I know we've talked about the various options before but I'm interested in current offers.
Joined the RAC with joint roadside cover last year for £34....bargain. Now they want £65 renewal for the same cover! OK so I know they get you hooked on an offer then hope you'll continue to renew without looking at the price. Thing is they are still offering new joiners the £34 deal.
Haven't the building societies just had to cough up as this was deemed unacceptable practice...ie that the new offer should always be available to existing customers.
Phoned the renewal hotline today and the best he could do by putting in some code was £54...still too much difference I think.
Put the point to the guy that SWMBO could go on-line tonight and join up with me as the additional member at the £34 and I could cancel my membership. He agreed it was daft, would involve loads of admin for them and yes we could do it.
So what are the best roadside (joint membership) deals about and what do you think about relating the RAC practice to that the building societies have been hassled for?
Thanks,
David
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David
Don't whatever you do go for the cheapest roadside recovery option, it is simply not worth it and the extra 30 or 40 quid you'll spend will pay dividends if you break down.
On a trip to London, the brakes on my Cavalier failed (immediately) to the point they were probably only about 20% effective. I had the lowest level AA cover - They came out, were unable to fix the car and were also unable to find any garage within their towing distance that could take the car in. I asked him the guy what the hell I should do and he just shrugged his shoulders - My options were either he could tow the car to some local garage in which case I'd have to train it home, then train it back (150 miles) to pick the car up whenever they had managed to fix it, or failing that, drive the car home.
Given quiet traffic thankfully I chose the latter however misguided that might've been at the time. I am not having a go at the AA here as as far as my policy was concerned they did "exactly what it said on the tin" but don't cut yourself short with crappy cover like this - Am sure you wouldn't want your wife stranded somewhere etc without the option of a towback!
Good luck with it - let us know where you go for it in the end!
All the best
Dan
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Dan
I'd agree. If it's not a roadside fix, the basic service usually only gets a tow to the nearest garage, which is no use if you're miles from home, and it's Sunday!
I want the option of fixing it myself (especially for the Minor), or at least a repair at a local garage if it can't be done on the road.
Regards
John
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David
I think the practice of cheap initial deals then relying on user inertia to renew at vastly inflated price absolutely stinks. Mind you, I've never wanted anything to do with the RAC since they didn't want to recover my stepfather's Citroen CX and caravan after it stopped with water in the petrol tank after returning from France 20 years ago. They claimed it was just like running out of petrol and therefore not covered...
After being *assertive* with the patrol man, they eventually sent a smelly, decrepit truck with 2 rude, grumpy blokes.
I have used Green Flag in the past and found them excellent and cooperative in the past but now use the recovery service provided by GEM. It's different in that you pay for recovery and then claim the cost back. Never used them, touch wood but it may be worth a call on 01342825676.
Good luck.
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I have been happy with Green Flag service -
but my requirements may not be the same as yours.
They include cover for all of Europe, and I spend 3-4 months a year driving in France, Germany & Spain.
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You could try Autonational Rescue, very reasonable cover and when we have had to use them on a couple of occasions the have proved v.good.
hope this helps.
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If I was you, I`d drive into town, find an outfit that actually has breakdown trucks, and ask them which service they like working for and any thoughts they have.
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I have not compared prices, nor, fortunately, had much experience of these services, but I can certainly vouch for Green Flag.
I had cover included with a new car a few years ago and called themout twice. Both times the service was excellent.
I have stayed with them ever since.
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i agree, Green Flag have seen me well, but when taking Euro cover as i often do, their agents in France can be a real pain. This is not howver entirely their fault. They do though offer English speaking assistants no matter where you are in Europe whihc helps a hell of a lot for us Brits!!
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I've been an AA member for 38 years, but thankfully my breakdowns have been few, maybe five in total (including locking my self out of the car - twice).
They turned up within an hour each time. I've had to use their Relay service twice and that has been fine too, except you have to wait for maybe another hour for the truck to arrive.
I saw some correspondence some time ago, in the DT I think, to the effect that the police won't allow you to wait that long on a motorway, but will send out a recovery vehicle at the owner's cost. If that's true, then it questions the value of Relay on motorways.
There were some articles in the motorcycle press last year to the effect that the AA will no longer provide free recovery for bikes that have been involved in an accident. Perhaps that goes for cars, too, I haven't had the misfortune to find out.
So, I have no experience to give grounds for complaint with the AA, but my perception is that, now being a commercial operation, they don't have members' interests as their prime focus, only insofar as they win, keep or lose business.
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I was an AA member for a few years and once had to call them out when the gear selector on 525 auto (a previous car) got stuck in reverse outside my flat. I had just moved address and hadn't told the AA and therefore got them to come round even though I didn't have the "Homestart" option. ( I put the change of address form in the post the next day.)
However since recently getting insured with Directline they offered me and my wife "full" cover for £18.00 - yes £18.00! as an introductory offer (next year though it may be £118). Has anyone had experience of their recovery service?
Chad.R
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Thanks all but do bear in mind the unusual "Fen Hermits" life we lead, seriously affects our cover requirements.
