Breakdown cover: Get the cheapest roadside recovery

deanos

Worth checking out Marks and Spencer car insurance, they include full personal european RAC cover with there premier package (Roadside, At Home, Recovery,Onward Travel)

http://money.marksandspencer.com/insurance/car-insurance/premier-cover/

Torkijo

Insurance not due for 5 months though :-(

KM1976

whibbled wrote: »

I had a look at this site, and the prices are very good. My premium would have been £20 dearer, as my car is obviously older than yours.

BEWARE THOUGH
Their service is provided br FirstCall Ltd at Cokchester, who have a TERRIBLE set of reviews on this website......

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews101817.html

:eek:

I can vouch for First Call being terrible. The only time I've ever had to call them out, I was stuck on a motorway. They left me waiting for THREE HOURS. A lone female. The Highways Agency people were so nice and stopped twice to check i was OK, and even rang First Call to see what was happening.

The guy who picked me up was very nice. He said First Call don't have that many garages they use, so he was apparently the nearest to me, even though he told them he was on another job and a long way from me they still didn't ask anyone else to attend to me.

I sent them a letter but got the usual rubbish back so i didn't renew. Sometimes it pays to spend a bit more. I'm with the AA now - at least I KNOW i can rely on them to help me, especially now I'm pregnant. I don't want to be stranded again!

Torkijo

bump

Hi
Looking to get breakdown cover and for what i want Gem Motor Assist and Brittania come out cheapest - any feedback on these 2 companies by people who have actually dealt with them?

Do they both use independants?

Cheers

T

linda-ann

Got a quote for £38.25 for the full cover including home start from resucemycar.com spoke to them on the free phone number and they seem good .

Anyone used them???

sylviasylvia

Europ Assistance are cheap for a reason. We broke down exactly two weeks ago in Belgium. We spent several hours at the side of the motorway while they quibbled about costs. We spent several hours late in the evening in the road on an industrial estate while they spent more time trying to negotiate cheap deals. We were dumped in a hotel and told they were 'trying to find a way to get us home' .. oh and no, breakfast was not included. We waited much of the next day, now without a hotel room and not knowing where we were going next. They then announced that a taxi was taking us to Brussels airport.... where we were directed to the hire car. We drove to Calais. We had to rearrange our tickets. We arrived in Dover very late at night and eventually were given a car to drive home, which made a very long day indeed.

We cannot blame them for the fact that the hire car then broke down and the hirers have charged us extortionately for topping up a fuel tank that was full when we gave it back and replacing a tyre that we did not damage.

We still have not got our car or possessions back, apparently someone thinks they are in Preston and might be with us sometime next week.

Sponge

Does anybody know if I can let my AA cover lapse (just got my renewal for Nov), then renew online via Quidco and still qualify as a new customer, i.e. get the cashback?

jaks111

hello
can some one tell me how quidco works as i have never use it im after breakdown cover aa have quoted me for 2 cars £120 roadside/relay/home cover which i don think is bad for £60 per car so what will i save do i have to register with them

thanks for any info

wave22

jaks111 wrote: »

hello
can some one tell me how quidco works as i have never use it im after breakdown cover aa have quoted me for 2 cars £120 roadside/relay/home cover which i don think is bad for £60 per car so what will i save do i have to register with them

thanks for any info

Basically Quidco is a cash back site....

If you register with quidco, you start getting the money back.

My understanding of it is, if you go to HMV via google or Pricerunner etc, ie, you use the HMV link from their site, then they get a % of the referal.

What quidco does is give you back the money for the referal instead.

I have just got cover with the AA for around £118.... Because I went to the AA site through Quidco I will recieve £50 cashback.

There is an annual fee of £5 with Quidco, then anything over £5 is yours. It does take a few months to get your money but so what? I use it for eveywhere when i shop, sometimes its only 30p or 19p or something but occasionally you do get good offers like this £50 with the AA, and it all adds up.

Gotrek

Kinda surprised about the bad reviews for First Call, I've found them excellent. £32 for full roadside assistance and recovery. Ive had to use them twice and have recently signed up for a third year with them.

2 callouts, 1 when my Mondeo cam belt snapped on a dual carriageway, (wrote off the engine) & 1 when I hit an ice patch on the carpark where I work and smashed the front end of an escort into a metal bollard (didn't mark the bollard but destroyed my radiator and bent the front up pretty badly). On both occasions the appointed breakdown van arrived within the hour, as stated, took the car back to my home (my choice), no problems or issues. The person I phoned was efficient and helpful, as were the drivers. I'm happy with them. And NO, I don't have any connection with them except as a paying customer.

I guess I must be lucky but having personally witnessed my father's 3 and a half hour wait for the RAC, who told him originally they'd be with him in 45 mins, and the numerous calls he had to make to find out what was going on (no call back on their part), I think I'll stick with First Call thanks.

Just my opinion based on first hand experience :cool: