Breakdown Cover - AA, RAC or Green Flag, which is best?

[Yankydoodledandy]

Need to get cover on my car - because I took out my insurance in May they wont add it on so Im looking at AA, RAC and Green Flag.

Any recommendations who is the best?

Or are they pretty much the same?

I believe the AA no longer prioritise lone female travellers as a priority (unless they’ve changed their policy again), so if this applies or is important to you it’s something to consider.

A few will only take you to the “nearest place for repair”, and not necessarily take you to your “home garage”. I think you need to work out what you need and check the actual cover offered. I was with AA for 20+ years (through the bank), I’m now with the RAC as they offered the best option and could take out dual membership at a discounted rate.

Prices Ive got so far for top cover etc, are:

AA £119
RAC £154
Green Flag £61.60

Green Flag any good???

@Welshrarebitontoast Ive chosen, when doing the quote, national recovery they take you back to any destination you specify in the UK

Green Flag use local independent mechanics rather than dedicated patrols in branded vans. Hence price.

I'm with the AA and on the few occasions I have called them during 30 years of motoring they have always been exceptionally helpful and always got me going - but it's really not cheap and seems to go up more and more every year (if you ring and query the renewal they will put it back down to the promotional price for new members). Annoys me I don't get a loyalty discount after so long.

@Yankydoodledandy That’s great.

Hopefully you never need to use them but it’s certainly a must have for peace of mind.

If you have use for travel and mobile phone insurance as well you could look at your bank to see if they have a platinum account or similar which can work out better financially.

I've only ever been with the AA so can't compare to the others. I've only had to call them out twice over the years, both due to a dead battery. Both times they arrived within an hour (one of these was in a small beachfront car park in Cornwall, on a Saturday in August and I anticipated the wait to be triple if not more!)

You also get use of their AA rewards, and we often make use of the 20% off the entire bill (inc drinks) at 2 different Greene King restaurants that we visit fairly regularly anyway! On the whole I have no complaints, but I only have 2 experiences personally and neither were on a motorway.

just rang got them down to AA £45!!!!!!!!

That's good I didn't realise they did that. I was about to say if you have Tesco clubcard points you can get RAC with them.

Just rang them and said got cheaper quotes, first time buyer etc.
Only thing I took off was the Onward travel as I wouldnt need a hotel or a courtsey car as Im never going to travel in this particular car for a holiday or for far say or abroad.

So yep £45

Britannia Rescue.
Hade roadside rescue / recovery since 1981 and having used both AA & RAC, have been with BR for over 20-years and really like their service in preference to the others.

You have to check the policy and make sure you are getting the cover you need when the worst happens:-
How old is the car, some firms have an age limit?
How big is your vehicle (is it a van or Motorcaravan) as there are size & weight limits?
Do you have more than one car?
Do you want to cover the car and anyone who drives it or do you want to cover yourself and any vehicle you are in at the time?
Do you want your significant other to have the same cover?
Do you want Homestart which also covers you when you are less than 0.5mles from your registered address?
Will they recover you from an accident or insist you go through the insurance and get recovery from their approved supplier?
Do they take you to your required destination or just to the nearest approved garage?
Will they take the car to a garage but then ferry you onto your required destination?
If you and your car have been recovered home, will they then pick up the car and take it to the garage of your choice a couple of days later?

These are just some examples of which I have personal experience.
Of course if you are a single user of a relatively new family car then many will not apply.

I'm with a company called start rescue, had to use them twice and they were excellent both times and very affordable!

Not the Green Flag, not after the news this week - I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.

Start rescue were dreadful for me. Quoted 2.5 hour wait and then rang for update and still 30 minutes away and hadn't sent a vehicle me and 2DC could be recovered in, despite telling them who was in the vehicle at the initial call. I put in a complaint and was offered £20 compensation which they later rescinded. I was told we weren't a priority but if we were they would have contacted other recovery companies. Cheers for that. Alone at night with 2 small DC in a 3 hour limit car park. We obviously didn't renew.

