Breakdown cover - yay or nay?

[whatausername]

Do you have it? Is it worth the cost, or the peace of mind if you've not has to use it yet?

That's fairly new. We were able to join on the spot several years ago, so people may have this in mind.

Always buy breakdown cover for both cars. Have used it a couple of times over the years, once when an engine went kaput on a busy A road with just me and both DC in the car.

Mine is now with my bank account but was with the AA for years.

I've had several flat tyres recently from potholes, run out of petrol and had a flat battery. Just called and someone came out, each time within an hour and I was on my way.

Definitely! I didn’t and broke down last year- 20 miles from home with 2 under 5s in the car.

It was around the time it had snowed so AA were only taking calls from people who were already with them as they were so busy, so I spent an hour on the phone trying to find someone who local who could recover my car, and another 3 hours before they could come out.

They then towed it to the nearest garage but I had to find my own way home with the kids, and all of the stuff from my car that I needed (had been Christmas shopping so had loads of stuff in my boot).

It was a nightmare- the next day I bought breakdown cover! Even if I never have to use it, it gives me peace of mind that I’ll never have to go through that again!

Yes. And I've fortunately only had to use it twice in around 20 years! And not because I have new cars - quite the opposite. I've just been lucky I guess. But the peace of mind is worth it. Without it, I wouldn't even know where to start if the car broke down!

I've been driving for 20 years. In that time it's always been 24 hours no matter who I was with.

If anyone could join on the spot, then we'd all just cancel at our next renewal and not bother paying for X years until it was needed again. It would be great if house insurance or any other insurance worked that way, but it doesn't.

OP, absolutely I have breakdown insurance. So far they've made a huge profit out of me, but theres too much stress in not having it.

Yes , I have Green Flag and it's less than £40 a year. Paid for itself for about 5 years when a tyre blew out recently in our own street.

I’ve never known my cover start straight away. It does make sense otherwise we would all just do what @rebekahnorris suggested. Wait til you breakdown then buy the cover there and then, save a few quid, that isn’t how it works I’m afraid.

Yes, it also pays for a taxi to get me home after my car's been recovered and if it were less than 10 years old would pay for a hire car. It comes as part of the insurance in France.

You can join the AA on the spot but you have to call them rather than join online. The catch is that you pay a higher premium but can be attended to straight away.

@Shade17
You can call up and pay premium if you need it.

@Shade17 yeah you are right yeah

I confused it an essential part of motoring costs. It's just like any other insurance - you have it just in case but hope it's not needed.

I travel mostly on country roads and alone. It's absolutely worth it for piece of mind.

@reluctantbrit
You can call and pay premium on the spot if needed

They don’t come out for I think it is 48 hours after you join

I’m not sure what the additional premium is for instant cover but there’s an argument there that it’s the best way to do it if you only call them out every few years or so. Personally, I use Autoaid and have only had to use them a couple of times in 10 years but they’ve been great.

@reluctantbrit

From AS website
Don't have cover with us?
You can join the AA now. Call 03330 046 0466* and we’ll come and rescue you today.
We'll provide instant cover for anyone broken down in the UK who's not already with us. Just so you know, you can’t buy cover online if you’ve already broken down – so please call instead and we'll help you.
Our dedicated mobile mechanics will fix your vehicle by the roadside or, if necessary, tow you to a nearby garag

No, you can join on the spot and they’ll come out straight away.

@reluctantbrit
Sorry AA! (It's early ha ha)

Ah ok!

Absolutely worth every penny. I pay a bit extra to have it included in my car insurance policy and it includes homestart.

Recently had a flat battery and RAC were out within the hour. They did diagnostic which showed I needed a new battery. The guy gave me a jump start and then followed behind me while I drove to Halfords where I could get a new one. Without that cover it would have been a lot more stressful.

I didn't take European cover ONCE and it cost me €250 just to get towed off the motorway, another €150 to get towed to the nearest town and €100 to get a £8 part changed.

I would never not now have it...

I've always had it and have used it a handful of times over 20 years. But it's taking them ages to come to call ours at the moment.

I waited 5 and 1/2 hours on Saturday!

*call outs