Car Breakdown Discussion

missrlr

Hi had a nightmare time abroad when car broke down abroad and the breakdown policy decided as it was modified they would not cover it. Cover was bought through the broker who insures said modified car, irritating to say the least. That matter is now in hand complaint wise but 2 questions for here please:
Anyone know which policies cover modified but sub 10 year old cars? It is maintained by the manufacturer in accordance with their specifications
2. We also have a 1 year old car and can't work out if a person based policy is better than a car bAsed one for the both cars given they both need cover for when we drive irrespective of who is in the car.
Any help would be great
Oh and yes no comments on modified cars please I know all the pitfalls (mutters about scrap heaps in the sky ......)

Quentin

A single personal membership covers the member driving any car

Most providers do deals for joint personal membership (eg. autoaid give the spouse free membership).

css

Any other deals for the AA people, specifically joint cover

omeyas

Hi, completly new to all this cashback idea, do I understand correctly that if I were to take out RAC via quidco or the like, I am signing up for automatic annual renewal? Any other caveats I should be aware of? I'm working on the premise that if something sounds too good to be true ......... :rotfl:
Many thanks

lisyloo

RAC via quidco or the like, I am signing up for automatic annual renewal?

Auto renewal is nothing to do with Quidco.
It depends on what product you select and sometimes how you pay.

Auto renewal is not difficult to handle it you have a diary, personal organiser or spreadsheet. You must have MOTs, dentists, birthdays that you have to remember.

If you don't like auto renewal then avoid it, but it will restrict your choice of products for the sake of diarising something. I struggle to understand this beacuse unless you never go to the dentist, don't buy anyone borthday/anniverary presents then you can't live without diarising things.

Auto Aid do not Auto renew and are £38
http://www.autoaidbreakdown.co.uk/
It's pay and claim though - they are pretty quick on anecdotal evidence but you do need to fill out a form to claim.
If you have a spouse and multiple vehicles then it's excellent value for money.

omeyas

lisyloo wrote: »

Auto renewal is nothing to do with Quidco.
It depends on what product you select and sometimes how you pay.

Auto renewal is not difficult to handle it you have a diary, personal organiser or spreadsheet. You must have MOTs, dentists, birthdays that you have to remember.

If you don't like auto renewal then avoid it, but it will restrict your choice of products for the sake of diarising something. I struggle to understand this beacuse unless you never go to the dentist, don't buy anyone borthday/anniverary presents then you can't live without diarising things.

Auto Aid do not Auto renew and are £38
http://www.autoaidbreakdown.co.uk/
It's pay and claim though - they are pretty quick on anecdotal evidence but you do need to fill out a form to claim.
If you have a spouse and multiple vehicles then it's excellent value for money.

Thanks, but tbh, I don't "diarise" anything, when my dentists visit/road tax/house/car insurance etc are due, they send me a reminder. It's just that we are often out of the country when some of these things are due, so if I don't get their mail, presumably they would just go ahead and renew. Every year I end up paying much less car insurance than they ask for initially, I never accept their initial quote. Only last week I got £90 knocked off their quote. As for the car breakdown insurance, I only want it for a year as I change my car every 2 years and as I have VW's they only give 12 months breakdown cover.

Dame

I've just had a renewal offer from AA of £116.59 - thats just for home start and roadside.
On their website for new customers its £95 - but that includes national recovery and a free MOT!
Going through Quidco, I am now covered by RAC for home start, roadside and national recovery and onward travel for £105... but with £55 cashback

I rang the AA with the quote for RAC and as soon as I mentioned that I was going through Quidco he admitted they had no chance of matching the price
so pretty pleased with my extra cover with the RAC for less than half the renewal price of AA

WATERWITCH

Joined autoaid this year as sick of paying £80 plus for AA cover. Our van is a 45 year old VW camper and Autoaid covered us no problem. Had a breakdown on the M6 Toll on the way to France this summer - it was only a fuel problem which my hubby could fix easily but the motorway patrol insisted we call a recovery service immediately to get us off the hardshoulder for our safety. Excellent service from Autoaid. Filled in the claim form off the website when we got back off holiday and the cheque came within a week. Despite the age of the van we've never had to call a breakdown service in 10 year's of ownership- dread to think how much money we've paid the AA over the years 'just in case'.

weezergeezer

I recently recieved a quotation from the AA, I had been with them some 25 years, the reason being that the person not the vechicle is covered which suited me fine, however I was quoted £238 for roadside,home start,relay and joint cover for my wife, as I'm now a valued 25 year (gold) customer I get accident management,( never used or needed) 48 hours of european breakdown cover, family associates cover for under 17s ( they've long gone) key insurance, ( never needed it) legal advice (got it on home insurance)and technical advice ( which I've never needed or used in 25 years) so it really is time to move on a find a better deal, stuff the AA

simleigh

musical_norwich wrote: »

Given the manner in which both the AA and RAC try to rip-off customers at renewal, why bother? I've been looking for a European policy and the prices from the AA and RAC are quite simply ridiculous profiteering.

I just bought annual home, recovery, Europe, etc. for £60.99 with Axa, one of the largest insurers in the world. No cashback, no arguing, no attempts to rip me off. Just a fair price from a single phone call for a four year old car and no obligation to auto renew. And fairly decent reviews too. And Axa now has got an app for the iPhone and Android that can be used in the event of a breakdown, which I think is a useful innovation. The chap I spoke to in the call centre was based in an English speaking country too (Republic of Ireland).

When the AA comes out with insulting renewal quotes like some of those listed here, charging loyal customers more than double what they will accept after haggling, I don't think we should even lower ourselves to call them back. I've never known a car or home insurer have that kind of mark-up and wriggle room. It is blatant profiteering.

I have to say, I do worry about some of the companies at the other end of the market that this site is recommending, particularly Green Insurance, when the review sites seem to view their customer service as utterly appalling. Quoteline was great while it used Britannia, but again the reviews for Mondial, Britannia's replacement, are dire.

Likewise I took out an annual AXA european policy, mainly for the eurpoean part. As an AA member for 23 years they doubled the renewal premium this year to nearly £240. After telling them I wanted to leave they were prepared to negotiate that down to £90. I still cancelled as the AXA cover duplicates the AA policy and even with the European cover for a 10 year old car is less than the AA's lowest offer.:T