Breakdown Cover

JonTG

Another great win - got my Green Flag renewal docs which quoted me a price of £63.45 (last year I paid £50.76).  On checking online I saw that the same cover for a new customer this year was £46.38 so I contacted GF and they agreed to that amount.  A saving of £17 and cheaper than last year's price!  That is a win!

NorthYorkie

You can do the same with the AA. I got my renewal which was £188 (last year £179). Was tempted to accept it but looked up the RAC for the same level of cover; they had a special offer on which came out at £129. AA also had a special offer, but only for new members. I rang the AA and asked if they could match the RAC and they came back with £120, so I saved £68. (RAC members can probably do the same haggle).

ididgetwhereiamtoday

I’m confused why people spend hundreds on the AA or RAC when you can get the same cover for around £60 with auto aid?

Mildly_Miffed

ididgetwhereiamtoday said:

I’m confused why people spend hundreds on the AA or RAC when you can get the same cover for around £60 with auto aid?

Because it's not the same cover.

Apart from anything else, AutoAid is a nadge over £65 for joint personal cover, not £60.
If you want your personal cover in a vehicle over 16yo, there's a £22/annual extra.
And, if the vehicle's over 10yo, there's a £25 extra charge when you call them out. 

I had to use my AA breakdown cover last month, for the first time in years.
Within 15 minutes of calling, there was an AA-fleet flatbed on site to get me off the side of the dual carriageway.
Then there was an AA-fleet van to diagnose within the hour.
Then there were two AA-fleet flatbeds to take me the four hour journey home. They co-ordinated with each other, so that the second was waiting at the services when the driver hours for the first ran out.

AutoAid and all the others only use contractors, they don't have any own fleet. So I'd have been hoping for the two contractors to co-ordinate. Good luck...

And that would have cost me £65+£22+£25=£112.
Sure, that's a hundred quid less than I'm paying for my AA cover through a Nationwide packaged bank account (and that's after a five quid a month increase recently) - but I also get full Euro breakdown cover, full global travel insurance (and the cheapest the meerkats will offer me for the holiday we took this spring fills that difference for massively inferior cover), full global phone insurance.

NorthYorkie

The reason I haven't gone with AutoAid is because I've never heard of them! (until now at least). Price, however, is not everything. After all, if you only judge by the price (£65 a year), yes, it does seem a bargain. The true test is how they perform when there is a need to call them out (puddings and proof etc.)

Over the years I have had a number of occasions when I have had to call out the AA. A notable one being one dark and rainy night when my alternator failed; they organised a taxi to take me and my wife from somewhere on the A1, South of Grantham, back home to Scarborough and then delivered my vehicle back home the following day. There was also the time when another vehicle gave up the ghost when visiting Kent and the AA organised a hire car for 3 days to enable us to complete our visit and return home. So I have been more than happy with the service and the speed with which it was provided.

MY only complaint with the AA is the fact that most years they propose increasing my premium by a ridiculous percentage, hoping that inertia will lead me not to challenge it. I have then to ring them up and tell them what the RAC would charge me for the same cover. They then reduce the premium to a more reasonable amount.

born_again

Perhaps anyone thinking of the Autoaid option. Has a search of this forum for some the issues people have with t hem.

This being one.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6535207/autoaid-renewal-extra-charges-a-cautionary-tale?utm_source=community-search&utm_medium=organic-search&utm_term=autoaid

twopenny

I live in a national park so we're remote. 
The AA have a vehicle in the area so if you're stuck in the wilds in the cold it's fairly quick. Very helpful on the phone too and located me fast. The service was very good and took all the worry and pressure off 

Friend broke down in a town carpark and joined the RAC. It took 2 hours and despite being the only car park they kept wanting a name address and postcode for it which was darned hard to find. Very stressful with teens in cars taunting 2 old women.

The others are stationed a long way away, ditto the recovery vehicles.

oldagetraveller1

"If you want your personal cover in a vehicle over 16yo, there's a £22/annual extra.

And, if the vehicle's over 10yo, there's a £25 extra charge when you call them out"

That's exactly why I use RAC Personal Cover. I own a 63 years old Classic and my daily driver is over 11 years old.

I negotiated Roadside, At Home and National Recovery for around £80 after receiving their very inflated renewal, last March. 

There's no age restriction/extra in their Ts & Cs. How they perform in the event of having to use them is a different matter though.

ididgetwhereiamtoday

I think generally the reviews are quite good. It is only for emergencies that might not ever happen. It's been over 10 years since I needed a breakdown recovery so paying hundreds is just throwing money away for my circumstances, a newish car, 1 driver.
I was shocked at the quotes from the AA and RAC compared to auto aid.
Auto Aid is actually rated good by this very website.

I've heard shocking stories about the AA and RAC so I don't think you should go with them based on reputation. They charge high prices because they can get away with it and people think they are the only 2 recovery services.