Breakdown Cover

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pbar
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by pbar »

andyd wrote:
How good is your/my insurance company if we needed to claim
Adrian Flux = terrible

Direct Line = exceptional

:)
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by pbar »

Peter-S wrote:
My RAC is Roadside and Recovery for me and the wife in any car. They wanted £215 this year up from £160. After a phone call it's £139!
Your bank (assuming they would offer this, you would need to check), may want around £10 per month Peter.
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by pbar »

Andrew 2.8i wrote:
pbar wrote:I would stay away from Green Flag, called them out once when with them, terrible.
Thank you for your response. As I said in my initial post, I am especially interested to hear from people with experience of receiving assistance from their breakdown insurance provider. It sounds as though the service you received from Green Flag wasn't very good at all.

Andrew.
Goodness yes Andrew, they were very poor. The guy made no attempt to even look at the car, didn't even open the bonnet, until I raised the point of isn't he even going to look at it. And then it was less than a glance and onto the truck. As I mentioned it was over the hour limit that he arrived, so I phoned them as they offered £10 cashback if that happened, and they had adjusted the time which I initially called! So I complained and asked for head office contact info, they said well I can give you the £10 instead of that then. Crazy service.

I'm with the bank now, pay per month, it's very cheap with lots of extras, and it's on the person not the car so doesn't matter what you're in. Think it's independent guys they have contracted, but he was great, wasn't my daily car but he took time and effort, diaganosed the issue, and got the car going again.
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by andyd »

pbar wrote:
andyd wrote:
How good is your/my insurance company if we needed to claim
Adrian Flux = terrible

Direct Line = exceptional

:)
Flux are way too expensive anyway :spank:
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by D366Y »

What I always do is hop between RAC/AA each year - they always want to bump up the renewal prices but if you change every year then you get the benefit of the 'new customer' discounts/bonuses that they offer every year!

I am tempted to start using Greenflag as well and rotate every three years as well
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Lord Flasheart »

Just my 2 pence worth based on experience, been with the AA for 20 plus years & had very good service, usually when off roading in our Jeep, never once refused recovery.

As long as its all legal, MOT, Tax etc, they will recover you from approx 5 meters of the roadside, further away if they can access you easily (no brakes in a grassy field). Have to do the annual dance with them come renewal time & they admit they send out the full price & wait to see who rings to "tailor" their renewal. Save £30 a year for a 5 minute call. £146 for me & SWMBO with full Relay.

Not the same with RAC, I have witnessed first hand that they will not recover you if you have broken down as a result of "off-roading" even if you are at the roadside. Granted this is not the Capri's best use but on a show field somewhere they may take the same view ?? 2 guys with clutch issues refused with their Jeeps, "its in the small print sir" said the 2 RAC men who attended. We can recover you but there will be a £400 charge to take you to Aylesbury from Worcestershire, & that price was 6 years ago.


Dont have any experience of Green flag but beware, my old man told me recently they may exclude vehicles over 10 years old.

Hope this helps
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Jasonmarie »

Was going to say you can recommend a friend and both get £25 M&S card .
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

Hi,
Lord Flasheart wrote: Have to do the annual dance with them come renewal time
It's looking more and more like that's going to be the case.
Out of curiosity, what's the best tactic? Is it to say that you're leaving, or simply ask for their best deal?
Lord Flasheart wrote:Hope this helps
It certainly does, thanks.

Andrew.
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Re: Breakdown Cover

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Andrew 2.8i wrote: Out of curiosity, what's the best tactic? Is it to say that you're leaving, or simply ask for their best deal?
Phone them and just say please could you drop the price by £40 (or your desired figure) then you will take it. They will disappear to 'speak' to someone else for a few seconds then most likely say ok yes we can do that.

Virtually every tme I have done that with car insurance (actually I do it every time with car insurance), broadband fees, breakdown, and so on, it has worked.
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Peter-S »

Andrew 2.8i wrote:Hi,
Out of curiosity, what's the best tactic? Is it to say that you're leaving, or simply ask for their best deal?


Andrew.
I've just told them I'm not renewing. They'll ask why so I explain that I'm not prepared to accept the big increase in premiums - I often quote a percentage as it sounds worse - when there are cheaper options available.
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by C4PR1 »

I recently broke down (not in my capri) rang the RAC I was told we will be with you in 3 hours
I could not believe what I was hearing but you have no option but to wait, I had food and a drink with me,
3 hours went by they called me to say another half an hour, by this time i was not happy so after
4 hours waiting the RAC man turns up, confirms what I already knew clutch has gone mate, what garage do you want
me to tow you to, my answer was there's no garage open this time of day so he towed me home, got home at 9pm
so as you can guess I will not be renewing with the RAC
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Caprifan Rob »

pbar wrote:
andyd wrote:
How good is your/my insurance company if we needed to claim
Adrian Flux = terrible

Direct Line = exceptional
Totally agree with you Paul, Adrian Flux = :turd: never - ever - use !
Haven’t used Direct line but claimed with Admiral & they were exceptional, would recommend.

Good call with using bank account for AA. I’ve used them that way & they were great. Don’t have that sort of account now but thinking of rejoining, just in case .. :)
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

pbar wrote:Phone them and just say please could you drop the price by £40 (or your desired figure) then you will take it. They will disappear to 'speak' to someone else for a few seconds then most likely say ok yes we can do that.
Peter-S wrote: I've just told them I'm not renewing. They'll ask why so I explain that I'm not prepared to accept the big increase in premiums - I often quote a percentage as it sounds worse - when there are cheaper options available.
Thanks for the pointers chaps. I've just got to pluck up the courage to call them now!

