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?

My bank cover is for:

Whole family travel insurance globally
Homestart AA breakdown
Home emergency cover
Mobile phone insurance

Never used the phone insurance, but there's not been a year yet where I haven't used the travel insurance and one of the others. (well, used the travel in the sense that I'd have had to buy separate cover)

Having not used my breakdown cover for years I had a tyre blow out on my four wheel trailer on the M3 on Friday (many thanks to the couple of drivers who flashed and hooted me when it happened). Recovery vehicle was with me in about an hour and 15 minutes, trailer was recovered home. Bloody glad I've still got it, 👍

Depends on the car, IMO. When we had a brand new lease car we didn't bother. Now we have an 11yr old car with 128k miles we definitely have it.

That doesn’t work I’m afraid. You have to be joined 24 hours from memory.

@Fififafa

You have quoted one breakdown company there. They won't all be the same?

I never had cover for years. I broke down a couple of times and just called the local recovery service to take it to a garage. I suppose there is no real way to know the most cost effective but that worked for me for many years. When I later became disabled I took breakdown cover as I wanted the extras such as taking me to the garage/home etc.

I'm covered by motability now

I have previously had it. Don't at the moment. One of the reasons being that I don't do a lot of driving, only to work and my partners house really. Both my parents are retired so available to swap cars in an emergency and my partner used to be a mechanic and has friends that can tow etc. If I was going further afield I would get it. Furthest I go is 45minutes from my house now.

My grandad had it for years as well, until this year. He drives less than 15miles from his house in a very low mileage and well maintained car, so wasn't worth the ridiculous costs he was quoted...

Think it depends where your drive, what ypu drive and if you have contacts who can help if you breakdown

You can join on the spot but obviously it will cost you more. Depending on where you break down and what you actually need (tyre replacement vs long distance tow and onwards travel for example) there's also always the option of phoning an independent breakdown service for one off help.

But in reality, for what it costs, it's definitely worth having, as it's a small part of the cost of running a car, and you'd only have to average a single call out every few years for it to pay for itself. But definitely shop around as cover levels vary and it can be had for a lot less than the headline price of full service AA or RAC.

We've used Autoaid for years on the recommendation of Moneysaving Expert.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/breakdown-cover/

Think it depends where your drive, what ypu drive and if you have contacts who can help if you breakdown

Yes, good point. If you only ever drive locally, have people who can help you, and aren't time sensitive, eg if you did breakdown, you could just leave your car for a few hours (but a risky strategy if you break down on a busy road that will cause traffic problems) then the consequences of not having cover are a lot less than if you if you travel further afield, might have appointments to get to etc.

We had AA cover for years but it is expensive. So now we have added Green Flag cover to our normal car insurance. The difference in price is incredible. I think most insurance companies offer this.

Yes, but always with Start Rescue rather than AA or RAC etc. Used them a few times and always happy with response times etc.

Don’t rely on your memory 🤣

Breakdown cover is insurance against the cost of breaking down. Like all insurance, it seems expensive till you need it, then it is priceless. The cost of a breakdown on the motorway is eye watering, plus after a fairly short time the police will have you towed off the motorway for safety reasons, and you will have to pay the cost!

Yes, I've always had it. Drive a lot on my own so brings peace of mind

Yes we have it but havent had to use it for the past 10+ years - for the sake of £60-100 a years the reassurance you get is worth it

The days when a car could be restarted fairly easily at the side of the road are long gone, even dealing with a puncture these days is more complicated - locking wheel nuts are tightened in the garage with power tools and I think we would be hard placed to undo them with a manual tool.

We first got it for our driving trips abroad - I didnt fancy being stranded at the side of an autoroute or an autobahn with limited language to call a man to come and help us!

My advice is to get personal cover which is slightly more expensive but then you are covered whatever car you are in. Also get European cover as part of the main package as getting it separately for each trip is more expensive.

If you go through moneysupermarket or similar comparison sites you can usually get a better deal than singing up directly. And dont auto renew each year!

And this will cost you if you break down
one company I know will charge you the cost to join plus £99 to upgrade to relay and £4.50 a mile for instant use
always check you have relay on your membership it will save you money in the long run

Yes this is me. I don't travel far

I've used the breakdown cover 4 times in the past two months. Two slashed tyres , gearbox went and extreme hot summer causes my nearly new battery to overheat and blow a cell. I saw breakdown cover has saved me ££££..

Two years I meant.

Last time I used it dds car broke down 120 miles away. It was a garage job, so they arranged for a tow truck to store it overnight for a day or two, then bring it to our local garage for repair when they were open.

They also paid the approx £270 or £370 bill for the taxi home.

I have used a cheaper one in the past that had a tow limit of 10 miles before they started charging you, so read the small print.

I can't imagine not having it. What are you going to do if you break down on a busy road? Definitely worth the money.

Always have it. Wouldn’t be without it. Don’t let it automatically renew without ringing for a better deal though. I always ring and tell them it’s too expensive and they always bring the price down by quite a lot.