Breakdown Cover

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Andrew 2.8i
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Breakdown Cover

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

Hi,
I know this has come up before on this forum, but I was wondering if anyone can recommend a provider of breakdown cover. I've just had my renewal quote through and it's quite eye-watering! I'm currently with the company that shares it's initials with the organisation that provides counselling and recovery for people with drinking problems....
Any recommendations would be appreciated, and I would be especially pleased to hear opinions and experiences from people who have actually needed to use their service provider.

Thanks in advance,
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

Andrew 2.8i wrote: I'm currently with the company that shares it's initials with the organisation that provides counselling and recovery for people with drinking problems.....
On the subject of the above, that reminds me of this: :D



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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Peter-S »

I'm with the one that is reverse of car!
Been with them for years and as I posted up a couple of times I also had a 'how much' renewal from them a couple of times. Both times I phoned to cancel and magically a special discount was applied. The last time the premium was capped for 2 or 3 years. Might be worth a phone call and a 'threat' to cancel. Annoys me that they milk it until you do pick up the phone.
Price aside you will probably recall my overheat on the 2.8 a couple of years ago - the guys that came out were excellent and quick. Might be I was lucky, it was the only time I've ever used them which was part of my gripe at the premium increase!
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by andyd »

Nick mentioned this company a couple of years ago https://www.startrescue.co.uk/breakdown-cover

We have the 3 star policy on the Focus, but luckily we haven't had to use it yet :)

I have breakdown on the Sierra through my current insurer Classicline for Home Start, Roadside and Relay for around £40 iirc....
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

Peter-S wrote: the guys that came out were excellent and quick. Might be I was lucky, it was the only time I've ever used them
Thanks for your reply Peter.
That is the very reason I've stayed with the AA for so long. The two big players seem to offer great service and are prompt because they have their own large network of patrols. Although I haven't ever had to call them on my personal policy, I have to use the AA probably two or three times a year on average through work, and each time I just can't fault them.
The smaller providers may be cheaper, but can they deliver the same service? Is it worth paying substantially more for peace of mind? I might just try your suggestion of threatening to leave and see what they say.

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Last edited by Andrew 2.8i on Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:25 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

andyd wrote:Nick mentioned this company a couple of years ago https://www.startrescue.co.uk/breakdown-cover
We have the 3 star policy on the Focus, but luckily we haven't had to use it yet :)
I have breakdown on the Sierra through my current insurer Classicline for Home Start, Roadside and Relay for around £40 iirc....
Thanks for your reply, Andy.
I had a quick re-read of Nick's thread before I posted the new topic. What worries me about the smaller providers is the problem of breaking down far from home. Given that they don't have their own fleet of vehicles, they rely on local garages and recovery operators, naturally the quality of service could depend on which garage comes to you rescue. What breakdown company do you have with your insurance policy?

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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by tejb1 »

I seem to recall that the AA/RAC increasingly use small subcontractors themselves anyway. Supposedly, the core directly employed staff work early/late shifts, any particularly busy times jobs go out to other firms and anything overnight as well.
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by andyd »

Andrew 2.8i wrote:
andyd wrote:Nick mentioned this company a couple of years ago https://www.startrescue.co.uk/breakdown-cover
We have the 3 star policy on the Focus, but luckily we haven't had to use it yet :)
I have breakdown on the Sierra through my current insurer Classicline for Home Start, Roadside and Relay for around £40 iirc....
Thanks for your reply, Andy.
I had a quick re-read of Nick's thread before I posted the new topic. What worries me about the smaller providers is the problem of breaking down far from home. Given that they don't have their own fleet of vehicles, they rely on local garages and recovery operators, naturally the quality of service could depend on which garage comes to you rescue. What breakdown company do you have with your insurance policy?

Andrew.
Re. Start Rescue, Green Flag springs to mind as their recovery.

Re. Sierra, policy is administered by Auto Legal Protection Services Limited (ALPS) that's all I can find on document....
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Jasonmarie »

Yes I am with the same as peter and he is right as I did the old trick I will leave it and go with another and they brought the price down cheaper then I could get on the Internet . I did use them last year on the bus when I got it stuck in the mud ( yes twice ) and they got me right out of trouble . :beer:

I do have Home start and full relay .
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

Jasonmarie wrote:Yes I am with the same as peter and he is right as I did the old trick I will leave it and go with another and they brought the price down cheaper
Thanks for the info Jason.
I will try that as I notice that the RAC offer the same cover as I have now but for nearly £100 less. I imagine that's a low price to entice new customers, but I suppose the trick is to go with the RAC and AA on alternate years to benefit from new customer discounts each year.
Jasonmarie wrote: I did use them last year on the bus when I got it stuck in the mud ( yes twice ) and they got me right out of trouble
You've got a thing about mud haven't you Jason? :lol:

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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

andyd wrote:Re. Sierra, policy is administered by Auto Legal Protection Services Limited (ALPS) that's all I can find on document....
Thanks for checking, Andy,
That is the same company that I had breakdown cover with when I had it bundled with insurance cover from Coops. I stopped buying that because I thought it would be better to buy a personal policy to cover me for being a driver or passenger in any vehicle. Again, for the peace of mind more than anything else. When you think about it, if you are a passenger in a vehicle that breaks down far from home, and that car is not covered by breakdown insurance, if you don't have personal cover you still have the issue of getting home.