What was the news this week?

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/16/green-flag-refused-help-motorist-fatal-crash-not-parking-hard/

The judge who summed up this case of a woman who was killed after breaking down on the motorway was scathing about how they told her they couldn't help her because she was on the hard shoulder and then left her to it without informing the police or telling her how to get out of harm's way.

because she WASN'T on the hard shoulder, sorry.

Have been with RAC for years but they've been dreadful the last two times I had to call them out - once for a blown tyre M25, two hours wait then three tow vehicle relay to get us home, finally, at about 3am. Second time roadside breakdown , they said they'd be five hours- fortunately a passing motorist towed us home.

Been with AA for decades, few times I've needed them they've been there pretty quick! Only draw back is every year you have to ring up for a better price than their renewal quote so don't just pay it next year👍

@FourTeaFallOut that's horrific.

We have AA gold family membership so basically everything covered apart from oversees which is only covered for 3 days ( I think ) . We’ve been with them for years , never pay the price quoted and have been paying roughly the same amount for the last 6/7 years . I’d never had any trouble with the cover until this year when I needed towing home from London , the AA man who attended first said that the tow truck would drop the car at a garage and then drop us home ( 5/10 minutes from the garage ) . The tow was then outsourced to a London based company and the driver would only go to one destination so I had to get my husband to collect us from the garage at 04:30 . I emailed to complain and they replied that it is at the discretion of the tow driver but as I was told I would be taken home they sent me a £50 cheque as a goodwill gesture . Cannot complain really .

RAC best.
Green Flag just want to tow car to local garage....not interested in repairing car at roadside.
AA more expensive than RAC.

Green Flag review from this weekend. Absolute nightmare.
Please be aware if thinking of using them x

We broke down at 12am having set off from Scotland at 7pm. We had 3 hours left of our journey home.
As a family with 2 dogs and a poorly child, we broke down with a caravan in tow - the turbo went on the car so unable to solve roadside therefore recovery needed.
Initial call was hopeful - green flag stated it would be 45 mins until they had someone to us as we were a priority having a child and animals on board and as we were on a busy motorway just south of Scotland.
2.5 hours later we have our FIRST OF THREE recovery trucks arrive.
He advised Lincoln was not in his area so would take us 1,5 hours to Lymm services where we would be met by the next recovery vehicle " great , that's ok " we thought .... Oh how wrong we were!!
Telephone call from green flag advising us that at our ETA at Lymm services we would have a recovery man waiting for us within 30 mins of arrival (6:30/7am)
Green flag advised the next part of our recovery would be completed by Eggertons from Lymm services.
Upon being dropped off by the first recovery truck , we sat in the lorry park of Eggertons at Lymm services. Saw a truck with a guy sat in it and by 8am contacted Sarah who advised that they were running behind ( 1.5 hours!) and had someone on route to us. We asked if the chap in the lorry park was our driver which she denied. Roll on 10Aam ( 15 hours into the journey) , the same guy sat looking at us at Eggertons lorry park, reverses his truck to our car stating he hadn't received the job and could only take us to the next service station 27 mins away!!!
Fuming is an understatement - my little boy was sobbing by this point as he felt so unwell - we are both tired out and stressed and totally flabbergasted at the lack of common sense displayed by green flag , never the less after a rather cross phone call to green flag I am absolutely assured that the next truck will absolutely be with us by 11:10.
you guessed it - 12:15 the next one rolled up - thank fully ready equipped to take us all the way home.
In short our experience has been a nightmare! Why not put us into a services over night to then recover us the next day in one hit! Utterly outrageous with no courtesy shown for us or the animals left stranded in service stations and roadside for over 11 hours!!!
Sort yourselves out green flag - this is totally unacceptable!
Disorganised, disjointed, poor communication and utterly dismal dishonest service- don't advertise "national recovery" with the caravan and motorhome clubs if you are blatantly unable to achieve a service to meet the needs of your customers!!

Date of experience: 24 August 2024