I am just about to renew my breakdown recovery insurance.
AA comes in about £85. I like this kind of cover because it can be used for my car or my motorbike, but does anyone know a cheaper provider of equivalent cover?
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Thommo, try here
www.moneysupermarket.com/RoadsideRescueP/
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Churchill did it for £34 when I took out my insurance with them. Don't know who you're insured with, but ask if they'll do you a deal.
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After looking at the web site I posted for Thommo, I found this company
www.roadsafety.org.uk/recovery.html
Its a pay and claim service, whereby if you breakdown a local/ nearest participating garage is called out, you pay the attending garage chappy and claim the charges back from GEM. You can by most means, Cash, Credit Card etc, all seems fine, but the question is, do you think that these guys have the same technical back up as say the AA. I am with the AA and had to call them out twice in as many years for two different cars, nothing to serious, fixed at the roadside, but I couldn’t fault them, courteous and very knowledgeable. Any comments would be very appreciated as my AA membership is up shortly and I always look around but end up staying with the AA, not that I am unhappy, but just like to explore other options. Thanks in advance.
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Having just tested GEM I cannot praise them enough. I took out a weeks continental cover for a weeks touring holiday in the Loire Valley. They were much much cheaper than anyone else. Sadly wrote off my Rover 827 . GEM paid direct for a taxi to take us 25 miles to pick up a Eurocar rental ( new Laguna ) which we left at the end of our holiday at the port of Caen. Waiting for us at Portsmouth was an Avis new Espace which we drove home. In addition GEM were very helpful in making unconnected personal calls for us in order to save our mobiles! I didn\'t have to pay for anything.
What really bugs me is the ammount of fraud that the AA and RAC seem content to put with . I know several people who use their services fraudulently. I won\'t subsidise those Pink fluffy dice.
John
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johncyprus,
I refer you to this:- www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=12...4
You\'ve been a member long enough now to know not to test the swear filter.
Next time I delete, not edit. M.
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I have been a member of the AA for 9 years. In all that time I have had cause to call them out 3 times, all last year.
They almost let me down in two of those three calls.
1) Car battery dead due to leaving appliance plugged into cigarette lighter.
2) Sept 2002. Gearbox starts leaking oil couple of miles from home in Manchester. As it\'s 2am I limp home. I managed to get it to my VW dealer a couple of miles away the following morning and they confirm that the gearbox has an oil leak.
As it had a new clutch installed just a month earlier by the VW dealer in Stoke, they refused to touch it, as they didn\'t want to get involved in any warranty issue that may arise. That, however, is another story.
I get home and call the AA. I explained the fault on the car, the warranty issue, and ask if I could be recovered to Stoke. The woman at the end of the phone said it would be no problem. The patrol man turns up in his little citroen van just to confirm that the gearbox is leaking, and then calls for a tow. Central control say they can only take me up to 16 miles as I am at home on my drive. This annoys the petrol man more me. He said it was stupid because if I had been ½ mile from home they could tow me anywhere. Luckily he knows the customer services manager at the VW dealer in Stockport and gets me booked in there that afternoon. I then had to wait 2 hours for the tow to arrive. I thought that the guy was taking the p when he turned up, as his accent betrayed him as being a Stokey. He had come from just 3 miles from the dealer I had wanted to be recovered to, to take me 6 miles to Stockport, to then return to Stoke. He offered to take me to Stoke, but as I was now booked into Stockport I declined.
3) Nov 2002. Golf loses all power and temp shoots up ½ mile from Northbound Knutsford Services, M6, midnight, pouring rain. Manage to make it to the services. Patrol takes 2½ hours to turn up. They apparantly dispatched 3 patrols to find me. First one apparantly was collared by the police to assist in clearing away an accident. They didn\'t have a clue where the replacement got to, and the 3rd eventually turned up and would only recover me to home, as no where was open at 3am. I was assured that they would take me to my local dealer in the morning.
When I called to arrange that recovery I was told that they couldn\'t do that, as they do not come out to the same call twice. A couple of supervisors later and the explaination of an unacceptable 2½ hour wait on the motorway, and they agreed to recover the car. Turned out to have blown a head gasket, so I part-exed it for a new Passat.
That\'s come with 3 years VW Assist cover. I had VW Assist with the Golf for the 1st year, but never had to use it, so don\'t know whether they are any good. The AA have agreed to freeze my membership for 3 years, so I will see how I go on.
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They atttempted to lift my lowered and skirted Mercedes 190E onto a non-floating ramp recovery truck and ended up scraping it on the floor.
Next morning, having signed the 'no problem with my car' document the night before in the rain and the dark, I saw the extent of the damage. Severe.
We argued for five months. they sent out an 'independant' inspector. Who wasn't 'independant' by any stretch of the imagination.
The report said nothing conclusive. ..."... damage apparent but may not have been caused by the AA recovery vehicle ..." (!). AA claims division were extremely rude.
I lost. Well, okay, I didn't bother. I have better things to do with my time.
Don't go with the AA. Green flag were better. They always brought a vehicle with a ramp that lowered to the car.
Keep a camera in your car. For many reasons.
rojer@lycos.co.uk
Astra, Renault 18, Renault 25 TXi, Astra Est, Passat Est, Mercedes 190E, Mercedes
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