MSE News: The £100+ cost of breakdown cover loyalty

Former_MSE_Guy

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"Existing customer charges often dwarf those for new customers but you can fight back ..."

Read the full story:
The £100+ cost of breakdown cover loyalty

catflea

Hmm, interesting but hardly suprising.

I have only ever paid for breakdown cover for about 6 months (£7 a month through the RAC) and it conveniently fell when I was having some problems with my car.....

Snakeeyes21

Who pays that amount for breakdown cover? Their basic packages give everything you need.
Anybody who throws that amount of money around on a pointless service deserves to be shafted.

mambury

AA quoted me £160 ish to renew.... called them and they offered £140....

Left it a while and for the same cover they offer £99.... easy when you know how!

Same level of cover, same company for £60 less!

personally I wouldn't be without it, I live in a very rural area so I drive some distance (50 miles round trip) just to do the weekly shop... I drive to the inlaws a few times each year with the kids on my own (round trip 600 miles) and I have had my monies worth over the years!! I make sure of that!

Monkeeboy

The story mentions he is a Civil Servant. As such he could join CSMACLUB for £15p.a then pay £69.50 for top level cover. This also gives him access to other offers, one of which is inclusive legal cover which most car insurers charge about £20 p.a. for.

The basic cover is only £34.50 p.a :T

starsailor123uk

This is the same for all insurance and more often utilities as well

Renewals are often higher than comparable prices for other providers and even where you stay you'll probably be losing out as using the cashback sites further reduces the comparable qoute

"brand new customer only" is alive and well and if you play their game then long may it last as it is good for those who vote with their feet

glossyhair

The same old story that seems to be running though our whole society . . . loyalty counts for nothing !!

Pincher

My Quinn Direct car insurance includes Breakdown Cover as standard, not an optional extra. The only worry I have is that they are based in Ireland, so God knows whether it's any good. Trying Quinn first time, purely because they have the lowest quote for me on the comparison sites.

Another inclusive Breakdown deal is the Mitsubishi service pack top up. During the three year warranty from new, the car includes European wide Breakdown cover. You can buy a three year service pack to cover the first three services. The little known top-up service pack, which includes the fourth and fifth service, also includes the same level of Breakdown cover. The idea is that you buy the top-up pack when you do the third service, and you are covered for two years, which takes you up to the fifth service, roughly. Presumably cars older than five years old are more likely to breakdown, so you have to get cover elsewhere.