Cheapest way to buy roadside assistance for my son

[ihatethecold]

He doesn't live at home ( he's 29) and has just bought his first car. He has to use it for work and will not be paid if he misses any days due to being self employed.
Because the car is an old bange I'd like to get him a roadside assistance membership.
I have mine with my bank account so he needs his own.

Is AA the best. I don't want to spend loads ideally. Thanks

The cheapest way is to tell him he's 29 and a grown adult and can pay for his own damn membership.

Seriously OP. He can open a current account that has it as a benefit. It's hardly expensive.

We always use Autoaid. It’s not a breakdown service as such but they pay you back whatever you spend on recovery if you need it. If you need help you phone them and they arrange it or you can just organise your own. Our premium this year was about £55 I think? It was a MSE recommended plan which is why we went with it. Only used it once but they paid up quickly and no hassle. The only thing is you have to have enough money or credit on you to pay for the AA or whoever to come out at the time and then claim it back. Not an issue if you have a credit card really.

autoaidbreakdown.co.uk/

We are with startrescue.co.uk. They were one of the cheapest, have been with them for a few years now but only had to call them out once. They responded in less than an hour, and text dh to keep him informed of roughly when they were coming

Second the Autoaid recommendation (check there aren't any age limits for 'old bangers' whichever company you go with) but also that your DS needs to be sorting this out himself.

If he's old enough to run a car, he's old enough to sort out breakdown cover (and tax, insurance, MOT, maintenance etc) without his DM doing it for him.

My current account costs £10 per month and comes with roadside, holiday and mobile phone insurance. Maybe he could get one of those?

Mines included in the service plan. I pay monthly towards the cost of the car service and when I have the service I get a year free roadside cover.

If you have any Clubcard vouchers they're worth 3x for RAC personal cover (for any car he’s travelling in)

secure.tesco.com/clubcard/rac-breakdown-cover/uk-009599.prd

Emergency assist are good. £25 or so a year. Usually a deal on groupon

Both my DC use Startrescue, by far the cheapest they could find.

I don't think that there is an easy answer to this. You may have to spend a couple of hours trawling through the internet to find cover for him.

I was with Autoaid for probably about 15 years till this year, when the premium was hiked up to £55. Also the last two times I claimed I had very long waits and very weird (now outsourced) call centre staff who fucked up my location to the extent they marked me as being in a completely different county and tried allocating a garage from there!

I compared a bunch of policies (as I have an old car too - many of them don't like vehicles over 10 years old)

I ended up with:
Policy Type:Annual multi-trip
Assistance Provider:Emergency Assist Ltd
Total Premium (inc IPT): £30.68

Via a breakdown comparison site. It has everything comparable to Autoaid.

AA membership is quite expensive but it's pretty comprehensive too. It might be worth looking at bank accounts though as you get other benefits too.

Why do people always jump down the throat of parents doing things for their adult children on here? Why can't people help each other out?

I use start rescue. Been with them for a few years. All good.

Start rescue here too. I've been with them a few years and have just taken out policies for my DS and DM with them for their cars.

There is often a discount code flying around the internet for them.

another Start Rescue fan - two tow truck callouts in a year and the all singing all dancing cover went from £50 to (shock) £58. Car was 16 years old. Quick response and good service.

I have now replaced it with one a mere 10 years old.

Do make sure you check the terms and conditions. Most 'personal' breakdown cover excludes vehicles used for certain business purposes but exactly what's covered and not covered varies. Business breakdown cover is of course more expensive.

I don't see why OP shouldn't treat her son to this - surely it's no different to treating someone to a gift.

£53 Green Flag. I’ve just left the AA for them. Money saving expert recommendation too.

good point about ts and cs - one of the things I like about Start Rescue is that you get to decide where the car will be taken. This would be important if you broke down away from home and the fix would take a while, you don't want to have the car in a distant garage.

as for parenting - well, no-one is born knowing how to buy breakdown cover but it is a skill drivers need to learn and he won't learn it if it is done for him.

I'm with Autoaid £55 for the year. I have called them out 3 times in the last 12 months and I haven't had to pay upfront and then be reimbursed, so not sure what the policy on that is?

Thank you for all the replies to the question I asked.
I will look into the suggestions.

To those questioning my parenting, its really none of your business why i'm helping my son out. Those making pointless comments about it when it's not relevant have their own agenda to feel superior.

Those making pointless comments about it when it's not relevant have their own agenda to feel superior.

No, I was genuinely answering your question. The cheapest way is for him to get it through his own current account. If you choose to pay for it, fair enough. Still cheaper!

as for parenting - well, no-one is born knowing how to buy breakdown cover but it is a skill drivers need to learn and he won't learn it if it is done for him

It is not a skill you need to learn. It's the same as buying anything else.

Anyway, if you're like my husband you buy it once and renew on DD every year!