The AA - worth sticking with?

Stonedofmoo

Stonedofmoo

Stonedofmoo

Soldato
Joined
24 Oct 2002
Posts
6,242
Location
Portsmouth
I've been an AA customer for 5 years now. I think I called them out twice in year 1 and 2 but nothing in the last 3 years.

Now my quote came through the door today for another year roadside and relay at £90. This doesn't seem bad, but I'm wondering if it's worth going elsewhere?

I don't seem to be getting any kind of discount for the fact I never call them out which seems a bit poor as a long term customer.

Any thoughts?
 
When we got the renewal quote it was more expensive because they didnt give you the new signup bonus, they happily dropped the price when we called up. Im guessing there is 0 NCD as you become more likely to need them as the policy goes on (unless you switch cars)
Having said that RAC give you 10% NCD per year I think. If I could be bothered to shop around im sure I could find a better offer.
 
ConfusedTA said:
You could always try calling them and asking to cancel, and see if they'll give you any kind of discounts/offers.
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Worked for us and the RAC, managed to shave the renewal price by a fair amount. We shifted from the AA to the RAC just due to the amount of cover we recieved for less £££ though.
 
Quite a few insurance schemes offer breakdown cover for £25 extra. I'm really regretting staying with AA for £90 as it would have been a lot cheaper through the insurance company.
 
Jonny69 said:
Quite a few insurance schemes offer breakdown cover for £25 extra. I'm really regretting staying with AA for £90 as it would have been a lot cheaper through the insurance company.
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You'll also find that 9/10 the recovery schemes bundled into insurance policies are uttlery ****. At least this appears to have been the case everytime I have been in a position to try and use one.

"You get what you pay for" springs to mind.
 
very true..we had green flag with our insurance and it I used them only once..wasnt worth it

current car has AA cover as part of the warranty and when that runs out I will pay for the AA cover...every time I have used them they have been spot on

you DO get what you pay for...and the AA give you good piece of mind
 
paradigm said:
You'll also find that 9/10 the recovery schemes bundled into insurance policies are uttlery ****. At least this appears to have been the case everytime I have been in a position to try and use one.
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Indeed. They normally seem to turn up in a tow truck with a spare battery. If the fault isn't just a flat battery, then you'll get taken away to the garage! AA/RAC seem to actually have tools in their vans...
 
I shaved about 20% or so off the price by ringing the AA getting a quote then ringing the RAC and telling them what I had been quoted. Rinse and repeat and the price magically keeps going down :p
 
Ive called out the AA several times. Each time they have been absolutely spot on. RAC have been "ok" but not quite as good as the AA.

With both of these, I have never waited more than an hour, usually 30min for a patrol. One of these was at home too! (Ok I might have been a bit lucky there)

However from friends I have heard some right horror stories about alternatives, including insurance ones.

If your driving anywhere, you will almost certainly see an AA van / flatbed. To me that speaks volumes. I'd rather have the huge network of people waiting to help me, than a couple of men in vans per city.
 
paradigm said:
You'll also find that 9/10 the recovery schemes bundled into insurance policies are uttlery ****. At least this appears to have been the case everytime I have been in a position to try and use one.

"You get what you pay for" springs to mind.
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Most of those will be the basic "Roadside" only - you'll have to be more than 2 (or more) miles from home, and if they can't fix it by the side of the road, they'll tow you a *maximum* of 10 miles, either home, or to the nearest garage.

The "full" AA coverage ("Relay" I think it's called) will provide you with home-start, and if there's a problem they can't fix - they'll take your car *and you* to anywhere in the UK.

I had the AA take me from Chester to Colchester, direct, without a single problem (other than the car being broken into while I was waiting for a flat-bed, but that's another story)

I've recently renewed my AA cover, having used it twice last year, once when I was 9.8 miles from home (and only on "Roadside"), and got recovered to my house, I then upgraded to Relay the next day, later in the year when I went from Chester-Colchester, and they've been excellent both times.

All 3 of us in the household are covered with the full "Relay" package for £120 a year - well worth the £40 each. I dread to think what it would have cost to have my car taken from Chester by a transporter - probably about 5 year's worth of AA membership! ;)
 
I had breakdown recovery from a previous insurance policy that I had to cancel when changing cars (they were quoting a stupid amount). I've had a few problems with the Volvo and had to call them twice. It was a very good service IMO. Both times they were there in 30-45 mins and the first time I had to get recovered from Reading to Southampton.

This runs out soon though and I was wondering how much basic AA and RAC cover is? Is it a monthly outgoing or a lump sum for the year?

Burnsy
 
I can honestly say I don't begrudge the AA the money each year, my other half and I both have 'free' AA cover chucked in with our Lloyds accounts. The first time I used them was when her bike broke down on the way to have some work done on it, guy was fantastic and took it to a dealer of my choice. I took her car over xmas and it died on me half way up the A1 at stuppid oclock in the morning, because the guy was so helpful and genuinely took the time to fault find the earthing fault in question we have now upgraded to full cover, since then some idiot ran her onto the curb and she did two tyres in, I was 400+ miles away and yet again the AA bloke was who came was fantastic.

I have RAC cover chucked in with the Toyota but in all honesty it's not worth the paper they printed the number on by comparison.
 
Well I gave them a call and the lady agreed something should be done. She gave me a 30% discount bringing the price from £92 to £63 and told me I should give them a call every year to ensure I was getting the best price.

Well i'm happy with £63 for roadside and relay as I cannot fault their service so I shall stick with them again this year.
 
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