Did you know this about breakdown cover for your car...

[Fillyfrog]

For some reason I have lived my life not knowing this. Been driving for 24ish years. Had breakdown cover the whole time. Used it once.

Driving home tonight and I stupidly hit a large kerb I didn't realise was there. Burst my tyre and scraped the underneath of my car a little bit (it was rattling not sure what's gone on) rang the RAC to find that they wouldn't come and recover me because I hadn't broke down. I hadn't broke down and there was no mechanical fault with my car.

I know this sounds absolutely silly as it's literally called BREAKDOWN cover but it never occurred to me that I could be stranded at the side of the road and my cover wouldn't work for me! They advised me to get in touch with my insurance to organise recovery. I've used it once in 20 odd years and the one time I needed to be towed home I couldn't use it 🙈 would anybody else have thought the same?

I'm insured with NFU, breakdown and accident recovery is part of the policy. I just ring the helpline and they sort it out. I can recommend them, it's much easier and you have a named person to look after you.

I'm with RAC and I've used them about 5 years ago when my tyre burst when I went up on a curb to let an ambulance go by, no issues at all.

DH has also used them when he ran over a piece of metal on the motorway and he had a tyre blowout. Both times no extra chg apart from the cost of the new tyre.

I did something similar in the dark and heavy rain very early one morning. Unfamiliar road, and I managed to clip the edge of a high kerb and the tyre burst.

Whilst the breakdown cover would cover it the delays to then coming out was ridiculously long - hours and hours. It wouldn't have been a priority but even still!

After a long wait we gave up. I called Dh who arranged for a local garage:tyre repairer to come out to me. He changed the tyre at the side of the road for me and we just paid for call out and the tyre. He came out within the hour.

The breakdown cover assistance would have been over ten hours!! They called to apologise the next day

Nothing wrong with old school. Decent price, the cover I want and an actual named person who will sort things out for me. It's not just for farmers, hairy arsed or otherwise.

I either feel like I've been very unlucky or lots of people are paying a massive price for their breakdown. Or worded it differently

I only took AA cover out because of a flat. For years I never bothered with cover until I was sitting with a flat tyre and no spare.

It's been used at least another twice for flat tyres.

Absolutely. They’re total fuckers . Along with Virgin Media

I've got breakdown cover and they have come out to me for a puncture. I thought that was standard!

I burst my tyre, and my breakdown provider came out. Icy oh have a burst tyre, the reason is irrelevant.
So I do not understand the op.

No I think that they are moving the goalposts.

I noticed with car insurance too, they are slyly trying to offload to accident management companies and even trying to not claim back your excess. Things have changed and you don’t know until you are in a situation. It’s not 1995 anymore.

I did almost exactly the same thing as you in a service station car park and my breakdown company sent someone out very quickly.

Out of interest, how many people on the thread know how to change a wheel?

Yep, done it many times.

my ancient car has a spare wheel, one of the last models to have the thin emergency tyres. Most newer cars don’t have spares at all, just a repair kit. So these days knowing how to change a tyre is useless anyway.

that’s why we needed recovery as the kit wasn’t going to get us home. Plus it was on a smart motorway and fuck messing about changing tyres on those, I’m getting everyone across the barrier and as far away as possible while I wait for rescue.

Knowing how to do it isn't necessarily the issue. So many cars come with a tube of glue and no spare. That changing the wheel isn't an option.

The other issue if the nuts have been overtightened many women just wouldn't have the weight or strength to remove them.

The glue only works on small holes, I've had two tyres destroyed by nails and the other destroyed by a pot hole.
Glue wasn't going to solve the issue.

First thing we did when we bought our car was take the gunk kit out, buy a full-size spare and put it in the wheel well.

It's not a useless skill unless you accept the helplessness of not carrying a spare. A skinny-spare isn't expensive if you can't fit a full-size wheel in.

Yes I feel it's the goalposts too x

I know how to do it, used to be able to do it. I can't do it now.

I've got house insurance for building and contents. Turns out that it covers us for damage caused by the problem but not the repair. ?!? I'm looking for a better cover. We had a slow leak from a damaged pipe under our bath. The pipe repair is not covered but the leak damage is. 🤨

My car once did break down. On the motorway. Mechanical fault. Roadside assist made it worse. The garage i was towed to by the RAC couldnt fix it (my own mechanic was appalled when we got it to him as it was a simple fix) and i was left high and dry alone with two toddlers on an industrial estate at night. I had to pay £800 to get home.

I don't and have never been shown/taught how to.
Hence I pay for a service that will do it for me.
I'm happy to pay for this kind of thing.

Many cars don't have spare wheels anymore, some may have a space saver and some have the glue thing for smaller temporary repair.

I know how to change a tyre but these days the bolts are tightened by machines and often people aren’t strong enough to get them of with just tools.

I know how to change a wheel but no chance I'd be able to actually do it as the bolts would be too tight.

I remember one roadside assistant bloke tutting at me for not changing the wheel when it burst a tyre on the motorway. I was about 5 months pregnant as well at the time.

This - my cover has always included any potential scenario - accident, breakdown or just recovery. But it was never the cheapest option.

My dd burst our tyre last year and it was completly flat. We are with green flag and they came and moved the car to the nearest tyre garage as it was late at night and nowhere was open. So they defo come out for more than just break downs.