Breakdown Cover

Stroller133

alderpoint wrote: »

Shocking.

AutoaidBreakdown are now charging £42.35 per year.
Personal cover, including the (legal) spouse. Home start. Recovery. Hotel cost. Caravans & small trailers.

Shocking.

But if you want European cover too, then Quotelinedirect are somewhat more expensive at £69 (last time I checked).

Do you need to pay for assistance and claim back with AutoAid. There's at least one provider that does this. I was put off, perhaps a bit paranoid but suspected there might be a bit of a "process" involved and a number of customer may not be fully reimbursed if it's not fully adhered to?

dlm

Bear with me on this one:

Firstly ALWAYS get FULL COVER. ALWAYS!! As an ex recovery operator, the extra cost os covered by you. So basic insurance/bank account cover is call out plus 10 miles.....after that you are shelling out £2.60 per mile plus depending on the operator. If an accident - you may not be covered as some only cover breakdown. CHECK POLICY - READ SMALL PRINT!

For my money - and only a little suffering......Have EVERYTHING! EVERY CLUB IN THE UK! All you have to do is accept that yopur paperwork is in German, although the people you deal with will be English speakers, AND the web page is English.

ADAC is the german version of AA. They will cover anywhere in europe/bordering med for you entire family, no weight or length restrictions (so covers motorhome too) from £75. You will be attended my their UK operators - of which they mean everyone! All AA, RAC, GREENFLAG, Plus all the contractors!

Other benefits are great too - repatriation abroad, flights home, hotels and so on.

Ebe_Scrooge

Stroller133 wrote: »

Do you need to pay for assistance and claim back with AutoAid. There's at least one provider that does this. I was put off, perhaps a bit paranoid but suspected there might be a bit of a "process" involved and a number of customer may not be fully reimbursed if it's not fully adhered to?

Yes, it's a "pay and reclaim" service. But I've been with them for years and really can't fault them. Pay by credit card, send off the claim form, a cheque lands on your doorstep within 10 days, plenty of time to get it banked before the credit card bill needs paying.


A big plus for me is that they'll take you to a destination of your choice, not just the nearest garage. I've once had to call them out 200 miles from home, they took me to my local indy guy who I always use, who is totally trustworthy, and who has the added bonus of being a 5 minute walk from my house They paid my claim with no quibbles. They only pay the recovery costs, not the cost to fix the car, but I'm pretty sure this is true of any breakdown company.


Just as an aside, the last 2 times I've had to call them, they settled with the recovery firm directly, I didn't have to pay. I'm not sure if this is something they're phasing in maybe for long-standing customers ? No idea, their website still says to pay and reclaim. But whatever, highly recommended.

Quentin

Stroller133 wrote: »

Do you need to pay for assistance and claim back with AutoAid.....

According to their ts & cs you do.


But there have been lots of posts saying that recently this hasn't been necessary (I had a callout a couple of weeks ago and payment wasn't needed)

pgoncalv

I go for "rescue my car" - with an excess of £40 a £17 cover is ideal for the car that you just do not expect will need it but where your other half would not be happy otherwise!

BeenThroughItAll

dlm wrote: »

Bear with me on this one:

Firstly ALWAYS get FULL COVER. ALWAYS!! As an ex recovery operator, the extra cost os covered by you. So basic insurance/bank account cover is call out plus 10 miles.....after that you are shelling out £2.60 per mile plus depending on the operator. If an accident - you may not be covered as some only cover breakdown. CHECK POLICY - READ SMALL PRINT!

Well, that's cobblers and a gross generalisation. The cover afforded me by my Nationwide account recovered me, my Jeep, a trailer, two passengers and a dog over 180 miles after the water pump failed, and at no cost.

Also transported my dad's 4.4T GVW motorhome from near Oban to County Durham after a gearbox failure, since I was a passenger. And all for £120 a year to cover cars, vans, motorcycles, caravans, trailers, at home and away, as long as my wife or I are present.

pollyanna24

Thanks everyone.

I have until 8th April to sort this out, so doing okay for now. At the moment, I just know that I'm not going to renew with the AA.

I don't need European cover or personal cover, but would like all the other bits. My main fear is getting stuck 100 miles away with my two children in the car and no way of getting home, so national recovery is important to me.

My car is quite old (12 years), so I will have to make sure it is covered as one poster pointed out.

I also don't like the idea of "pay and reclaim," so think I will try and avoid these ones as well.

pollyanna24

I also have the option of upgrading my Nationwide account for £10 a month. So could look into this, but for £120 a year, is more expensive than some of the other companies. Not sure what other "perks" I get if I upgrade though.

Ebe_Scrooge

pollyanna24 wrote: »

My main fear is getting stuck 100 miles away with my two children in the car and no way of getting home, so national recovery is important to me.

My car is quite old (12 years), so I will have to make sure it is covered as one poster pointed out.

I also don't like the idea of "pay and reclaim," so think I will try and avoid these ones as well.

It's your choice, of course, but AutoAid would cover exactly what you've specified ( in particular, no restrictions on age of car and no limit on distance recovered, within mainland Britain ). Personally I don't see the problem with pay & reclaim, I've always got a credit card on me and they pay claims very promptly.


Sorry, I'm not meaning to argue But it may be worth thinking again about your reasons for dismissing the pay & reclaim policies.

pollyanna24

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

It's your choice, of course, but AutoAid would cover exactly what you've specified ( in particular, no restrictions on age of car and no limit on distance recovered, within mainland Britain ). Personally I don't see the problem with pay & reclaim, I've always got a credit card on me and they pay claims very promptly.


Sorry, I'm not meaning to argue But it may be worth thinking again about your reasons for dismissing the pay & reclaim policies.

Just scared I wouldn't get my money back I guess. I'll look it up though.