first call car breakdown cover

healingtouch

Hi,

Just wondering what people thought of first call. I used moneysupermarket.com to search for breakdown cover that includes fix at home and got quoted £42.50, which is heaps cheaper then my current one with AA. but why? is the cover less. Would like to hear peoples comments on it before i decide to take out cover. Also couldn't see a phone number, or is that why its cheaper as its all done on the internet.

Many thanks,

HT

josey1964

BUMP - as also interested to read feedback.

bommer

Martin, recommended Auto Aid in one of his articles, it cost me £29.00 in September, think it is £30 now. I think there is full details in his tip about breakdown cover.

ltlmiles5

I'm also interested in First Call. Has anyone used them before?

Autoaid - you have to pay first, and I wouldn't like to breakdown in a car and not have any money on me, as it can be expensive to be towed away etc. Plus, they charge additionally for home start. Excess of £45 i believe. Not good if the battery goes dead after a cold winter and snow, and the car gets stuck for 1 hour in traffic, and won't start the next day.

I was with Europ Assist. The depot , where the car was towed to, wanted to charge me £140 for towing my car after an accident, although that should have been included in the insurance. I spent all day trying to sort it out. \they kept assuring me that they would ring the depot manager to assure him that they would pay for the tow charges, but they had phoned another Europ Assist branch, and the manager said that they still hadn't phoned him, despite almost 5 calls later!!!

In the end, I sold my car to a scrapyard and the manager said he wouldn't charge for it, although no one had phoned him!!!

So I don't think I will be using them again! They came within 30 mins to tow the car away, and have arrived within 40 mins the other times I used them for various things, including starting up the car, but wouldn't install a new battery, which meant that I had to ensure I took the car on a long run or not turn it off before reaching a garage.

But the admin side in this case was not helpful at all.

stumpjumper

If you're talking about First Call GB then thery're the people I use for breakdown cover. They do have a high level of cover for the money and you don't have to pay for the breakdown service up front and claim it back. We've had to use our cover in anger once when my car broke down on a dual carriageway. They responded quickly (it was rush hour too!) and sent out a local garage, the car was towed to the garage and fixed within 2 hours. They also took my OH (who was driving it) to work and dropped the car off once it was fixed.

Overall very impressed and have just renewed my cover.

ArsenalFC

I got covered with first call also after reading breakdown covers from this board. It cost £39.95 (got it last month or in dec05).

Got it because it was cheap, full recovery and no pay n claim.
You are allowed upto 6 call outs a year.

*Wheel change included*

ltlmiles5

Hmmm.. I need one that will change my tyres, if only for my own piece of mind, driving at night, being a lady with 3 kiddies!

ArsenalFC

Apology, my mistake it does include wheel change, cant remember where I read that it doesn't include flat tyres.



What is not covered


· Any claim arising in the first 48 hours from the date of inception.

· Labour charges in excess of one hour.

· Cost of replacement parts or materials used in the repair

· Toll charges, ferry charges, parking charges, traffic congestion charges

· Storage charges incurred during or after the use of our services

· More than 6 call outs during the period of cover

· Running out of fuel, loss of keys, broken glass

· V...ehicles immersed in mud, snow, sand or water

· Keys locked in vehicle

· Cars, vans and motorcycles over 3.5 tonnes in weight

· Vehicles immobilised outside the United Kingdom (United Kingdom includes Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands)



Features and benefits included automatically

· Roadside assistance

· Roadside repairs

· Assistance at your home

· Onward destination service

· Cover for any driver whilst that person is using the vehicle i...nsured, provided the person has received permission from you first.

· Caravan or trailer attached to your vehicle up to 25 feet.

· Up to 1 hour’s free roadside assistance

· Up to a maximum of 6 call outs a year

· Wheel changes (providing you have a serviceable spare tyre and wheel and are able to provide a manufacturer’s key to remove any locking wheel nuts.)

HJandR

Both my husband and I are with first call, I used them for the first time last year and they were great and recovered my car back home where it was later fixed by the mobile mechanic.. Hubby on the other hand works further afield, he was working 50 miles away from home, parked in a pay and display car park when his clutch gave way - could not get the car out of the car park (which was due to be locked for the night in 30 mins time...) On calling first call they said they could come out, but if they could not get to the car - because of the car park being locked - or the height restriction... they would not be able to re attend the same incident, and as they could not guarentee to attend within an hour - it was his call... all that is fair enough. However they also said that if they did attend and could not fix it - they would only be able to recover the car to the nearest garage - which was a renault main dealership across the road from the car park - 50 miles from home, and quoting £2k to repair...

My husband relies heavily on his car and is frequently several hours away from home... my question is simply, would RAC or AA take the same stance regarding recovery... or would we be better taking the hit and paying for a "better known" recovery firm to have more flexibility in terms of recovery options ? looking at the wording on the websites the cover seems similar, but it appears to be at the discretion of the recovery firm where your car ends up...and I guess this may to an extent be at the discretion of the recovery driver to some degree ??

anybody got any experience of this ?