AutoAid

garyhopef2s

Hello all,

I just wanted to vent a bit anger about AutoAid. I wanted cheap breakdown cover and after reading about it on MSE I decided to have a look. I went to sign up, but noticed the cover only applies to me and my 'spouse'. Unfortunately my fiancee and I are not married yet as we are skint. I emailed the company and they told me they would only cover married couples on the £38 deal, so it would cost us £76!!!! I thought this would have been discrimination, but after speaking to a free legal advisor it's perfectly legal..... How is it that people who can afford to get married can have cheap breakdown cover, but people who can't afford it have to pay double!!! There should be a law introduced to stop this discrimination.

Anyhow rant over:mad:

hartcjhart

mmm, interesting one that,

I wonder if they could get away with that if the couple were gay

consumers_revenge

cant help thinking of the old joke....

whys divorce soooooooooo expensive?

cause its worth it!!

Darksun

hartcjhart wrote: »

mmm, interesting one that,

I wonder if they could get away with that if the couple were gay

I assume they treat civil partnerships the same as marriage, otherwise they would almost certainly be acting unlawfully

Edit: to confirm, from the front page of their website, 'cover applies to you and your legal spouse or civil partner as shown in the schedule'

isplumm

garyhopef2s wrote: »

Hello all,

I just wanted to vent a bit anger about AutoAid. I wanted cheap breakdown cover and after reading about it on MSE I decided to have a look. I went to sign up, but noticed the cover only applies to me and my 'spouse'. Unfortunately my fiancee and I are not married yet as we are skint. I emailed the company and they told me they would only cover married couples on the £38 deal, so it would cost us £76!!!! I thought this would have been discrimination, but after speaking to a free legal advisor it's perfectly legal..... How is it that people who can afford to get married can have cheap breakdown cover, but people who can't afford it have to pay double!!! There should be a law introduced to stop this discrimination.

Anyhow rant over:mad:

Are you living together .... then why can you not be civil partners?

Mark

davidlizard

I would guess they do it to prevent anyone from saying they are the partner of the policyholder.

For example, Miss A buys the policy. Her friend Mr B's car breaks down. He can then say he is Miss As partner and get his recovery reimbursed. Mr C, Mr D and Mr E will also be similarly covered - they can all claim to be Miss A's partner when they break down!

FWIW I have use Autoaid twice, and have had someone with me within 30 minutes, and the money refunded within about 10 days each time. Cannot fault them. Also, despite me being the policy holder, my wife has always paid, and she has her "professional" (i.e.maiden) name on the credit card she paid with.

pmduk

At least you were sensible enough to read the policy first. So many people don't, then complain afterwards.

nomoneytoday

Maybe get married and "save" £38
- which will pay for the first slice of cake

garyhopef2s

isplumm wrote: »

Are you living together .... then why can you not be civil partners?

Mark

Hi,

Civil partners are when Gay couples 'marry'. When people live together it's classed as commonlaw which does not give them any rights at all, which I think is wrong.

We are currently saving up to get married. It will be a cheap wedding, but not a registry office. That is the reason I need cheap breakdown cover.

I emailed them asking them to explain the reason why they would not allow us on the same policy and they just said it's in their terms and conditions However I have email them again asking them that because we can't both be on the same policy could they give us two separate policies at £19 each for our trouble. They are bound to say no, but worth a try...

cheers

Gary

PZH

garyhopef2s wrote: »

When people live together it's classed as commonlaw which does not give them any rights at all, which I think is wrong.

There is no such thing as ‘common law marriage’.

Most people think that, after they've been living with their partner for a couple of years, they become 'common law husband and wife' with the same rights as married couples. This is not the case. In fact, couples who live together have hardly any of the same rights as married couples or civil partners.