Breakdown cover. Am I doing the right thing?

twopenny

Ok so I know it's just opinions but wonder if there's another option.

I live on the moors and at the moment don't travel far but a breakdown is far from garages that do recovery.

I've been with the AA for ages because of the pandemic and then disability though I am up and walking normally again now. Reliable car as far as possible.

The price has gone up but they are a constant presence in my wild habitat. When I did break down on the moors with the light going and cold, they were quick and efficient to find me despite me not having a smartphone, get me going, follow me to the garage, dealt with them and take me home. Excellent. The guy who came lives in the same place.

I've looked and RAC not a lot cheaper initially. They don't operate in the area and my experience with my friend calling them was not great from the call centre.

The other companies I've never seen down here.

I will do some research from the library so I can do it independent from any links to previous searches for quotes .

Just wondering, should I just bite the bullet and pay for a service that I know to be good and reliable rather than try and save a few pounds and turn a potential drama into a crisis?

I'm getting old, female and travel alone usually. Is there an option I've missed?

flaneurs_lobster

I think you may have already answered your own question.

A major reason for taking out insurance cover is to give you peace of mind. Barring any grotesque differences in pricing I would always go with the service in which I have confidence and have experience.

Cressida100

If you are considering other breakdown services I changed from a well-known company due to the fact that it took 48 hours for them to be able to come to my house when I needed assistance. After a lot of research I changed to GEM breakdown who use local garages for assistance. I recently used them and the service was brilliant. They arrived within 90 minutes. The cost is approx £100 per year for all services but I did get a 10% discount on that. Price covers both my car and my van.

Clive_Woody

The Nationwide Flexplus account includes full AA breakdown cover, it costs £18/month but also includes worldwide travel insurance, mobile phone cover and regularly gives an annual £100 member payout so could be an option to consider if those perks would be of value to you in addition to the AA cover.

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/current-accounts/flexplus/breakdown-cover/

UnsureAboutthis

What I have done is go with the AA, top tier for uk ie home start, onward journey, etc., but have to pay 40 quid for call out. IRRC cost me about 50 quid for the year if that

I've also taken out another cover, home start, but no onward journey etc for a bout 30 quid, cant recall their name.

I hope I dont have to use them but depending on where i am if car goes wrong, I will decide who to call

IIRC, the AA cover, even if I came out 3 times in the years cover, I was still a few quid ahead.

I cant recall the last time I used breakdown and hopefully never will.

twopenny

Thanks for the thoughts.

I've also been thinking that I used to be a wizz on comparing but back in the old days you used to be comparing like for like but now you have to look deeper and customer service, delivering a service is harder to work out and compare whatever you're looking at. It's not fun any more. So Flaneurs is probably right.

Cresida our local garages are small and when they are closed small staff and busy. But I'll look into it.

Clive, I've twice tried to join nationwide and they've given me the wrong info over the phone. I did decide I might try again, certainly if my local bank branch closes. Good to know though and worth considering.

Unsure, I didn't know you could do that. That would work well for me. I'll check.

I've got to say that finding me in a remote location the guy on the phone used his initiative to find me, and the care for an upset woman on her own was great. Almost embarrassing as I'm not that delicate 😄 but it was impressive compared to the RAC which left two of us in the dark with yobs eyeing us up for 2hrs. More scary than the moors!

Cressida100

What convinced me to change to a company I had not really heard of was the service I received over the phone when trying to decide which way to go. The guy I spoke to was really helpful, answered all my questions and I liked the idea of using local services. Nowadays I don't mind paying a bit extra for good customer service. You could give them a call and ask their advice about local companies.

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twopenny

Lol I'm not keeping up with the answers. Both phone and tablet are determined to misbehave today when I need them.

They are in the same union 😬

tom192

Another vote for GEM from me been with them well over a decade, have just renewed this year, price was exactly the same as last year (like it pretty much always is)

Covered nationwide and home personal cover. Office staff always good to deal with too

pseudodox

Another vote for GEM. Been with them for many years & had a few call outs with them. They contact their nearest registered independent garage/agent to come out to you. Be aware you have to pay for whatever assistance you need to the agent then claim back from GEM. I have always received reimbursement in a few days. The GEM annual fee is membership plus breakdown cover & you get a quarterly magazine.

Mildly_Miffed

You think you don't see "the other companies", for one simple reason - they don't have their own fleets.

The AA do.
The RAC do.
Green Flag do, but much smaller.
All of them use their own fleets, but also the same network of independent recovery firms that all the others use…

So, once you discount the own fleets (and you say RAC vans are rare round you, so that really just means AA), then they're all using the same local agents. And you'll be in the same place in THEIR queue. Which means the same mechanic will be turning up in the same van at the same time no matter who you've actually paid.

After that, it's really just price, what is and isn't included, and customer service.