Car Breakdown cover via Bank

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Wed 27 Dec 2017 17:51
Car Breakdown cover via Bank - Warning

I have car breakdown with Barclays, but I was thinking of switching to Nationwide Building Society. I think the Barclays one is with RAC. But I have not used the service.

I am thinking of switching to Nationwide Building Society, but their car breakdown is with Liverpool Victoria and they use a company called Britannia Rescue. I have n't heard of them. So I don't know the quality of the service.

I am looking at other features of these accounts too.

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Wed 27 Dec 2017 18:00
Car Breakdown cover via Bank - SteveLee

Britannia are fine - been going ages, but they do rely on a model of fewer employed rescue units with lots of standby part time/freelancers. I beleive the AA and RAC have started going down that route too in more rural areas.

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Wed 27 Dec 2017 18:53
Car Breakdown cover via Bank - daveyjp
I think Britannia and LV are part of the same company. They have been around years.

Over 20 years ago When my car was hit when parked I called my insurance which at that time was LV and it was a Britannia truck which turned up to transport the vehicle.
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Wed 27 Dec 2017 19:17
Car Breakdown cover via Bank - MGspannerman
By one of those odd coincidences we have breakdown cover via the nationwide flexplus account. For the first time in 69k miles we used it just this morning. An early start to get to the sales on account of daughter’s new flat and just as we were about to join the motorway the eml and other lights came on flashing a warning message Re the AWD (Rav4). 9am on the 27th Dec, not a great time to break down? Advised of recovery within 90mins, the guy actually arrived within 10! He was a junction away when the call came to pick us up. We were taken to the local Toyota dealer, with whom I have a service plan. Loan car arranged on the spot and journey continued to “enjoy” the delights of the sales. Daughter and management happy, and a call to say a failed injector but ready tomorrow pm left me happy too.

If you are thinking of Nationwide and their breakdown service, an unhesitating recommendation from me !
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Wed 27 Dec 2017 20:08
Car Breakdown cover via Bank - RT

All the breakdown services can suffer major delays at times, when demand is heavy - worse in my experience at the big names that use their own patrols - with an extra downside that if you need recovery in an automatic or 4wd or towing a caravan/trailer you then have to suffer a further delay while that's organised - that's certainly true of AA/RAC who seem to think that suspended tow is omnipotent..

I've been with Green Flag for years, they use a mixture of own patrrols and contractors - and when you call their control room the staff there know enough about cars to "interrogate" callers about the nature of the issue, the type of vehicle and organise the appropriate response from the start.

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Wed 27 Dec 2017 22:37
Car Breakdown cover via Bank - argybargy

Very interesting to hear that about Green Flag.

I've been with the AA for 30 years, having called them out perhaps five or six times over that period. I've been entirely satisfied on that handful of occasions with their response, but I've paid a lot of money for the privilege. OK, the point of insurance is to have cover against eventualities that you hope never to encounter, but at the same time you want the best price.

The AA do not provide the best price, and when you mention other organisations, such as Green Flag to their staff, they tend to be dismissive. OK, that's business, but it does tend to make you smell a rat.

I'm remaining with the AA this year because they gave me a two year deal on a reduced price, but next year I intend to push hard for a much bigger discount or go elsewhere.

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Thu 28 Dec 2017 02:23
Car Breakdown cover via Bank - liammcl

I've been with AutAid for many a moon,

absolutely brilliant...always arrive within the hour

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5658...3

auto-aid-breakdown.reviews.co.uk/

www.autoaidbreakdown.co.uk/

I think they have been taken over recently?

www.autoaidbreakdown.co.uk/

Cheers
Liam

Edited by liammcl on 28/12/2017 at 02:25

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Thu 28 Dec 2017 08:30
Car Breakdown cover via Bank - Steveieb
I have Nationwide Flex plus insurance who use Brittania Rescue who are a top rated company in Which.
Difference is that Nationwide even cover long wheelbase vans and caravans. They also cover mobile phone loss and damage and their travel insurance is one to be trusted. All included with the fee, which reduces to £6 a month if you keep a balance of £2500.

Esssentially in a world of exclusions and misreprentation Nationwide are the good guys, partly because they are a mutual who don't need to pay shareholders.

As regards breakdown cover Start have been given top spot in Which and dog owners will need to know they will go out of their way to transport pets after a breakdown which is not the case with other recovery companies.
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Thu 28 Dec 2017 09:05
Car Breakdown cover via Bank - RT
I have Nationwide Flex plus insurance who use Brittania Rescue who are a top rated company in Which. Difference is that Nationwide even cover long wheelbase vans and caravans. They also cover mobile phone loss and damage and their travel insurance is one to be trusted. All included with the fee, which reduces to £6 a month if you keep a balance of £2500. Esssentially in a world of exclusions and misreprentation Nationwide are the good guys, partly because they are a mutual who don't need to pay shareholders. As regards breakdown cover Start have been given top spot in Which and dog owners will need to know they will go out of their way to transport pets after a breakdown which is not the case with other recovery companies.

Don't overstate the benefits of a "mutual" - my working pension was invested in Equitable Life, a mutual, but individual policy-holders have no control over the management - Equitable Life went bust with lots of people losing over 75% of their pension.

Rate them on their merits by all means but not the mutual part.

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Fri 29 Dec 2017 18:48
Car Breakdown cover via Bank - CK91437

a friend on mine was with Autoaid.

He said they're not very good.

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Fri 29 Dec 2017 19:24
Car Breakdown cover via Bank - Terry W

One thing you can be fairly sure of with packaged add on bank serrvices is that they will typicallly go for the lowest possble cost supplier with minimal service specification. May not include home start, european cover, alternative travel arrangements, replacement hire car, reecovery to nearest garage only etc.

So long as you understand all this - no problem. Otherwise look very carefully.

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Fri 29 Dec 2017 19:28
Car Breakdown cover via Bank - KB.

a friend on mine was with Autoaid.

He said they're not very good.

I have been with them since 1983. This confers an element of authority to make a judgement on whether they're any good or not. They used to be administered by ERS (Equity Red Star) from their Brentwood offices. They used to operate on a "Pay & Claim" basis but since 6th May 2016 they've been adminstered by RCIB from their offices in Romford and now operate a breakdown and recovery system in the same way that AA and RAC operate theirs i.e. you pay your premium and call them out as needed and you no longer have to settle with the contractor then and there.

And by overwhelming concensus, at £43 PA, the value and level of performance offered can't, in my honest opinion, be beaten.

Edited by Avant on 30/12/2017 at 00:09

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Sat 30 Dec 2017 15:01
Car Breakdown cover via Bank - confusedbuyer

I have this with Nationwide.

I haven't used it but the mobile phone insurance was very easy to do with a relatively small excess. I do find Nationwide quite reasonable generally (except on a 'minor' mortgage issue) so would recommend giving them a chance.

They've recently upped the price and I relooked at the market at this point, but couldn't find any more appealing deals, especially given the interest on your 1st £2,500 in the account.

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