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AA did it to me as well - although I didn't bother to haggle them down and just went elsewhere. If they aren't bothered then neither am I!
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Inform them that you won't be renewing a week before current policy expires. If you like 'em that much then rejoin as a new customer 24/48-hrs later and get the better 'newbie' price!
Has worked for me in the past but some maybe cottoning-on to that now and won't let you rejoin immediately? If that's the case just shop around like we all ritually (have to) do. For 10-mins effort £20/30/40 quid staying in your pocket is better than it ending up in theirs?
There's so much choice these days, etc. Last month I had a guy do his best to try and persuade me to stay with him for B&C (Home) Insurance. "Who have you gone with? Oh, we're better on this, that and the other than them." Had to remind him that I didn't know who was 'best' as fortunately I haven't needed to claim in XX-years and you only learn how good your (any) insurers are from the moment you actually make a claim! Saved £32. Spent it on full-bodied reds...
...The most annoying thing I find when dealing with the AA is, despite the fact that you tick the box that says don't contact me by post or phone, they ALWAYS b***** do, so I politely tell them that I don't need their help when filling in an online pro-forma ta very much so go away!
Some years ago I swore that I'd never buy any further Aviva products after they stalled for 6-weeks on paying out on a matured endowment, but in recent times I've found that nobody else can get as close to them on price for the range of vehicles that I currently run.
Multitude of differing circumstances/conditions/variants for all of us obviously.
Win some, lose some (repeat to fade)...
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I'm tempted to jump ship this year with green flag offering to match your current breakdown and assistance package for half the price of your current providers renewal price.
I joined the RAC after the AA tried to mug me, Then the following year they tried to up the price. A quick call got the price back to what I paid the first year and it has stayed at that for some years now.
Edited by Wackyracer on 07/08/2014 at 13:02
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I'm tempted to jump ship this year with green flag offering to match your current breakdown and assistance package for half the price of your current providers renewal price.
I joined the RAC after the AA tried to mug me, Then the following year they tried to up the price. A quick call got the price back to what I paid the first year and it has stayed at that for some years now.
The only thing that stops me from joining Green Flag is its a bit of a postcode lottery where you break down as they use a network of local garages rather than their own trained mechanics. Apart from the corporate money grabbing end of the AA and RAC I've always found their patrolmen to be spot on. I had an AA guy fix an obscure starting issue in 20minutes that I doubt a lesser mechanic would have spotted.
I know someone who called out Green Flag and the advice given was totally wrong and in the end an auto electrician had to be called to sort his mess. I also remember a pal calling out GF in the early hours and some sullen scruffy mechanic in an old escort van turned up who didn't seem too pleased about being called out!
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Should you have to call the AA or RAC out at some unsociable hour or when they are really busy then, chances are, you'll only get someone from a local garage, anyway. They farm these classes of breakdowns out to save themselves money.
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The only thing that stops me from joining Green Flag is its a bit of a postcode lottery where you break down as they use a network of local garages rather than their own trained mechanics. Apart from the corporate money grabbing end of the AA and RAC I've always found their patrolmen to be spot on. I had an AA guy fix an obscure starting issue in 20minutes that I doubt a lesser mechanic would have spotted.
The only time I called out the AA, having told them a top hose had burst, I waited 1 1/2 hours for them to arrive, the guy then proceeded to fix the problem by wrapping insulating tape round the split, which I could have done that myself 90 minutes earlier.
Having sacked the AA, when a few years later I called the RAC, as is often the case if you are not on a motorway, response time was again well over an hour.
Transferred to Britannia Rescue, used them 4 times over 30 years,(sometimes as passenger in someone else's car), never had to wait more than 20 minutes. Whichever local garage they sent was always competent and customer-focussed. Always got a feedback form by post later, to check I was satisfied.
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When the AA was the Automobile Association and the RAC was the Royal Automobile Club they gave good service and had the welfare of the motorist in mind. But, they are now commercial businesses and making money is foremost.
I joined the RAC when I had a motorcycle and observed the partolmen saluting whenever a vehicle with the RAC badge went by, even a lowly Matchless 500cc motorcycle. The patrolmen always gave good advice. When I was in Central Africa the AA was the service organisation operating in the area, so I joined the AA. Same good service.
Back in the UK I rejoined the RAC, but things were not going well and I received regular letters asking me to borrow or to invest money. When the RAC got the renewal fees mixed up I asked why and they threatened me with handing my account over to a debt collection firm. I wrote out a cheque for the amount they said was owing and sent it in a parcel together with all the RAC keys, worn out badges and collectibles. They had a young PR lady ring me at work to smooth things over, but I'd already joined the AA.
