Which is the better option for Breakdown Cover.. AA or RAC?

Quentin

Biggles wrote: »

The answer, as always on MSE, is to look for the MSE recommendation here - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/car-insurance/breakdown-cover

The MSE "recommendation" is based on cheapest (not best)


The OP is asking for recommendations and benefits of breakdown cover as a result of being disappointed previously!

Biggles

Quentin wrote: »

The MSE "recommendation" is based on cheapest (not best)

It tells you what services are included, too. Easy to make a judgment.

Jlawson118

Iceweasel wrote: »

I would agree - they are both very good - just far too expensive, especially if you include European breakdown assistance

That's why I joined the ADAC for worldwide cover.

If I break down in the UK one quick phone call to an English speaking call-centre and the ADAC contacts the AA who then turn out to give me better service than if I was an AA member.

Some thing happens whichever country I'm in - I get the local main motor clubs assistance - only in Germany do I actually get help from the ADAC for a roadside breakdown.

But if I fall ill on holiday for example, in any country in the world, the ADAC will fly me and my family home in one of their ADAC air ambulance jets.

I don't plan to drive through Europe as of yet anyway so Euro cover isn't really for me at the moment, although maybe in a few years when I have a newer car and I can believe in it and trust it a little better, and I'll be more experienced at driving by then too

Jlawson118

Quentin wrote: »

The MSE "recommendation" is based on cheapest (not best)


The OP is asking for recommendations and benefits of breakdown cover as a result of being disappointed previously!

Thank you Although I'm not disappointed with breakdown cover, it was just JCT600 sold me a car and I later found a chip in the windscreen that they blamed me for, then I noticed the wheel balancing was out, when Kiwk-Fit inspected it, turned out I had a warped wheel from the previous owner curbing the car at high speed. JCT600 refused to acknowledge this but they gave the wheel a servicing, said they re-balanced it, when I got home and I looked at the wheel, all the metal work was chipped and looks horrible, turned out they've put on an entirely new wheel. I haven't even bothered to contact them again, I'm just going to put up with it, get all four wheels re-sprayed when I have some money, and also have the wheels re-checked and rebalanced before I do so.
So yeah, JCT600 gave me a year's warranty and breakdown cover. But you can see why I don't really want to get involved with them for breakdown cover..:rotfl:

Tyler119

I've only been with AA for a few months, and have used them once so far. Car broke down at home and I needed to get it to the dealership, 40 miles away. No home start on my policy, however they added it on for me , and then an AA van showed up just 20 mins later. He confirmed he could not get it started and a recovery truck showed up 15 mins later. Car was with dealership before they closed.

I must say the call centre was fantastic. While it cost to add the homestart on the day in question, it was far cheaper than me paying directly for a recovery truck.

My policy covers me and the wife in any car. So far I'm quite impressed with the app too.

Jlawson118

Tyler119 wrote: »

I've only been with AA for a few months, and have used them once so far. Car broke down at home and I needed to get it to the dealership, 40 miles away. No home start on my policy, however they added it on for me , and then an AA van showed up just 20 mins later. He confirmed he could not get it started and a recovery truck showed up 15 mins later. Car was with dealership before they closed.

I must say the call centre was fantastic. While it cost to add the homestart on the day in question, it was far cheaper than me paying directly for a recovery truck.

My policy covers me and the wife in any car. So far I'm quite impressed with the app too.

After the responses on this forum and other reviews I've read, it's safe to say that AA and RAC are pretty good either way, but I think I will go with the AA, it's slightly cheaper and also accesses me to more than the RAC will :beer:

zagubov

Have used autoaid for years without a problem. Can't figure out how they're making any profit from me.

Wouldn't touch either of the big two with a bargepole as their prices aren't very MSE.

Tyler119

zagubov wrote: »

Have used autoaid for years without a problem. Can't figure out how they're making any profit from me.

Wouldn't touch either of the big two with a bargepole as their prices aren't very MSE.

I've just read through Auto Aids policy document, to be fair there are some exclusions that I am not too fond of. For example if my car was to break down at home, they would only refund up to sixty five pounds for recovery (if it could not be started at my home). In my recent instance the garage my car needed to go to, was over an hour away and was going to cost far more than that refund maximum.

I particularly do not like this exclusion where they will not cover,

"The cost of recovering the vehicle and its passengers if
the vehicle can be repaired within a reasonable period of
time at or near the place where it has broken-down."

For example if a car breaks down in a dangerous place, but can be repaired quickly at a nearby location, then the driver would be liable for the recovery cost of moving the car, which also would not be cheap.

I am sure that Auto Aid is fine for some people, and for some it is the initial price that is attractive. However it is a pay and claim insurance so it not directly comparable to AA, RAC or Green Flag.

Another I do not like is that unless you are in a civil partnership or married, your other half is not covered and needs to also purchase a policy. With AA I was able to add on my other half because we live in the same household.

Honestly just one fine point I noticed. They will recover your car to the nearest available garage, rather than one that you choose. Personally I want to pick the garage as they are not all equal, and in fact the nearest available one may not even be familiar with certain models of cars.

Everyone can obviously choose, but I can see how they make money from the price of the policy.

zagubov

Tyler119 wrote: »

I've just read through Auto Aids policy document, to be fair there are some exclusions that I am not too fond of. For example if my car was to break down at home, they would only refund up to sixty five pounds for recovery (if it could not be started at my home). In my recent instance the garage my car needed to go to, was over an hour away and was going to cost far more than that refund maximum.

I particularly do not like this exclusion where they will not cover,

"The cost of recovering the vehicle and its passengers if
the vehicle can be repaired within a reasonable period of
time at or near the place where it has broken-down."

For example if a car breaks down in a dangerous place, but can be repaired quickly at a nearby location, then the driver would be liable for the recovery cost of moving the car, which also would not be cheap.

I am sure that Auto Aid is fine for some people, and for some it is the initial price that is attractive. However it is a pay and claim insurance so it not directly comparable to AA, RAC or Green Flag.

Another I do not like is that unless you are in a civil partnership or married, your other half is not covered and needs to also purchase a policy. With AA I was able to add on my other half because we live in the same household.

Honestly just one fine point I noticed. They will recover your car to the nearest available garage, rather than one that you choose. Personally I want to pick the garage as they are not all equal, and in fact the nearest available one may not even be familiar with certain models of cars.

Everyone can obviously choose, but I can see how they make money from the price of the policy.

It's not as bad as you think.
IIRC, they let you call a garage of your own choosing, so if you want to be taken to a nearby one you trust, they'll cover this (you have to phone them first to get it approved).

The last couple of times I've called them out, they dealt with my car without me having to pay upfront, and this has been over at least a year or more. It's been discussed on another thread here.


As regards the married couple limitations, they're just trying to ensure that people aren't sticking friends/flatmates/whatever on the policies for free. They can't be making a lot of money out of us to start with; they certainly can't afford to let everybody just add another name to the policy.

I wonder about the wording you noticed about the exclusion about cars being fixed. I read that as saying, if its a flat tyre it should be fixed there and not towed away to a garage to have it done.

teddysmum

Last year's Saga policy came with a year's free Saga breakdown, which turned out to be AA.


I broke down at some traffic lights and rang them. They asked, if I was alone, being female and promised a rapid response.


I was about 3 miles from home and the man arrived at exactly the same time as my husband ie within 10 minutes.


For no apparent reason at the time my battery had gone flat.The man fixed it and as I was rather unnerved my husband drove my car home while one of our sons (family grapevine) drove our other car home. The AA man actually followed my husband home in case the battery gave out again. (I call that very good service).