Roadside Recovery: AutoAid Feedback

grayfray

Hello, could anyone tell me what happens if you have.....

No credit card
Little cash
and no cash available on your debit card and you breakdown and require assistance?

derrick

grayfray wrote: »

Hello, could anyone tell me what happens if you have.....

No credit card
Little cash
and no cash available on your debit card and you breakdown and require assistance?

I would imagine you would not get the assistance, it would depend on the garage that comes out, but the T&Cs are that you pay the garage and claim back from Autoaid, you wouldn't go to the supermarket with no money and expect to take your groceries out without paying!

lisyloo

Hello, could anyone tell me what happens if you have.....

No credit card
Little cash
and no cash available on your debit card and you breakdown and require assistance?

This is very unfront about being a "pay and claim" policy which means you have to pay up front and claim back.
There are facilities for people who don't have the cash and want to put it on credit card i.e. you specify you want a company that will accept credit cards.

But there is no facility for people that don't want to pay up front.
If you don't want to pay up front then a "pay and claim" policy is not suitable for you.
You would need to get a policy that just send out the service such as RAC or AA etc.
You almost certainly won't get this for £34 (unless there's a special deal on).
Normally policies that don't require you to claim are more expensive.

Jonni2bad

grayfray wrote: »

Hello, could anyone tell me what happens if you have.....

No credit card
Little cash
and no cash available on your debit card and you breakdown and require assistance?

I will have to find the policy book again, but I'm fairly certain that they can find a garage who will bill you directly for the services, and then you claim back having paid later.

From my own experience, I once had a call out when at work, I didn't have any cards with me and told them so when making the call 'for help'.

Local garage came out within 45 minutes, sorted the car and I signed a form acknowledging the visit - that's it!

In actual fact, I didn't ever receive a bill in the post, so I can only imagine that the garage billed AutoAid directly for it.

artichoke

I have found a slight problem - it involves the minimum payout of £65, which has gone up from £45 last year.

I have had two call outs one at home and one about a mile from my home.

AutoAid sorted out the local recovery company to come and rescue me - the cost was £45.83, which I thought was uncanny but meant I could reclaim all the money.

Now that minimum payout is £65 it means that any future local call out won't be paid for unless the recovery company put the charge up.

This means that home recovery doesn't really exist through AutoAid as you will end up having to pay for it out of your own pocket.

I now think it may be worth looking around to see if there is an alternative.

carpy

artichoke wrote: »

I have found a slight problem - it involves the minimum payout of £65, which has gone up from £45 last year.

I have had two call outs one at home and one about a mile from my home.

AutoAid sorted out the local recovery company to come and rescue me - the cost was £45.83, which I thought was uncanny but meant I could reclaim all the money.

Now that minimum payout is £65 it means that any future local call out won't be paid for unless the recovery company put the charge up.

This means that home recovery doesn't really exist through AutoAid as you will end up having to pay for it out of your own pocket.

I now think it may be worth looking around to see if there is an alternative.

£65 is the maximum payout, therefore if it's under £65 AutoAid will reimburse you in full or if it's over £65 they will pay you the £65 and you will pay the rest.

MrLew

Just got my renewal through at £34 and think this is a bargain for such peace of mind.

I have used them for the last couple of years now and had 2 callouts. The first callout was a bit of a false alarm, i couldn't get the car started and as soon as they arrived it started first time. Even with this they accepted it was a legitimate callout and paid the costs.

The second callout was fixed within minutes of arriving, no nonsense service.

Can't fault them for price, callout times, customer services or speed of settlement.

and to think i used to pay the AA over £100 for the same service....doh.

carpy

MrLew wrote: »

Just got my renewal through at £34 and think this is a bargain for such peace of mind.

I have used them for the last couple of years now and had 2 callouts. The first callout was a bit of a false alarm, i couldn't get the car started and as soon as they arrived it started first time. Even with this they accepted it was a legitimate callout and paid the costs.

The second callout was fixed within minutes of arriving, no nonsense service.

Can't fault them for price, callout times, customer services or speed of settlement.

and to think i used to pay the AA over £100 for the same service....doh.

have either of those been 'home' call-outs?

if so did they cost less than the maximum (£65 now but i think it was £45) pay-out?

christinaS

My hesitation in joining AutoAid is the fact that they will only cover £65 of costs incurred if your car is stuck at home. How would I know if the problem I have at the time is likely to go over the £65 mark? I have no idea what the call-out charge would be or the hourly rate or any other method they might use to calculate the total cost. Has anyone used this service for a home start situation who could advise me? Thanks!

meno_2

Ive not used them for 'home' callouts but you can always ask for the cost before hand.

Personally i use autoaid just for emergency stranded breakdowns, i wouldnt use them for home as i wouldnt class it as an emergency, id use my local mechanic whom i use for servicing and should the cost be under £65 i could claim.