Car insurance breakdown cover advice please

bouncydog1

Need to get some sorted for DD who will be taking her car to Uni in September. Although we want good value for money the highest priority is a service that will arrive speedily as we clearly don't want her left at the roadside for hours particularly in a remote area at night.

Any advice on response times would be gratefully received. Thank you.

InsideInsurance

Didnt know you could get breakdown insurance for a Direct Debit but hey ho

The "big three" are all roughly the same and all claim to be the fastest. In reality all have deals with different garages or their own vehicles stationed in different places and so there is probably regional variation rather than any one best.

Even without playing the single white female at night card (namely because I'm neither single nor female) the AA, RAC and GF all came out within the hour when I broke down at the roadside.

The RAC were much slower when I had an "at home" issue but that was somewhat understandable. What annoyed me more with them on that occasion was that the chap that turned up said he couldnt do anything because he needed kit that was only on the VW Rescue vans (rebranded RAC ones) but as I was with RAC not VW Rescue they couldn't specify for a VW van to be sent and he suggested I just kept phoning up and hope that I got lucky with who they sent

forgotmyname

I thought DD in this instance meant Devil or Demon or Dreadful? Daughter?

It seems they used to advertise 20 or 30 minutes, But must have realised that cost them money. Seems they mostly quote approx 1 hour now.

Time and location will play a big part in the time they take. Weather conditions also.

bouncydog1

O.k. Wise guys DD in this instance means darling daughter! Thank u both for your feedback which is helpful. GF is green flag? There is some breakdown cover bolted on to her motor policy but we would rather have well known Co that gives fast response time.

phill99

In reality, the response time will be luck of the draw! Most just advertise average response times. And being an average it hides the extremes. Some responses maybe 20 minutes and some 3 hours. All prioritise single females, but if there are loads and loads of calls from single females, they can't all be priority. And if there is a problem that creates a lot of breakdowns such as storms and heavy rain, then you maybe waiting 3 or 4 hours.

opinions4u

Yes, they are all much of a muchness.

Places to buy include direct from the insurer of the car, using up your Tesco Clubcard points, from her bank as part of a fee paying current account (make sure this provides value though, it often doesn't) and online.

If you're buying online do so via a cashback site such as Top Cashback (this is a link). When the renewal comes through each year ring them to say no thanks and switch to a competitor via Top Cashback again.

At the moment basic AA roadside cover costs £30 but rebates a £19 cashback. So net cost is less than £1 a month.

RAC cover including home visits is £68 but rebates £40.

A bit of common sense too.

Keep the car serviced. It's also much nicer breaking down in a clean interior than a filthy one. Fill up with fuel at the quarter mark, don't wait for a flashing light. Don't make unnecessary journeys in bad weather.

Have a mobile phone and in car charger at all times.

Charge the phone before driving and while driving (not when broken down - this can drain the battery) and have the breakdown company's number programmed in.

Keep a paper record of your breakdown policy details - number, expiry date and contact number. Just in case the phone dies.

Keep a bottle of water and a high calorie snack (Cadbury Boost or Whole Nut is ideal) in the boot at all times, together with a blanket or coat. Perhaps a £1 pac mac / poncho too. You could do worse than have a hi-vis jacket in the boot (or an old lump yellow Chelsea away shirt!). A flask of something warm in the Winter months wouldn't go amiss either.

Carry a torch and spare batteries in the car. Or a wind-up torch. A set of jump leads can be beneficial too, especially if friend or family beat the patrol to the scene.

Although I've never used it, I keep a basic first aid kit in the car too.

One of my regular trips covers hilly terrain, so I carry a plastic spade just in case I need to shift some snow.

Don't use the radio or non-essential electrics once broken down, but do use the hazards and the sidelights.

Knowing how to change a tyre can be a handy skill. Although sticking your backside in to the inside lane of the M1 is a job best left to the breakdown services!

phill99

Also, learn how to change a wheel! This takes 10 minutes and can be a life saver, but so many people have no idea how to do this very basic thing.

pinkdalek

Who is your bank account with? Some offer it with their packaged accounts, if you find you would use the other features that come with it then it may be beneficial to pay for that account.

Otherwise just get it online as a standalone policy.

KateRadford

NEVER use 1st central European breakdown cover. In fact I would avoid the company for anything. We broke down on a French motorway near Tours. We had taken out European breakdown cover with 1st Central. When we broke down we called them up and we were told we are not covered for towing from a Motorway in France only a road. It seems this was in fact a lie. They said they would put us up in a hotel and take our car to garage first thing following day. The hotel they transported us to was 58km away from the car. We then call up the following day at 11am to ask what is happening with the car and we are informed it is on way to garage. We call up again at 4pm and ask about the car and told it has not yet made it to the garage. We are then told at 5pm that in fact we are not fully covered as the car is over 10 years old and they even wanted us to pay back cost of hotel and taxi which they choose and arranged!! We were not informed about this lack of cover when we rang up to take out and pay for breakdown cover. So 28 Hours after breakdown the car had still not been seen by a garage and we were deserted by our breakdown cover. They wasted our time, money and we got a told a string of lies. They did however manage to send us a text 2 days after breakdown to say we are not fully covered and they will not be helping us further. This was 24 hours after a text from them telling us the car was on the way to a garage, when in fact it was not!