insurance extras

jamels2

Just wondering if any of the optional extras are worth it when buying car insurance?

The two that appeal to me are legal cover, although I don't know exactly what it does.
And breakdown cover.
There are a few other options but those interest me.
Can anyone suggest if they are worth getting and how much extra you should expect to pay?
Thanks

neilmcl

The only time legal cover might prove useful is if you gave a non-fault accident and you want to claim any uninsured losses from the 3rd party. Personally I never bother. Also you can invariably get cheaper and more comprehensive breakdown cover going direct rather than bundled with your insurance so again not something I'd use.

flashg67

I usually hunt round for the best value breakdown cover - usually cheaper elsewhere.

I do take the legal cover though - had to use it once for a non fault accident and managed to get my excess back, which would have been a pain to sort otherwise

forgotmyname

Breakdown cover maybe limited to take you to the nearest garage.
Check what your actually getting.

As above its often cheaper.

You dont need legal cover until you need it. Then you may wish you had it.

Marvel1

As for legal cover I have it and was glad I had it last year to get back my £400 excess.

neilmcl

flashg67 wrote: »

I usually hunt round for the best value breakdown cover - usually cheaper elsewhere.

I do take the legal cover though - had to use it once for a non fault accident and managed to get my excess back, which would have been a pain to sort otherwise

If you'd had claimed against the TP insurer directly this wouldn't have been an issue.

facade

Some of us are still living in The Olden Days, when your insurance company actually did something to earn your premiums (you just claimed through them and they sorted everything out for you).

Now they are not interested in you, only in minimising their losses, so they won't chase anything that they don't have to.

If you can't afford to lose your excess, you need uninsured loss recovery, or chase it yourself with the third party insurer.

deanos

there are some free legal cover company's out there , i get it included with start rescue with my breakdown cover which costs £32 a year a lot cheaper than buying with a car policy

https://www.startrescue.co.uk/breakdown-cover/info/legal-expenses

TyreLever

forgotmyname wrote: »

Breakdown cover maybe limited to take you to the nearest garage.
Check what your actually getting.

As above its often cheaper.

You dont need legal cover until you need it. Then you may wish you had it.

This! I got tucked right up once. I was given free breakdown cover with my motor insurance so I didnt see the need to buy it separately. When I needed a tow truck, they charged my over £100 because the "free breakdown cover" only covered me for 10 miles. I needed to go 30ish.

I got most f that back tho. Come renewal time after I got a quote on the phone, I then explained my grievance and said that if they didnt discount me the cost they tucked me up for, I would buy elsewhere. I ended up with an £80 discount in addition to an extra 3 months free on my main insurance. I would still like to avoid them but I cannot remember what company that was.

Ectophile

I've used the legal cover once, when another insurance company dithered at paying up after an accident. It's useful to have a team of lawyers on your side. But it is ridiculously over-priced for what it is.

Everybody and his dog offers breakdown cover these days. You can buy it with your insurance, you can buy it separately, you can even get it thrown in with a premium bank account. But check the level of cover you get. It can vary enormously from just towing you to the nearest garage and abandoning you there, to getting you to where you wanted to go, however far. It may or may not include at-home cover, European travel, trailers and caravans, and so on. A cheap policy might be £30, while a really good one might be £90 a year.

Gloomendoom

I have legal cover with CSMA membership. It covers all the cars in the household. I have used once, a long time ago, and it was well worth it.

With the insurance company I use, protected no claims and european cover are extras that I pay for. Breakdown cover is provided by my bank and I have no complaints with that. It got me back following a break down in southern Germany with minimal drama.