Car Breakdown Discussion

Demo60

Please, please please avoid a company called Nova Direct. I bought their breakdown cover last year and they tied me into auto renewal. I wasn't particularly bothered about this but now this year I have discover that they charge an administration fee of £4.99 even within the 14 day cooling off period. This little gem was hidden in section 34 of their terms and conditions!! They also increased my premium by 37.9%. Spread the word about this company and their underhand methods as I have never come across a company who charges to get out of their policy during the 14 day cooling off period.

murphydavid

Be warned. Got an email from AutoAid this morning that says that without my permission they have moved me on to automatic renewal when my policy expires. I consider this to be very bad practice.
I never auto renew anything and MSE also advise against it because negotiation of renewal costs is paramount to saving money. So instead of inviting clients to opt in they have forced us to opt out. This will come under the heading of cons (in my pros and cons lists) and may well result in them loosing my business.  

accorian

murphydavid said:

Be warned. Got an email from AutoAid this morning that says that without my permission they have moved me on to automatic renewal when my policy expires. I consider this to be very bad practice.
I never auto renew anything and MSE also advise against it because negotiation of renewal costs is paramount to saving money. So instead of inviting clients to opt in they have forced us to opt out. This will come under the heading of cons (in my pros and cons lists) and may well result in them loosing my business.  

You must be a remarkably tolerant person if your reaction to being treated with contempt "may well result" in those who so mistreated you being -- possibly, perhaps, maybe -- denied your business in future.

tAutoAid has very obviously attempted to steamroller you into a financial arrangement which you never sought and to which you never consented.

AutoAid therefore needs treating with the same contempt it showed you.

Tell it you will not be  renewing your policy -- ever -- and that you are taking professional advice as to whether it has acted legally.

Obviously, don't get mad, get even: not a penny more to the blighters!

swansea_lad

AA wanted £168 for a years renewal, but ive just seen Green Flag for £78 for a year.   
Anyone recommend Green Flag?

sheramber

We have used Green Flag for   few years.
They use  local garages for call outs. 
We live in a rural area that AA and RAC do not actively cover so they use local garages as well. Green Flag was much cheaper for the same service.
 Have called them out  twice and the service was  efficient each time.
I suppose you are at the mercy of who they call out.

rufford155

You should also check what your car dealer offers.
I have just bought a new Hyundai and full breakdown cover is included, equivalent to RAC etc, in the warranty for the first year and continues thereafter if the car is serviced annually by the dealer. 
The annual service plan doesn't cost much more than I was paying for RAC cover which I will not renew now.
I recommend MSE include this advice in the breakdown guide.

rufford155

How the heck do I get to the LAST post on here without clicking through through 70 pages !!!!!
How can I display last page first ?
It's not very useful showing posts from 8 years ago at the top.

accorian

rufford155 said:

How the heck do I get to the LAST post on here without clicking through through 70 pages !!!!!
How can I display last page first ?
It's not very useful showing posts from 8 years ago at the top.

Perhaps there's something wrong with your browser. When MSE pages load in my browser -- Firefox -- there's a numbered line of small click-boxes along the page bottom to enable the reader to go immediately to wherever they wish in the discussion thread, as shown here, where, ironically, the boxes appear directly beneath your post about frustration with thread navigation; the current page 70 is highlighted: 

accorian

rufford155 said:

You should also check what your car dealer offers.
I have just bought a new Hyundai and full breakdown cover is included, equivalent to RAC etc, in the warranty for the first year and continues thereafter if the car is serviced annually by the dealer. 
The annual service plan doesn't cost much more than I was paying for RAC cover which I will not renew now.
I recommend MSE include this advice in the breakdown guide.

Good advice. We were dithering about the cost of the annual service of our Nissan Qashqai -- whether to go to the main dealer or use a cheaper, small independent -- but then when we delved deeper, the comparison  was skewed in favour of the main dealer because Nissan was offering full UK and Continental motor breakdown cover (it's the complete RAC package) within the service cost.

So . . . Independent garage annual service cost for our vehicle: £115.   Plus Discounted MoT: £30. 

Nissan annual service (minor service) charge including free MoT and free annual full RAC breakdown cover, UK and mainland Europe: £209.

The Nissan /RAC breakdown cover deal applies to all models in the Nissan range but only if the vehicle is having an annual service.

(It's noticeable that the Continental cover element is more generous than that actually offered by the RAC).

We only found out by accident about the free breakdown membership, and have no idea if other car manufacturers are offering something similar, but it would certainly make sense if they are, given that as a manufacturer they can negotiate phenomenally low rates for the bulk purchase of memberships, and even after factoring those costs into their dealership network's highly profitable service charges, the dealerships are still making enough to be kept happy. 

One thing we definitely would advise against is using Teco Clubcard vouchers for the purchase of RAC breakdown cover: the prices on which the Clubcard vouchers are to be exchanged are massively inflated by the RAC on the Tesco website; there's much better value with Clubcard vouchers on other stuff.

murphydavid

accorian said:

rufford155 said:

How the heck do I get to the LAST post on here without clicking through through 70 pages !!!!!
How can I display last page first ?
It's not very useful showing posts from 8 years ago at the top.

Perhaps there's something wrong with your browser. When MSE pages load in my browser -- Firefox -- there's a numbered line of small click-boxes along the page bottom to enable the reader to go immediately to wherever they wish in the discussion thread, as shown here, where, ironically, the boxes appear directly beneath your post about frustration with thread navigation; the current page 70 is highlighted: 

The same line of boxes also appears directly under the introductory post on page 1. So if you are on page 1 click on the last box under the introduction. As said (70) at the moment.