Breakdown cover: My very unlucky story & advice request

Ultrasonic

scotsbob wrote: »

It is you that are incorrect, some (not all) companies do stipulate a minimum distance.

No. It is not a question of different companies, it is different levels of cover selected for whatever the company in question is.

Strider590

Jump starting, battery charging..... Let's establish why the battery died first!!

Jump starting or charging a battery that's actually dead/damaged could cause personal injury and damage to the vehicle.

If it's dead because the OP doesn't use the car often enough, fine charge or jump it. But otherwise £50 is a damn site cheaper than removing battery acid from your engine bay and paint work.

When you try to charge a battery that has one or more dead cells, the battery won't be able to handle the charging voltage, it'll produce hydrogen and then if that hydrogen doesn't dissipate before you try to start the car, there's a really good chance it could explode.

http://bjo.bmj.com/content/66/2/141.full.pdf

GoldenShadow

Ultrasonic wrote: »

Click on the 'Get a quote' option for breakdown cover on the Greenflag website, and the very first thing you are presented with is a table comparing levels of cover, with a row clearly showing which options include Home Start:

https://www.greeninsurancecompany.co.uk/breakdownbol/

As you say though, worth the OP knowing about the distinction just in case they didn't already.

No I understand you can get better cover and its included. My breakdown cover is with my insurer and was included in the policy price, but evidently only the basic level because I don't have breakdown cover at home. I only noticed when the docs came through, they didn't tell me about the details of it on the phone, it was essentially *free* so just got stuck on.

My Mum was with Churchill and someone crashed into the back of her at 6.10pm on a Friday night. Their breakdown department are 8-6 or something and wouldn't come out, so the police had to put it in their compound. This is why I intend(ed) to get separate breakdown, seems to be cheap/free on car insurance for a reason!

Ultrasonic

GoldenShadow wrote: »

No I understand you can get better cover and its included. My breakdown cover is with my insurer and was included in the policy price, but evidently only the basic level because I don't have breakdown cover at home.

Ah, that makes much more sense! I hadn't thought of people getting breakdown cover in this way but totally see why for people who do the level of cover might not be clear.

Like you are about to, I've only ever bought breakdown cover separately since it's pretty much bound to be cheaper that way. And as I've just found out has the advantage of actually knowing what cover you are paying for!

patman99

Some recovery firms will not recover a car involved in an accident. I have a full recovery package with the RAC and am fairly sure that it excludes recovery of crash damaged vehicles.

On the other hand, you can join at the at the roadside, but you then need to wait 1 hour before they will respond. My mate did this when his motorbike broke down.

The op does need to furnish us with answers to how the battery has become flat before we can properly answer their question though.