breakdown cover

mchale

vikingaero wrote: »

You pay the recovery operator to transport you from Cornwall to London and then you claim back the cost from Autoaid.

This works for some people. For me it's a no no. I'm going to holiday near Inverness this summer (I live in Kent) and I don't fancy forking out £800-£1000 for a tow at 2am in the morning.

Thats presuming you breakdown, Ive had autoaid for about 4 years and never used them, If you do use them pay by cc, and by the time your statement comes you should have been reimbursed by Autoaid,

steveo3002

yeah you pay the £300 or whatever direct to the garage (ideal if you have a credit card ) then they pay you back in around a week or so

vikingaero

Premier wrote: »

What you are looking for is recovery service (or relay as the AA call it since they relay you on multiple transporters dropping you off at the county border leaving you to wait possibly hours for the next lorry to take you on your next 'leg' of the journey - most other companies take you non-stop on the same transporter.)

Premier,

All breakdown operatives whether they work for the AA or a private breakdown company are subject to the lovely EU Working Hours Directive if they venture more than 60 miles from base - rest periods and breaks etc.

The days of the AA/RAC/GreenFlag/AutoAid representative garage making a Recovery Service in one hit from Scotland to London or Cornwall to Newcastle in one hit are long gone. It's more than likely now that your car will be carried on a transporter and you'll be given a hire car/train tickets/air tickets to complete your journey home.

Premier_2

lee8040 wrote: »

so i pay £37 a year if i breakdown 300 miles away i pay for a transporter to take me home if that costs £300 for example will autoaid refund that money?

That's correct. (assuming it's not something simple that can be repaired roadside in the typical 30 minutes - in which case they would want the car repaired roadside & then they just have to pay that)

You send AutoAid the receipt - AutoAid pay you back, usually in 14 days and most customer feedback says its promptly paid without any fuss.

lee8040

how do they make there money then, if i pay £37 breakdown 300 miles away and the total cost is over £500 they must lose alot of money by paying me it all back

vikingaero

lee8040 wrote: »

how do they make there money then, if i pay £37 breakdown 300 miles away and the total cost is over £500 they must lose alot of money by paying me it all back

It's an insurance policy. They make their money from those who do not claim.

mchale

vikingaero wrote: »

Premier,

All breakdown operatives whether they work for the AA or a private breakdown company are subject to the lovely EU Working Hours Directive if they venture more than 60 miles from base - rest periods and breaks etc.

The days of the AA/RAC/GreenFlag/AutoAid representative garage making a Recovery Service in one hit from Scotland to London or Cornwall to Newcastle in one hit are long gone. It's more than likely now that your car will be carried on a transporter and you'll be given a hire car/train tickets/air tickets to complete your journey home.

If the recovery vehicle is on a tachograph the 60 mile limit does not come into force

Premier_2

vikingaero wrote: »

Premier,

All breakdown operatives whether they work for the AA or a private breakdown company are subject to the lovely EU Working Hours Directive if they venture more than 60 miles from base - rest periods and breaks etc.

The days of the AA/RAC/GreenFlag/AutoAid representative garage making a Recovery Service in one hit from Scotland to London or Cornwall to Newcastle in one hit are long gone. It's more than likely now that your car will be carried on a transporter and you'll be given a hire car/train tickets/air tickets to complete your journey home.

I asked about this and specifically the AA why they relay.

The AA informed me they relay because of working time restrictions, driving laws, tacho rules, etc.

So I asked the RAC how they overcome these legal restrictions. They informed me that they, like many other breakdown services (with the notable exception of the AA) operate as an emergency service and so are not constrained by those limitations - just the same as an ambulance wouldn't be who needs to transport a patient from say Cornwall to London for specialist treatment.

Recovery vehicles (other than the AA's) are not fitted with tacho meters.

With the RAC, the driver (or other responsible person) must accompany the vehicle whist it is being recovered. (Usually they'll carry all the car occupants if necessary) You won't get a hire car from the RAC - you'll be recovered in one, unnterrupted journey.

The RAC, unlike the AA, don't always use their own recovery vehicles or even their own engineers when they are called out - they often use sub-contractors.

With AutoAid, you can call those same sub-contactors yourself, or AutoAid will call one for you.

eco

Before you buy breakdown cover check your insurance doc's a lot of comapnies give basic cover free and will let you upgrade, Pru give you free national recovery with the first year of insurance so well worth looking at. £160 seems a lot tbh, check quidco cos they have cashback on a couple of different companies, and if you have close family who work for RBS or any company owned by them you might be able to get cheap GFlag cover this is worth looking into, it used to be £45 a year might be a bit more with personal cover, can't think of anymore at mo but if I do I'll be back.

horsechestnut

I use my Tesco points to buy my RAC cover. Points vary depending on how much cover you need. Worth a look.