Any - Breakdown Cover | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

Wed 18 Sep 2013 18:31

Any - Breakdown Cover - Drivethru

I have always used either the RAC or AA for breakdown cover, but I have had a quote from Green Flag which is a lot cheaper. I've never actually had to call anyone out so I can't compare. Can anyone recommend Green Flag. There is also a company called Green Insurance which does really cheap breakdown cover, however, the reviews are horrendous so I don't fancy trying them. Thanks.

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Wed 18 Sep 2013 20:05

Any - Breakdown Cover - jc2

Get a quote from Britannia Rescue.

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Wed 18 Sep 2013 20:24

Any - Breakdown Cover - Bobbin Threadbare

I had Green Flag cover (when I was working in Cumbria it seemed like a good idea) and they were very reasonable. Never needed to call them, but they didn't renew my cover without asking, which has happened before, and they didn't send me loads of junk mail or pester me to renew. I would use them again.

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Wed 18 Sep 2013 20:33

Any - Breakdown Cover - daveyjp

Consider Autoaid. Its an insurance type policy, but only £39 a year and it covers you and a spouse in any vehicle you are in.

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Wed 18 Sep 2013 20:52

Any - Breakdown Cover - bathtub tom

I'm in Autoaid and had to use them once (bust gearbox).

Breakdown truck arrived after an hour, loaded car and took me home.

I had to pay recovery charge and claim from Autoaid. It all went smoothly and was dealt with promptly.

I'd recommend them to anyone.

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Fri 20 Sep 2013 20:46

Any - Breakdown Cover - Doc

I'm in Autoaid and had to use them once (bust gearbox).

Breakdown truck arrived after an hour, loaded car and took me home.

I had to pay recovery charge and claim from Autoaid. It all went smoothly and was dealt with promptly.

I'd recommend them to anyone.

So would I.

tinyurl.com/97pcox8

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Wed 18 Sep 2013 20:55

Any - Breakdown Cover - monian

As an ex-RAC user of some 10 years I have this year, and after several recommendtaions from colleagues at work, changed to Green Flag.

In past years -and on receiving the postal renewal notice which was for ever going up in cost - and the ritual which I had to go through by phoning them and compnaining only for them to reduce the price - this year I just didn't have the energy to play their games.

I got like-for-like cover from Green Flag and saved £102

Hope that this helps

Ian

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Thu 19 Sep 2013 08:26

Any - Breakdown Cover - Collos25

I had Green Flag cover (when I was working in Cumbria it seemed like a good idea) and they were very reasonable. Never needed to call them, but they didn't renew my cover without asking, which has happened before, and they didn't send me loads of junk mail or pester me to renew. I would use them again.

How do you know if they are any good if you never had to use them.

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Thu 19 Sep 2013 09:36

Any - Breakdown Cover - dan86

They obviously liked the way they didn't send junk mail or aut renew the policy. Just because the poster never calld them out doesn't mean they didn't gey a good service. Iv never had to use my home insurance but when ever iv phoned them at renewal time the call centre staff are excellent so I always recommend them.

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Thu 19 Sep 2013 18:47

Any - Breakdown Cover - Bobbin Threadbare

They obviously liked the way they didn't send junk mail or aut renew the policy. Just because the poster never calld them out doesn't mean they didn't gey a good service. Iv never had to use my home insurance but when ever iv phoned them at renewal time the call centre staff are excellent so I always recommend them.

Exactly.

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Wed 18 Sep 2013 20:54

Any - Breakdown Cover - Auristocrat

The three Which? Best Buys for third party breakdown cover were (in descending order) Brittania Rescue, The AA, and Gem Motoring Assist - scores based on overall waiting time, completion of repairs at the roadside, and customer satisfaction.

Green Flag came ninth out of ten.

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Wed 18 Sep 2013 21:50

Any - Breakdown Cover - Bromptonaut

HAving been with both Green Flag and Britannia I've found lillte, other than price (I moved to Brit in 2010 after GF/DL kept escalating the price), to seperate them. Locally they use the same contractors, in succession Freeways, Westbridge and now Cowans. No isues with any of them.