The AA was shortly afterwards sold itself to a bidder and service deteriorated accordingly. After the renewal fees climbed to ever higher levels I found that if I took a paid bank account I got the same service but cheaper, so I did that. At first the company the Bank used was Green Flag, but lo, after a couple of years it changed to the RAC.
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I've been with the AA now for 8 years. Renewal is just over £145. I was going to change to Green Flag but reviews are poor. I am insured with LV and their breakdown service is very well reviewed. I won't be haggling with the AA.
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The AA told two of my customers that they needed a new high pressure fuel pump, as that's what the code reader was showing.
It was actually showing low pressure at the pump, which was diagnosed as clogged filters in the fuel tank lift pump. A strip down and clean of one pump for one customer (cost £0) and the other bought a second hand pump (£45).
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Breakdown cover is for carp cars.
I stopped it when I sold my Audi and went Japanese.
Apasrt from one puncture, no breakdowns. Simples.
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I regard the common practice of kicking established customers in the teeth financially whilst offering discounts to others for new business to be disingenuous. I therefore try to avoid organisations which do this, or (reluctantly) I employ counter measures, which inevitably can waste my time.
I am now resigned to using a search website when renewing my vehicle insurance. With a full 9 year NCB, loyalty counts for nothing and these people do not deserve the honour of my visiting their delightful call centres to request a price match. A 20% hike in a £150 premium is not acceptable to me in a year of no claims. Changing insurers has brought the premium back to its original cost.
Very regrettably, there is far less scope for realistic and long term savings in the field of "fixed" utilities such as home energy and Internet service provision. despite the exhortations of the politicians.
All that can be done, it seems, is to avoid being a "soft touch" customer.
659.
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Breakdown cover is for carp cars.
I stopped it when I sold my Audi and went Japanese.
Apasrt from one puncture, no breakdowns. Simples.
That's your gamble - I'd rather have the protection of breakdown cover no matter how reliable I think something is.
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Apasrt from one puncture, no breakdowns. Simples.
Interestingly enough, I'm starting to think about getting cover for our cars now for that very reason, and I hear some now charge for swapping spares over? Is this the case, and if so does anyone know which ones would do it as part of the 'service'?
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Breakdown cover is for carp cars.
I stopped it when I sold my Audi and went Japanese.
Apasrt from one puncture, no breakdowns. Simples.
I wonder what wonderful makes of batteries, tyres and other bespoke parts that these Japanese cars have, because according to the AA the top ten breakdown reasons were:
Battery 450,000
Tyres 363,000
Lights 162,000
Alternator 124,000
Clutch 118,000
Keys 103,000
Starter motor 88,000
Engine 68,000
Brakes 56,000
Fuel pump 53,000
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Nothing to do with flogging batteries that they just happen to carry?..:-)
Just shows though, keep the car maintained well (batteries usually start to slow up a bit on starting before they die completely), check bulbs regularly maybe carry a spare dipped headlight and standard others, a proper spare wheel which anyone able bodied should be able to change, and the chances of breakdown are greatly reduced.
Touching wood here, but the last 2 recoveries for us was a failed voltage protection relay, and way back when SWMBO wrote the Landcruiser off, the previous was over 20 years ago when a bloke wrote my Golf off by straightening a blind bend, hmm now i think about it, it was only that relay that needed a recovery (5 miles) in 40 odd years of my own cars...we'd be thousands in pocket if we'd not bothered with breakdown cover at all, as it is we now do the next best thing, AutoAid, cheap as chips, we'll pay the service if we break down and claim back the costs later...we'll mitigate those as anyone sensible would.
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I take your point about batteries and lights etc (which is something I do along with most readers on here I imagine) but with the best will int he world my missus wouldn't change a spare.
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but with the best will int he world my missus wouldn't change a spare.
Mine would have go, but isn't helping a fair maiden the self sworn duty of a gentleman.
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Mine would have go, but isn't helping a fair maiden the self sworn duty of a gentleman.
Only if that gentleman has a clue on how to do it. I went out to a man who had tried to change to his spare after driving on a flat until it almost caught fire. He tried using the supplied jack in the wrong place on the van so could only get it high enough to remove the flat. So he then let the air out of the spare so he could get it on! You couldn't make it up could you?
Maybe this is why they stopped putting spare wheels on cars now?
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Breakdown cover is for carp cars.
I stopped it when I sold my Audi and went Japanese.
Apasrt from one puncture, no breakdowns. Simples.
I wonder what wonderful makes of batteries, tyres and other bespoke parts that these Japanese cars have, because according to the AA the top ten breakdown reasons were:
Battery 450,000
Tyres 363,000
Lights 162,000
Alternator 124,000
Clutch 118,000
Keys 103,000
Starter motor 88,000
Engine 68,000
Brakes 56,000
Fuel pump 53,000
Funny you should mention batteries.