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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

tejb1 wrote:I seem to recall that the AA/RAC increasingly use small subcontractors themselves anyway. Supposedly, the core directly employed staff work early/late shifts, any particularly busy times jobs go out to other firms and anything overnight as well.
I didn't know that, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was indeed the case.

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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Jasonmarie »

Yes I did get stuck on a very small bit of grass in Dagenham where over the years I have parked so many cars but the rain had not stopped for weeks at the beginning of the year and The bus just sunk in the mud ,and my poor dad was trying to push me out and I think our bus must come in at almost 2.5 tons .
So the RAC bloke got me out and he did say some breakdown company’s don’t cover that sort of thing .
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Peter-S »

Andrew 2.8i wrote: What worries me about the smaller providers is the problem of breaking down far from home. Given that they don't have their own fleet of vehicles, they rely on local garages and recovery operators, naturally the quality of service could depend on which garage comes to you rescue.
Andrew.
I had this may years ago in a Sierra on Anglessey. I was with Green Flag in those days but a local guy came out just within their promised window just for a cursory look to confirm I needed a tow. It was then quite a wait for the flatbed. Although RAC did similar for the 2.8 the first guy on the scene was a fully kitted out RAC van and he was quick to summon the flatbed once he confirmed what I'd told them over the phone and the wait after that wasn't bad at all.

Like you I noticed the cheaper website prices which I mentioned the first time I complained and they confirmed it was a hook for new members. They tried offering me discounts at other places (their trading partners I guess) to keep the premium high but I told them I might as well go to AA and get their low website price and they eventually backed down.
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by pbar »

An option people don't realise, or aren't aware of, is that your bank/building society might offer it. Mine does, for a very small price per month I get full breakdown cover, mobile phone cover in the event of loss or theft, and lot's of other stuff included. A lot of people just don't know about it. Works out loads cheaper than any breakdown cover I could find elsewhere and covers the driver as opposed to the car so it's doesn't matter what I'm driving and it has no age limit on the vehicle.
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by andyd »

pbar wrote:An option people don't realise, or aren't aware of, is that your bank/building society might offer it. Mine does, for a very small price per month I get full breakdown cover, mobile phone cover in the event of loss or theft, and lot's of other stuff included. A lot of people just don't know about it. Works out loads cheaper than any breakdown cover I could find elsewhere and covers the driver as opposed to the car so it's doesn't matter what I'm driving and it has no age limit on the vehicle.
It appears Nat West Bank does this cover on certain accounts.....
I was with AA for a year after my mates car broke down at Classic Ford and we got taken home (albeit by two different drivers due to distance) and it seemed a good idea as we had 3 cars at home at the time, but as above the renewal was :spank: so I didn't renew again.
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by pbar »

andyd wrote: It appears Nat West Bank does this cover on certain accounts
Think various banks/society's do, Nationwide being another. It's a very good option, and the one I chose.

I would stay away from Green Flag, called them out once when with them, terrible. No attempt to look at the car, and waiting over an hour. When I phoned to claim back the £10 they offered in that instance, they had actually adjusted the logged time of my initial phone call!
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by andyd »

pbar wrote:
andyd wrote: It appears Nat West Bank does this cover on certain accounts
Think various banks/society's do, Nationwide being another. It's a very good option, and the one I chose.

I would stay away from Green Flag, called them out once when with them, terrible. No attempt to look at the car, and waiting over an hour. When I phoned to claim back the £10 they offered in that instance, they had actually adjusted the logged time of my initial phone call!
Like everything Paul it's another 'Minefield' of possible issues, and I think you could spend an age trying to find the 'right' one that suits.....
It's only when you use the service you know how good/bad it is.

How good is your/my insurance company if we needed to claim :drama: Hopefully we never need to either :cheers:

The AA are good, but at over £200 for me iirc, you feel you are being robbed if you don't use them at least once a year :lol:
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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

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.

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Re: Breakdown Cover

Post by Peter-S »

andyd wrote: The AA are good, but at over £200 for me iirc, you feel you are being robbed if you don't use them at least once a year :lol:
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!
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