Breakdown cover - help required

Tiger_greeneyes

This is a bit of a minefield for me - I've always been with the AA (home start) but have to change to another company due to lack of finance, but don't want to lose anything with the level of service.

I've checked moneysupermarket for joint cover with home start and received the following quotes:

Rescuemycar.com £31
First Call £32
Europ-assistance £39

To many times I've been plagued with small print - sometimes it's just down to knowing where to look on their websites - a tiny link hidden away can cost you a huge amount.

I'd be grateful for any feedback for the above companies. I don't want a pay & reclaim policy, my car is 9 years old, I do minimal mileage although half of it can be very long journeys. I'd need free car rental (I can't be left without a car for health reasons), onward travel and no hidden extras like 'only the first hour of labour is free'. Don't want much do I?

Thank you

qwertyzxcvb

hi,

I know exactly what you mean - it's easy to buy a policy but when you are stranded it is better to be with the right company. I have been with the AA for 3 years but their quotes are quite expensive and now dropped them. However, I would NOT recommend going for 'small' or 'cheap' company since once you need some help you may find number of limitations to your entitlement which are quite difficult to find out while buying a policy. :mad:

Now, you need a RELIABLE service due to your special requirements. I would recommend staying with bigger providers. Not saying smaller ones are useless but not sure if you want to take a risk. For example, RAC have 1500 patrols, Green Flag less but also quite a lot, both well known. I know price may be higher but if you buy your breakdown cover through a cashback site then you can get part of your premium back. Have a look - Green Flag top cover from £60 and you can get £20 cashback from http://www.quanti.co.uk/ , same for RAC (£21 cashback), other companies as well.

Breakdown covers are here: http://www.quanti.co.uk/automotive/breakdown-cover/

My experience is that choosing the cheapest option is not necessarily the best one.

Hope this helps.
S.

Tiger_greeneyes

Thank you Qwerty

We're definitely on the same wavelength, I wasn't going to choose the cheapest one because it was the cheapest - that means nothing if you can't use it when you need to.

I'm going to save that link you posted, that's a brilliant deal I spoke to my insurer (Budget) who have added RAC to my account for £31 - although that cover finishes in November when my insurance runs out. I thought that £31 for 9 months of the highest level of cover from such a good company was well worth it

calender2008

hai everyone...
I need some advice...I am planning to take out the breakdown cover from Insurance choice for £49.It includes roadside assisstance,recovery,home start,emergency travel /accomodation.I havn't heard about this company before.Has anyone used them before? Any advice welcome....

qwertyzxcvb

calender2008 wrote: »

hai everyone...
I need some advice...I am planning to take out the breakdown cover from Insurance choice for £49.It includes roadside assisstance,recovery,home start,emergency travel /accomodation.I havn't heard about this company before.Has anyone used them before? Any advice welcome....

hi,

They have been on the market for a while. This is an insurance broker which means they are backed up by another company for breakdown services. Here is what I found on the net:

"ICBreakdown, part of Insurance Choice, has been providing vehicle rescue and recovery services since 1983. Their breakdown services, backed by motor insurance provider Equity Red Star, employs a network of over 1,250 recovery specialists with over 5,000 recovery vehicles across the country."

User review: http://www.reviewcentre.com/review266739.html

Could not find any bad opinion which means it should be OK.

Get quotes from other providers as well - i.e. Green Flag, RAC etc. and take into account you may get about £20 cashback for them. Cashback for Insurance Choice is lower (£5) but the premium is quite competitive.

Cashback offer, including IC Breakdown: http://www.quanti.co.uk/automotive/breakdown-cover/

Hope it helps.

calender2008

Thanks qwerty
I have checked Rac and green flag ,both quotes were quite higher than the IC breakdown.
Tesco breakdown(green flag) had an offer for £55,but it includes only one hour of labour.
I have never tried cash back site before...'For transactions genuinely tracked and completed online, you can earn'..I understand that u dont always get the cashback.
cash back seems great...but is it complicated ..what has to be done for the transaction to be genuinely tracked and completed online?

qwertyzxcvb

calender2008 wrote: »

Thanks qwerty
I have checked Rac and green flag ,both quotes were quite higher than the IC breakdown.
Tesco breakdown(green flag) had an offer for £55,but it includes only one hour of labour.
I have never tried cash back site before...'For transactions genuinely tracked and completed online, you can earn'..I understand that u dont always get the cashback.
cash back seems great...but is it complicated ..what has to be done for the transaction to be genuinely tracked and completed online?

Hi,
"Cashback shopping" is a way o buying products or services cheaper :T
You must register with a cashback website (i.e. http://www.quanti.co.uk/) and whenever want to buy something, just log in and go to the retailer by clicking the link on a cashback website. It will transfer you to the retailer's website. The reason for this is they must link you purchase to your cashback website account. If you buy something from a retailer, they will pay a commission to a cashback website for referring a customer. That commission is then passed on to you in a form of cashback. And remember, you never buy anything from a cashback website - you always deal with retailers.

Now, your concern of "For transactions genuinely tracked and completed online, you can earn". The trick is that you must buy it online, i.e. you cannot get a quote online and then ring them up and complete it through the phone. It must be done 100% online in order to track your purchase correctly. The other important thing is that you should click the link on a cashback website right before you want to make purchase. If you follow these two simple rules, I guess you have more than 95% chance of getting your promised cashback. If you want to be absolutely, 100% confident, then it's better to use a separate browser for all your cashback shopping (i.e. if you use internet explorer then use firefox for cashback shopping) or delete all cookies before each purchase which is quite painful in my opinion. This is due to the way some retailer track sales and report them back to the cashback website.

It is better to register with "100% cashback" website to maximise your cashbback "earnings" (the one I mentioned earlier is the 100% one). At the end of the day - it does not cost you anything, you can register and try it. Do not like - leave it.

I hope this helps.

tessa2020

Hi

I would strongly advise against going with First Call. I did and am now regretting it. I had a burst tyre at 8pm on the M4, which couldn't be repaired roadside. It took over an hour to rescue me and then First Call refused to relay me home unless i paid £168 for the pleasure. I argued with them for quite some time but they steadfastly refused to take me home and said they were under no obligation to do so. The wording of their policy gives the impression that they offer a home relay service. But it seems this is optional.

Instead they insisted that I stay overnight in a hotel. The phone operator told me (and the company that recovered me, so I have witnesses!) the budget for a hotel was up to £100. As it was so late by the time they made this decision - after 11pm - I had no choice but to go the nearby Hilton which cost me £110.

When I sent First Call the bill, they sent me back only £40 quoting the policy conditons which is the maximum per person they pay. (anyone kow any hotels anywhere that cost only £40 per night!!?) They would not accept responsibility for the wrong advice given by their operator. I am not giving up - I intend to pursue this and would be interested to hear if anyone else has had a similar experience.

So my experience is overall one of disappointment and I wish I had stayed with RAC. I'd agree with those who say you get what you pay for!