I did however have two problems with Green Flag where the operator lacked a grasp of UK geography and seemed to expect me to know postcode of point at which my car ground to a halt.

One thing to ask is whether they will do a two stage recovery. My last two breakdowns ocurred outside garage hours so car was recovered home. Needed another call on weekday to get immobile car to my friendly Citroen specialist.

Not all policies cover the second callout.

Edited by Bromptonaut on 18/09/2013 at 21:54

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Wed 18 Sep 2013 23:02

Any - Breakdown Cover - Cyd

Good question BP. I have another:

If you are involved in an accident and your car is undriveable, are you covered for recovery (either to you destination or home whichever suits best)???

I have just found out that with RAC the answer is NO.
If your car is undriveable after an accident, they will recover you home, but will then seek to recover the costs from insurance. If there's no insurance to cover the cost you'll have to pay them back yourself !!!!!
Didn't used to be this way. I'd be interested to know when the change was made, 'cos I missed it. I've been a continuous member since 1983.

I know it used to be different because myself and friends had rally cars recovered home after crashing out. The last time was in 1991.
Back then the RAC and MSA wre affilliated, but not any more it seems

The main reasons I have recovery are 1) to be recovered in the event of breakdown that can't be fixed roadside and 2) to be recovered in the event of an accident (the risk of which must have increased over the years).

I haven't had to cal the RAC in at least 15 years or more.

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Thu 19 Sep 2013 07:45

Any - Breakdown Cover - alastairq

The RAC's policy with regards to recovery of competition vehicles [especially from an off-road location] changed when they sold their souls to privatisation.

I found this out over ten years ago!

I now discount both AA & RAC due to their appalling attitude to renewals. MAybe others are the same, but those two stick out in my mind.

Currently I have cover via my motor insurance.....which I haven't had to use yet.

However, when I last had AA cover, I took full advantage of their then-current policy of 'fix first if at all possible', by 'just happening to have the correct replacement spare part in the boot'......thus saving me a few hours garage labour charges, on two occasions.

[saved me doing the job as well....]

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Thu 19 Sep 2013 09:04

Any - Breakdown Cover - jc2

And saved you getting the part cheap!!

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Thu 19 Sep 2013 10:37

Any - Breakdown Cover - Andrew-T

It's well known that RAC (and probably others) gradually escalate renewal premiums, employing inertia selling, often at the expense of older long-term customers. If you get breakdown cover with your insurance you can avoid this as part of the annual shop-around for a better deal.

There may be a perceptible difference between RAC and AA, who use their own rescue vehicles, and other insurers who just call out a local breakdown garage. If when you call for assistance the RAC or AA vans are tied up some way off, you may wait a long time (on my one occasion it was 1½ hours), while if you break down close to one of the network garages the longest wait may be while you give all the details to the rescue organisation. And yes, knowing the postcode for where you are can be a problem.

On that occasion I called the RAC, the clutch cable had snapped. It was fixed 'temporarily' at the roadside and lasted well over a year until I sold the car.

Edited by Andrew-T on 19/09/2013 at 10:40

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Thu 19 Sep 2013 11:29

Any - Breakdown Cover - jc2

Twice I have needed to be recovered-both to my home as I can fix the problem.I used Britannia Rescue-both times under a half hour from contacting the service and another advantage of using local services is their knowledge of the area.Neither time did I give a postcode.

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Thu 19 Sep 2013 12:09

Any - Breakdown Cover - alastairq

And saved you getting the part cheap!!

On both occasions, the new part had cost me far less than it would have done from any parts supplier used by the AA patrol.

[for example,] In the first instance, I had bought [on an offer, from an onine parts supplier] a HP fuel pump for my Volvo 740...as the existing one was howling.

'Professional' opinion stated the existing pump was an imminent failure. 122,000 miles later, it failed! The cost of the replacement pump had risen considerably in the meantime...so, save & save?

Edited by alastairq on 19/09/2013 at 12:10

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Thu 19 Sep 2013 19:09

Any - Breakdown Cover - Drivethru

Thanks everyone for your advice, decided to go with Green Flag.

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