1. They usually give warning of failure before they do fail. And only muppets ignore that warning.
2. My original Yaris battery lasted 10 years. My son's Yaris one lasted 11 years. Both were ibviuously going to fail.. so were repalced before they did..
And the next stupid question is? :-)
Edited by madf on 12/08/2014 at 17:46
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1. They usually give warning of failure before they do fail. And only muppets ignore that warning.
2. My original Yaris battery lasted 10 years. My son's Yaris one lasted 11 years. Both were ibviuously going to fail.. so were repalced before they did..
And the next stupid question is? :-)
What if it fails without warning an 11.30pm on a deserted country road? What is something unexpectedly fails? Even the very best and most reliable mechanical machine can have a breakdown.
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What if it fails without warning an 11.30pm on a deserted country road? What is something unexpectedly fails? Even the very best and most reliable mechanical machine can have a breakdown.
My parents car showed no signs of a failing battery. They went shopping, came out and battery was completely dead. It had become open circuit.
This was something that just could not have been predicted.
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Funny you should mention batteries.
1. They usually give warning of failure before they do fail. And only muppets ignore that warning.
I recently had an alternator fail on a 2007 Honda CR-V. No ignition light showing prior to failure, and eventually the battery voltage fell too low and the car conked out. Recharged the battery and drove to a local mechanic with the faulty alternator disconnected, again no ignition light.
So it seems that some cars don't always tell you when the battery isn't charging. Or at least not reliably.
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Breakdown cover is for carp cars.
I stopped it when I sold my Audi and went Japanese.
Apasrt from one puncture, no breakdowns. Simples.
I wonder what wonderful makes of batteries, tyres and other bespoke parts that these Japanese cars have, because according to the AA the top ten breakdown reasons were:
Battery 450,000
Tyres 363,000
Lights 162,000
Alternator 124,000
Clutch 118,000
Keys 103,000
Starter motor 88,000
Engine 68,000
Brakes 56,000
Fuel pump 53,000
The only thing that EVER failed on my Subaru was the battery - it was a basic Panasonic lead acid - unlike the much better fully-sealed valve-regulated ones fitted by Vauxhall for 3+ decades which never failed me.
Indeed, we still have one in use - it spent 8 years on the car, a further 6 years as a caravan leisure battery, 2 years as a backup spare and recently did another whole weekend as a caravan leisure battery - not bad for an 18-year old Vauxhall battery!
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AA has 'snatched' a multi-million pound breakdown contract with Volkswagen from arch-rival RAC.
The four-year deal will see AA provide roadside assistance for 1 million new cars and commercial vehicles from VW and sister firms Audi, Skoda and Seat.
It's partnership with VW follows other recent contract wins with Porsche and Hyundai. The group's business-to-business division also has deals with Bentley, Ford, Honda and Jaguar Land Rover as well as car rental companies and insurers, serving 9million customers.
So, I guess on that basis it can charge the ordinary 'person in the street' as much as it believes it can get away with?
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Breakdown recovery is an insurance you can choose to have or not. I own a garage and we recover locally and I still carry breakdown cover, relay and relay plus and have made use of it on several occasions in the last 3 years. Knowing howe much recovery can cost including getting the vehcile from anywhere in the UK back to my garage its a no brainer having cover. The renewal scam versus new customer rates is worth checking out and I wil ldo so at renewal time. As far as wheel replacement goes I am usually wearing good clobber and need to be somewhere so I have no problem getting the missus to ring for me and tell the operator that her tyre is flat and can someone come out to change
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As far as wheel replacement goes I am usually wearing good clobber and need to be somewhere so I have no problem getting the missus to ring for me and tell the operator that her tyre is flat and can someone come out to change
And are you aware of any breakdown companies that would charge for swappign the wheel? My query is I'd want to exclude those that do, or is it just a myth not worth worrying about?
TIA
Dabooka
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Just been given 26 days free breakdown cover with my LV insurance. Bye bye AA.
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Never ever called Brittania Rescue when I owned my Accord. But was on first name terms with all their recovery agents when I changed to the Espace.
Made it down to Cornwall once with three calls to them.
The agents told me that they prefer to deal with Brittania because they receive payment by the next post. So simple!
But encouraged by the Which report saying that the AA were better equiped to repair at the roadside rather than simply tow to their appointed garage, my girlfriend took out a policy with the AA.
The agent was keen to sell her additional warranty protection , but she eventually got the basic deal she wanted.
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I had my renewal for £209 recently up from last year's online price of about £105. I rang to query this and they said they would put me through to speak to someone about reducing the cost, but there was a long queue. So they arranged to ring me back at work and the next day I saw that they had rung a couple of times after I had left work.