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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

pbar wrote: Your bank (assuming they would offer this, you would need to check), may want around £10 per month.
I'm with Lloyds, and their bundled account, platinum, costs £19 a month (£228 per annum). However, other than breakdown cover (personal cover, homestart and relay) it does come with a load of other crap I'll never use. I don't want the hassle of changing banks so that option isn't really worthwhile.

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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

D366Y wrote:What I always do is hop between RAC/AA each year - they always want to bump up the renewal prices but if you change every year then you get the benefit of the 'new customer' discounts/bonuses that they offer every year!
Danny, thanks for thinking! :lol:
Seriously though, I'll try and negotiate a discount with the AA because I genuinely believe that they offer the best service. If they don't reduce my premium by enough, swapping between the AA and RAC is plan B.

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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Lord Flasheart »

I just called the AA number on the renewal letter & picked the option about leaving or all other enquiries I think.

Gave them my membership number, then when you get …. "what can I do for you today"? ….. "I've just had my renewal, its a bit steep, what can you do", the music strikes up, you do the dance & they offer you a lesser price ….. simples.

Good luck :D
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by pbar »

Andrew 2.8i wrote: I'm with Lloyds, and their bundled account, platinum, costs £19 a month
Well at least you had a look Andrew, it's always worth knowing. That is quite steep.
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by pbar »

Andrew 2.8i wrote:
pbar wrote:Phone them and just say please could you drop the price by £40 (or your desired figure) then you will take it. They will disappear to 'speak' to someone else for a few seconds then most likely say ok yes we can do that.
Peter-S wrote: I've just told them I'm not renewing. They'll ask why so I explain that I'm not prepared to accept the big increase in premiums - I often quote a percentage as it sounds worse - when there are cheaper options available.
Thanks for the pointers chaps. I've just got to pluck up the courage to call them now!

Andrew.
Always amazes me that in this day and age, where phones are that popular that they far outweigh the population, that people are so reluctant to use them to actually phone people! Yet, it is still by far the best and most efficient option.
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by jackinthegreen »

I can't believe anyone on here is recommending the AA! My experience of them after 18 or so years of loyal custom was nothing but being bent over a barrel at renewal time, and then getting the most rubbish service (if you could even call it that) on Earth in return. I gave them 3 chances to prove their worth.

On the first occasion, my Focus, which was only a few years old at the time, developed a charging/battery fault which left me stranded around a blind bend on an unlit main road in the middle of winter, with my elderly Nan in the car (who I informed the phone operator has heart problems). We couldn't stay outside the car as it'd have probably killed her. We couldn't use the heater as the engine wouldn't start, but at least it was sheltered in the car. So basically we were sitting ducks. Despite this, my presence as a male under 30 at the time meant that we weren't "vulnerable" or "in a dangerous situation", so they said they'd take an hour to get to us. An hour and a half later, we received a call saying they'd be a bit late, perhaps another 40 minutes or so. 45 minutes later, there was another call saying they were on their way and would only be another half hour or so.

On the second occasion, the power-steering hose on the Laser's custom Sierra/2.8i power-steering setup exploded and I lost all my steering fluid. "Not a problem", I thought. "The AA bloke has a van with a row of different-sized fan belts in the back. I've seen it. He can just put a small fan belt on, bypassing the PAS pump, and I can get home with heavy steering". No such luck. They don't carry any tools or spare parts in their vans any more, as there's no point. Cars are all electronic these days. You only need a fault code reader and enough gear to tow someone away. That was his logic, explanation and wording, not mine.

On the third occasion which caused me to cancel my membership and never look back, I was stuck on the M25 in the Focus again. I managed to limp the car to the services. I rang the AA, and was told that they were busy and would take an hour to get to me. AA vans came and went and helped other people at the services who'd arrived later than me, but no van came to me. Over the next 5 hours I nagged and nagged them only to be told that the patrol was "only an hour away now". In the end I cancelled the call-out, as a passing stranger heard me on the phone, got the toolbox out of the back of his estate, and helped me fix the car myself. (It turned out to be a section of wiring loom that gets damaged because Ford, as a cost-cutting measure, use an ST-part that isn't long enough to comfortably fit an RS with its wider track). When I was not only back in Cheshire, but had unpacked and made dinner, I got a phone call from an AA patrol man asking me whereabouts in the services car park I was... The only good thing to come out of this is that I got 3 months' worth of membership free out of it (not that AA membership actually provides you with anything), and the AA also got rid of the parking charges I'd accrued from staying too long at the services.

I now use the breakdown cover that comes with my bank account. I think Green Flag provide it. I've not had to use them yet. I'm thinking of getting rid of that and just using whatever the insurance company offers as that'll be the cheapest. My recommendation for breakdown cover would be just to go with the very cheapest, as this was the service I received as an AA "gold" customer. I dread to think how they'd treat you if you were an "ordinary" customer. As for the AA, avoid them like an ebola victim.
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

jackinthegreen wrote:My recommendation for breakdown cover would be just to go with the very cheapest, as this was the service I received as an AA "gold" customer. I dread to think how they'd treat you if you were an "ordinary" customer. As for the AA, avoid them like an ebola victim.
It's good to hear of experiences of breakdowns, as so few of us have cause to use our breakdown cover it's difficult to know how good the providers are when we need them.
It sounds as though you have not received particularly good service from the AA. In reference to the patrols not carrying spares in their vans, I suppose these days it's not really practical to carry spares for every single model of car.

Andrew.
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