had a van of gypsies turn up at one point, they still left me! They soon abandoned that idea of women first as so many men like me told them to get stuffed and left, but I've never been back to the AA. I only hear good reports about them now though.

Good luck.

[buildersmate]

Ditto the experience of Andyvon with the RAC. It seems one has to go through the ritual loop of querying the renewal price each and every year, when they bring the quote down again.

[bednobs]

i have been with AA, rac and greenflag and they were all ok

[tonywiltshire]

The AA took over three hours to reach me just off the M4, changed to RAC and have not broken down since, there is a moral there.

[Maydup]

Thanks all and especially Andyv for all the info.

RAC were sold recently - I might research that to see if that affects my decision. But they seem reliable by all accounts.

[SpikeyBush]

Never renew online. Apply as a first time customer. Insert full stops randomly in your address so your postman can still find you but the AA/RAC/GF computer doesn't recognise you as an existing customer, so you benefit from new customer discounts.

You will get more junk mail though. I burn it all in my stove.

[Buenchico]

Highly recommended by me:
http://www.autonational.co.uk

[gingejbee]

autonational: also did quite well in the recent Which? test on car breakdown services.

[Maydup]

Well I did my research and guess whaty....... we renewed with the AA!

But I received a knock down price which was 15% off even the online price. In the end I couldn't match it for the two of us elsewhere.