To be annoyed by my AA renewal letter?

[Pavonia]

Every year my AA renewal comes through with a big increase and I have to phone up and negotiate, It is really starting to piss me off.

In addition, the so called discounts seem to get more complicated each year. There is an "offer" on the renewal which now that I have fully understood it blatantly penalises those that take no action and just let the renewal go through as is. This seems disrespectful to the customer to me.

My renewal letter gives £197 for roadstart, home start and relay, which I can reduce to £148 with the "offer".

If I choose to leave out relay I can reduce the cost to £93.

How much do others pay? Am I being unreasonable to find the AA's methods annoying?

[stubbornstains]

YANBU. I recommend calling them up, cancelling your membership, and switching to Green Flag.

[HoggleIsMyFriend]

I have full AA cover (as does DH as it's a joint account) on our bank account. It's £17pm so just over £200pa but we get great travel insurance and mobile phone insurance too. It's a great deal.

[Narnian]

I agree wholeheartedly with stubborn.

[TheresAGhostYouFools]

I shop around for my car insurance every year, and I always get a policy that has breakdown cover thrown in - way cheaper than doing it as a standalone. Obviously I realise this is no good to you unless your insurance is up for renewal imminently, but bear in mind for when it is. Use compare the market or similar and you can specify you want breakdown included in your quotes.

[MissRainbowBrite]

I do the same as Snowballs but I use TopCashBack instead. I rotate through RAC, AA and Green Flag. It is extortionate that if you don't take any action they will take full advantage of people.

[bigbluebus]

I've stopped negotiating with Companies who do this now. I just find a cheaper deal elsewhere then ring them and tell them not to renew. I did this with my house insurance recently to be told "I should have rung them first and they would have reduced the price" to which I replied "just send me the right price in the first place and save us all a lot of messing about".

I agree get a quote from Green Flag - and if your car insurance company offer to add Green Flag cover on to your insurance, check how much it is to buy direct from Green Flag first, as it will probably be cheaper.

[WreckTangled]

I'm with auto aid and it was about £40 for the year. They're brilliant. Have called them twice and even though I was at home with nowhere important to be someone was with me in twenty minutes.

[TheMasterMurderedMargarita]

We had this hassle and we told them one year we were going to cancel because.of it
We could've bought the same policy online for £40 less. Strangely they then managed to match the price.
They did the same.the following year so we cancelled and told them.why.
All companies do this it's an utter PITA. No customer loyalty they don't give a crap unless you ring them up and complain.

[Kittenrush]

Oh I hate it, really annoys me. They are ruthless the lot of them

[Slightlyperturbedowlagain]

This really annoys me. I don't think we should have to keep swapping everything to get the best price. With about 10 policies/deals on different services and insurances it wastes so much time every year. Then you read that apparently consumers 'don't shop around for their energy suppliers' enough- no one bothers to find out that it's because it takes too bloody long and often causes problems when you do. I have a job ffs I don't have time for this. (Sorry rant over)

[shovetheholly]

If you have savings so that you can pay upfront and then claim back, Auto aid offer cover for about £40 a year.

www.autoaidbreakdown.co.uk/

[Pavonia]

Thanks everyone.

I've just got a quote from Green Flag which looks good, do they slap on a big increase at renewal time?

Alternatively, I will probably keep my insurance with Admiral, does anyone know if their breakdown service is good?

[allwornout0]

I also recommend Autoaid.

[TeenAndTween]

In the old days you got better terms for being a long term customer.
I think it is disgraceful that they now penalise you for it.
I suspect older people particularly get hit by this kind of thing, I know my parents are unless we nag them to get other quotes.

[Pavonia]

Thanks.

I had never heard of autoaid. In the event of a breakdown is their response good?

Do they offer the equivalent of home start and relay?

[Fluffsnuts]

green flag all the way. They have either kept the price the same (years with more than 1 call out) or reduced it. I pay £86 for 2 cars homestart recovery. Service has been fantastic too.

[PigletWasPoohsFriend]

I've just got a quote from Green Flag which looks good, do they slap on a big increase at renewal time?

Not in my experience, no.

[Fluffsnuts]

Autoaid you have to pay out and claim back, though it is considerably cheaper.

[WreckTangled]

I've called auto aid twice and I've never had to pay upfront they've always billed auto aid upfront

[dun1urkin]

I've been very happy with the service I've had from AutoAid. If you go on their website it'll tell you what's covered.
They operate by linking in with local recovery services, so when you have a breakdown they will arrange for a recovery company local to where you are to come out. I've not had to wait a long time.
I switched from RAC to them when I realised I would get the same service for £40 that I was paying £140 for.

[TheNaze73]

Green Flag are brilliant OP.

Always used to make me laugh, that one of the "biggies" used to call themselves the 4th emergency service. I think I paid less combined for the Police, Fire & Ambulance services through my taxes than I would have done for them on their ridiculous quote.

[londonrach]

Greenflag is good. Think aa one of the worse. Im with them this year but thanks for reminding me as i need to cancel my aa and swap to another one

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeG0es]

We have Autoaid too, although never needed to use it.