I didn't get any more calls, but I did receive a lower price of about £170 by post. I rang to cancel and was asked for my reasons for leaving, so I mentioned not having called them out that year and loyalty etc. They offered to review the price, but i cancelled anyway and have taken out the Autoaid policy for £40 instead.
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I had my renewal for £209 recently up from last year's online price of about £105. I rang to query this and they said they would put me through to speak to someone about reducing the cost, but there was a long queue. So they arranged to ring me back at work and the next day I saw that they had rung a couple of times after I had left work.
I didn't get any more calls, but I did receive a lower price of about £170 by post. I rang to cancel and was asked for my reasons for leaving, so I mentioned not having called them out that year and loyalty etc. They offered to review the price, but i cancelled anyway and have taken out the Autoaid policy for £40 instead.
£209, how can they justify that.
We have Aviva rescue, had it for years. They are partnered with the RAC so you get exactly the same service as you would get using the RAC direct. Only called them out a couple of times, been with us within the hour each time. The policy we have is joint personal which basically means both myself and the wife are covered whatever car we are driving or passenger in. It also covers the 2 named cars for whoever is driving them.
We have all the boxes ticked e.g. rescue, recovery, onward travel, basically everything except European Recovery, no point since we don't go abroad.
Don't know if its the same with all companies but if you break down at home the furthest they will take your car is 10 miles. Not an issue for us, loads of garages within that distance.
The price we paid in February was £51. Probably get a small discount since are cars are insured with Aviva.
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I used to chop and change between AA and RAC for reasons already mentioned in this thread.
Sent memy renewal quote of £159.99 for Relay and rescue and Home Start for 2 people at the same address (me and the wife). After reading a famous money saving forum, AA came out as the company that will give the most discount whenchallenged, upto 50% or more in a lot of cases, SKY being the next i believe.
Anway instead of doing my usual switching to RAC for a "new member price" (RAC were only £5 cheaper by the way) I rang the AA and said RAC would do it for £88 and that I only paid £99 last year etc. After a couple of minutes of "speaking to his supervisor", they just agreed the £88!!! Madness, but for 5 mins on the phone I save a fortune. I'll do the same next year.
£7.88 a month for a piece of mind for my Mrs and young kids covered in any car, no issues. I've only needed to be towed home once and it was from Plymouth to Manchester, the Replay option has paid for itself for about 15 years for the price of the towing :)
Lee
Edited by leef on 20/08/2014 at 17:53
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£7.88 a month for a piece of mind for my Mrs and young kids covered in any car, no issues. I've only needed to be towed home once and it was from Plymouth to Manchester, the Replay option has paid for itself for about 15 years for the price of the towing :)
As far as I know, the Relay service was called Relay because the agent who picks up your car only takes it to the next area, where its transferred to another agent, and so on.
The AA may have changed the system now; I know a Britannia agent told me if they do a recovery, the car stays on the same truck all the way.
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You are correct, relay is just them fixing at roadside or taking you to the closest garage
Recovery is you, your vehicle and up to 8 passengers to any UK destination I got the terminalogy mixed up. Either way, my above comment still applies. Me, the mrs and kids will get home no matter where we are for a reasonable "insurance" cost.
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I got sick of the AA's pricing strategy a few years ago. Every year it would go up by a significant amount - if I rang them then they would drop it a bit. Several years ago I moved to the RAC who, to be fair, have increased the yearly amount by an almost insignificant amount every year which has made it pointless searching for better deals.
When I cancelled the AA they seemed most surprised, as if I would pay them endlessly increasing amounts despite the fact their competitors were undercutting them!
I conside £106 a year, for two car, with a tow home from anyway in the UK a decent insurance. For all the cars mechanical reliability these days I have twice been stranded. Once due to a completely shredded tyre (stupid cans of foam are useless) and one down to a snapped spring - on both occasions I was towed to a garage near my home, and then dropped off at home.
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I conside £106 a year, for two car, with a tow home from anyway in the UK a decent insurance. For all the cars mechanical reliability these days I have twice been stranded. Once due to a completely shredded tyre (stupid cans of foam are useless) and one down to a snapped spring - on both occasions I was towed to a garage near my home, and then dropped off at home.
Try Aviva Rescue. We pay a lot less than that (£51) for the full UK service and it covers any car we are driving or passenger in. RAC do the hard work, Aviva just accept your money so the same chap would attend you.
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AA asked for £140 renewal for spouse and me, any vehicles.Was ~£100 previous year and the Direct Debit engaged before I could think seriously. This year I got a quote from Green Flag, named vehicles only for £90. Thought I'd go with that as I'd free Green Flag on my motorcycle anyway.
Told AA I was unhappy with the escalating costs and without prompting or telling them of my quote offered to renew for £70. The employee was apologetic. I accepted their offer after establishing it would not just be a one off cheapo. We'll see next year.
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