Car Breakdown Discussion

fifty · 18 July 2018 at 6:27PM

I was shocked that our cover had gone up from £140 last year to £220!! We always haggle; last year they gave us an extra 3 months. This year, we did a couple of comparisons online; even new cover with RAC was only £129, and we've been with them for years. Loyalty counts for nothing. Anyway, my husband did a sterling job and got it reduced to the £129. Motto is, "Always haggle".

hybernia · 23 July 2018 at 3:58PM

We trust neither of the two main cashback sites and instead use the much smaller (but to us, considerably more dependable) iMutual.

Every year, we buy our daughter vehicle breakdown cover. Every year, we finish up purchasing from a different provider, because every provider is in the business of seeking extortionate amounts on renewal unless you're prepared to spend time, haggling with them. We value our time; we find it cheaper to be a new customer.

Daughter's existing AA subscription, purchased on a temporary promotional deal last year, replaced a previous RAC subscription, funded by Tesco Clubcard vouchers.

Today, we're back with the RAC as a disloyal customer once more and have paid £34.99p for 12 months' breakdown cover. It has no bells and whistles, because in over 40 years of our motoring and 8 years of hers, the bells and whistles haven't been needed (and nor has the cover, seeing as we've never had a breakdown.) Daughter doesn't do much mileage. Her little 4-year-old car is annually serviced. Any repairs that might ever need doing, are done.

iMutual isn't offering vast sums in cashback (it generally doesn't) like the bigger but less reliable operators, so in this instance, today, the cashback is £5.10p, bringing the net RAC subscription down to £29.89p. The £5.10 will be forthcoming from iMutual in due course; all it wanted was to see the transfer from its website to the RAC's tracked, and the purchase confirmed, and it has. And that's it. Job done. No messing around with "waiting for merchant" and all the other nonsense outfits like Top Cashback come up with.

Obviously, £29.89p a year for RAC breakdown cover is going to be considered as just too basic by many. Fair enough. Suits us, and our daughter, just fine though.

comments_occasionally · 26 July 2018 at 3:05PM

Hi,
Just got renewal quote from AA. £250+ Comparison site gives me quote of £94 from Breakdown Assist. £70 if i have £35 excess!
both for family cover,roadside. BA adds onward journey and emergency accomodation so better cover (AA has 'benefits' but i wouldnt use them apart from app, which is obviously no use if not a member!
Does anyone have experience of using Breakdown Assist? I've not heard of them.
cover is for 3 family members, any car. Have only called out for tyre changes.. (x2 on different cars)
Thanks for any feedback.
V
NB. Online quote from AA is £129 for 4 people.. Might i be better trying to haggle down to this? or is B Assist as good. Most reviews are from people who haven't used service, but few who have seem ok.

JBMouse · 6 September 2018 at 11:56AM

I have had my renewal for Green Flag car breakdown cover, and it has gone up £10 on last years price of £57, so I am shopping around, and also checking Green Flag site for new quoptes for new customers, and I have discovered that the postcode makes a big difference to the price quoted. Why is this? I can understand car insurance being very dependant upon postcode, as some areas are more prone to car theft, vandalism etc., but what effect can postcode have on the likelyhood of my car breaking down? I have had a quote from Green Flag of £61 for my postcode, and a quote of £50 for the road directly opposite me, just the width of the road between my drive entrance and the entry to the other postcode. It makes no sense to me, so can someone answer my question with a plausible explanation. Thanks.

SpideressUK · 6 September 2018 at 12:21PM

JBMouse I am guessing but insurance normally gets calculated on number of claims in an area/risk groups etc so I would imagine that certain post codes are likely to attract a certain section of society who are more likely to be able to afford certain types of car and therefore have a greater statistical chance of the need for breakdown services. Also, certain post code areas might attract less funding for road maintainance so if the people from that area are using those poorly kept roads they may be more likely to have the need for breakdown services due to their car suffering from the external effect of dodgy road surfaces etc

JBMouse · 6 September 2018 at 12:37PM

Thanks for the reply, but the quote is car and age of car dependant, most companies want to know the exact model and age, and yes, that would be expected to increase the cost for an older car, and a make with less reliability, and the state of the roads in an exact area could not be known to the companies, and anyway, everyone from the road opposite must drive into my road (and postcode) to get anywhere, as they are a cul-de-sac.
There must be some other explanations, I wait to hear.

murphydavid · 6 September 2018 at 1:16PM

JBMouse wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, but the quote is car and age of car dependant, most companies want to know the exact model and age, and yes, that would be expected to increase the cost for an older car, and a make with less reliability, and the state of the roads in an exact area could not be known to the companies, and anyway, everyone from the road opposite must drive into my road (and postcode) to get anywhere, as they are a cul-de-sac.
There must be some other explanations, I wait to hear.

It’s a type of insurance so is worked out on statistics and probability of making a profit, not common sense logic if there is such a thing. What’s thrown into the melt is down to the company. It would seem Green Flag include post codes. You might be better served by spending your time reading MSE Best Buys again and comparing other companies.
Out of interest most statistical studies of expected life span (age of death) are also affected by where you live.

comments_occasionally · 10 September 2018 at 8:03AM

Further to earlier post, after rather irrelevant replies.. I rang AA and asked for online quoted price, no trouble getting that. Even let me think about it for day or so. I was tempted by cheaper one because it included onward travel and we were about to go on holiday in elderly vehicle. Finally stuck to AA. Asked them to throw in relay but no joy!! (Car fine for the 500miles plus)
So got same cover for about half price... And the guy pointed out that I could have another family member included (4 total) so I added second daughter who doesn't drive but will be covered as passenger!
I know it could be cheaper but I was happy to pay half of quote. We will see what happens next year..
Still interested in other company but as no relevant replies, I'm glad I stuck to AA for now.

bethanyhen · 11 September 2018 at 10:50AM

Have been with AutoAid for a few years now and have nothing but praise for them. They seem to have expanded now (had to call this morning with a change of address on renewal and noticed 'call centre' type background noise) but it's still the same quick telephone response, to a real person, who knows what they're doing and does it promptly and efficiently. My new docs were in my in-box before I'd even put my payment card back in my wallet.
However ..... slightly irked that premium has gone up from 42.00 (rounded up) to 49.00 (rounded up), and 5.00 of that is detailed as 'charge', explained as a charge for renewing the policy. Do any other companies charge simply for renewing a policy? Or is it a seemingly innocuous way of gouging?

Quentin · 11 September 2018 at 11:36AM

The (rounded up) cost for joining is now £49.

They are just being transparent in separating this 'charge' from the premium

Save £10 by letting your policy lapse and buying a Groupon subscription instead of renewing

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