SWMBO travels 12 miles each way to work and otherwise mostly operates within a 10 mile radius of home. I'm her breakdown chap under all these circumstances. If she travels for business she can draw a company car from the pool.
My work is based within a 10 mile radius of home, dotted about that area are my fellow garage contacts who would sort me out promptly.
All we need the breakdown cover for is the odd day out and yearly holiday journey. Bear in mind I know our car's maintenance status and avoid breakdowns happening as far as possible.
No I don't want the ultimate response time, cleanest overalls or the best mechanic....just a phone number in the car that gets me to an orginasiation that will assist.
On a frequency basis we would be far better "self-insuring" and just calling out a local garage, as we've done for a while actually. In 25years with two cars/drivers we've only called out the service once. If we'd paid for joint full cover over all that time it could well have cost £2K - £3K inc loss of interest.
Why go for cover now then? Simple, with the young children in the car I'm less inclined to take the small risk.
David
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I am thinking of leaving the AA after 32 years as I am unhappy with what looks like a rush to embrace political correctness.
They also praised the claimed succes of the speed camera trial as "Impressive stuff" when it was nothing of the sort. Did they not check the facts?
Has anyone seen the new PC membership cards?
I have called them out several times in the 32 years and have always been very impressed with their skills. No complaints on that score.
I may try the RAC as appearing to be slightly less PC.
AA renewal for full joint cover is £162.
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I have a new AA card. What is 'too PC' about it? Or might I be too PC myself to notice?
An organisation's attitude to PC would be rather a long way down my list of attributes in choosing breakdown cover. Unless it was openly racist or sexist, which would be enough for me to call the organisation's character into question.
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I have twice found Autonational Rescue very good. On one occasion they lorried the car home (Christmas Eve, 100 miles).
But remember the organisation that actually turns out for you may not be the one you subscribe to - they have arrangements to pass people on to the nearest recovery service available.
In my case, I called out Autonational Rescue and the AA turned up very promptly. The man did an amazing bodge on the spot (made a vital cup washer by bashing out a flat one with a hammer on the pavement).
Also they do not necessarily use their own vehicles or staff. I was handed to a local freelance recovery man with truck who happened to live just down the road from the breakdown. AR must keep all these details in a database, so can tailor their response to the circumstances.
In my case I was very impressed.
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I don't know why but a rasict breakdown service tickles me pink!
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I can only say that my experiences too are thankfully few and far between, but Britannia Rescue always get good reviews and I have always found them responsive.
SWMBO got free Green Flag with her new Citroen and frankly if their service is anything like the efficiency of their admin she'll be back on Britannia Rescue as soon as the free offer ends.
I remember from the days when I had a Barclaycard (ie they didn't charge an annual fee) they had some sort of "time & materials" scheme available to card holders.
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I got stuffed with the same introductory offer, but I never thought of canceling & getting SWMBO to join instead. My objections got me a 50% reduction on the increased cover. This then became eligible for £25 no callout discount which would have effectively made the recovery free the next year - blow me down, got a flat battery 1 week in!
Age Concern were very cheap, offering Europ Assistance at a cheap rate, but once again the admin as terrible. At least with the AA & RAC you know who's going to turn up - important where kids & SWMBO are concerned.
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I'm currently with AA which is free with my bank account but have no idea what their service is like.
I'm also with Britannia Rescue through the CSMA and their service has been faultless. Quick response, polite and efficient. Had my previous car written off in Liverpool so it was towed from Liverpool back home to Cornwall for around the 72 quid.
I'm not sure what other companies would be like for charging, but that seems reasonable enough to me.
Paul
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David,
comments re the different services.
Over the years we have been with AA, RAC, Green Flag, plus when GF were National Breakdown.
Only had to call RAC once, colleagues had slow response times but no complaint here.
AA several times including once when SWMBO locked herself out of the car in a dodgy area doing a courier job. No problems at all, very helpful even when the call was from me who was not the member covered, and didn't have the membership number etc (don't even ask!) they passed messages and the AA arrived within 15 minutes as SWMBO classed as priority. Otherwise bit bureaucratic but no complaints about the troops at the sharp end.
National Breakdown only had to call them once after an accident, (remember the swan incident!) and they impressed, no messing about like others sending a small van to confirm that what you are telling them is correct and then sending a tow truck later.
Considering the complexity of modern cars I think the RAC is much more advanced in their IT and communication systems supporting the patrolman with electronic and similar problems, but of course its at a price.
Re dodgy pricing practices:
Suspect that if the Building Socs experience were to be extended elsewhere then a whole lot more might be in the dock, insurance companies are just one.
Re your user needs.
I guess what you really need oh Fenmeister is the level of cover I had with National Breakdown this was recovery only, which did not cover breakdown but nationwide recovery for problems you could not solve yourself. However I see its £51 today with Green Flag unless there is an offer on somewhere and this does not beat the RAC offer of £34. At least that would cover the holidays and days out bit.
Got to go get back for Salvage Squad and the Tiger Moth plus see how many miles SWMBO's been putting on the Fabia today, Brum to Kidde via Edinburgh again?
cheers,
S
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