Breakdown assistance quote

OverDrive · 1 Jul 2021 at 11:09

Morning all,

How much do people pay for breakdown assistance? The prices I've seen are quite high, around £15/month for a full package.

a long time ago I had it with the AA through a Lloyds account, I cancelled this because the cost kept going up and my new Mazda MX-5 came with it anyway!

My MX-5 will be 3yrs old next week (only covered 6000 miles) and I have been quoted £67 to extended my breakdown assistance for a year with Mazda, this includes European cover (which I won't use) and also home start and recovery, onward travel etc - basically the full package.

Is it worth it for £67? It seems cheaper than what I'm seeing on the RAC website for example - am I missing something?

Rannoch · 1 Jul 2021 at 11:31

I pay £7 a month to Toyota who I think use the AA. I used the AA directly in the past who also tried to increase my premium with some platinum crap, they also kept hassling me by phone to renew, never again

M1k3H · 1 Jul 2021 at 14:34

I'm paying £13/month but that is for a Nationwide Flex Plus account, which also includes travel insurance and mobile phone insurance. It also covers anyone in the household.

Sirrel Squirrel · 1 Jul 2021 at 14:45

M1k3H said:
I'm paying £13/month but that is for a Nationwide Flex Plus account, which also includes travel insurance and mobile phone insurance. It also covers anyone in the household.

This.

Their breakdown cover is with LV, who just sub contract to whoever is near you. I've used them loads of times and always been excellent and never any hassle. They've arranged onward travel for me via taxi's or hire cars, stored my vehicle overnight, dropped it back to my house and then recovered it again to a garage.

peterwalkley · 1 Jul 2021 at 15:06

Rannoch said:
I pay £7 a month to Toyota who I think use the AA. I used the AA directly in the past who also tried to increase my premium with some platinum crap, they also kept hassling me by phone to renew, never again

THIS !!! AA and RAC are both absolute scummers for jacking up the price at renewal and trying to get you to auto-renew so you don't even notice it. Never ever let them have an auto-renew ....

@OP 67 quid doesn't seem bad and if you do have a problem or accident, Mazda will take your car to a dealership instead of whatever lowest bidder your insurers will try and foist on you.

BUDFORCE · 2 Jul 2021 at 13:00

I pay a lot for mine but it's personal cover for my wife and me, I have access to 3 vehicles one of which a motorcycle which is 18 years old.

Like £110 a year.

Haggisman · 2 Jul 2021 at 14:38

£60/year for full cover for me and my partner in any vehicle (Roadside/Recovery/Onward Travel/Home) with Autoaid.

The downside is that they don't have their own patrols/mechanics, they use local contractors, but it's significantly cheaper than similar cover from AA/RAC etc.

bloodiedathame · 2 Jul 2021 at 14:40

I don't bother. I've not had breakdown corver for a few years, figured if I do breakdown I will call up the AA, ask to get rescued and sign up there and then...

Jez · 2 Jul 2021 at 15:23

bloodiedathame said:
I don't bother. I've not had breakdown corver for a few years, figured if I do breakdown I will call up the AA, ask to get rescued and sign up there and then...

Yep, we had a big thread about this. Breaking down these days to the point of needing assistance really does not seem worth insuring against to me. I do high miles too, yet have not needed breakdown cover in over probably 250k miles.

Calm · 2 Jul 2021 at 15:32

bloodiedathame said:
I don't bother. I've not had breakdown cover for a few years, figured if I do breakdown I will call up the AA, ask to get rescued and sign up there and then...

I know someone who done that a while back, he was waiting a while!

From the AA website: "Your cover starts 24 hours after the start date you choose"

Maundie · 2 Jul 2021 at 15:33

Car is under warranty still so have BMW breakdown cover but when I had the Focus I used to get it serviced at the dealer and they threw in Ford Assist Recovery or whatever it was called, I also have a Nat West Platinum account that Green Flag cover comes with but never had to use it.

bloodiedathame · 2 Jul 2021 at 16:01

Calm said:
I know someone who done that a while back, he was waiting a while!

From the AA website: "Your cover starts 24 hours after the start date you choose"

From RAC website:

"If you’ve broken down but don’t have cover with us, we can still rescue you.

Call 0330 159 8743 and we'll be happy to help. Don't buy breakdown cover online."

Calm · 3 Jul 2021 at 11:42

Does anyone have any experience with emergency cover? Most seem to offer it, but there doesn't seem to be much info about fees.

The earliest I've found was on reddit, the guy paid the RAC £175 for callout and pay as you go cover, with further callouts costing £85.

Which doesn't seem that bad when you compare it to their normal fees, especially if you only breakdown once in a blue moon.

HoneyBadger · 3 Jul 2021 at 11:49

We have AA via Lloyds bank. I was paying anywhere between £11 and £16 a month over the years, for standard cover and home start with the AA or RAC.

I always did via Quidco as well, to earn cash back and it always annoyed me that it was always rejected. Lloyds reached out to us as part of our account and it was one of the benefits so I signed up via them.

Freakbro · 3 Jul 2021 at 11:51

I do have breakdown cover, it's ~£95 a year. I have been thinking the same as Jez above to whether it's worth it as I've not actually used it since I got rid of my Capri in the early 90's :cry:

But then when I see newer cars than mine broken down on the side of the road, I feel it gives me piece of mind

fezster · 3 Jul 2021 at 12:17

M1k3H said:
I'm paying £13/month but that is for a Nationwide Flex Plus account, which also includes travel insurance and mobile phone insurance. It also covers anyone in the household.

Just be careful as it only covers cars registered to the account holder. If it's a joint account, it'll cover cars registered to both account holders.

Autoaid used to be my go to place for cheap cover which includes home start. It used to be about £30/year many moons ago, but has gradually gone up (£50 or £60 now). Still great value, though. Used it quite a few times and never had an issue.

M1k3H · 4 Jul 2021 at 00:53

fezster said:
Just be careful as it only covers cars registered to the account holder. If it's a joint account, it'll cover cars registered to both account holders.

Autoaid used to be my go to place for cheap cover which includes home start. It used to be about £30/year many moons ago, but has gradually gone up (£50 or £60 now). Still great value, though. Used it quite a few times and never had an issue.

No it doesn't. It says it covers any cars registered to me, anyone in my household, and any car I'm sat in. In any case, it is a joint account, and both our cars are registered to me.

LizardKing · 4 Jul 2021 at 02:01

My insurance broker offered it as part of their package, they were ~£25 more than company's that didn't offer it so seemed no brainier to me vs risk having to sign upto aa/rac on the spot. I've not looked to deeply into it but it covered the basics when i glanced at it. i figured the money saved over the years far outweighs the potential cost of a future event that is not covered.

Alex_6n2 · 4 Jul 2021 at 02:11

Haggisman said:
£60/year for full cover for me and my partner in any vehicle (Roadside/Recovery/Onward Travel/Home) with Autoaid.

The downside is that they don't have their own patrols/mechanics, they use local contractors, but it's significantly cheaper than similar cover from AA/RAC etc.

I'm with the AA and they still farm it out to local contractors, so you're probably getting the same service for less cost!

Delta3D · 4 Jul 2021 at 02:16

I'm with RAC for £60/year with Battery Cover.

24/7 roadside and home rescue
Unlimited tow anywhere in the UK
Plus a 20-mile taxi home