AA Mechanical Breakdown Insurance

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Sat 15 Sep 2007 09:29
AA Mechanical Breakdown Insurance - cheddar
I had a call last night, they got my details from the Ford database, I think on the basis of having full service history, offered me AA Mechanical Breakdown Insurance 3 Star cover for under £20 / month for my five year old 120k mile Mondeo.

Looking at the website the cover seems pretty comprehensive, a turbocharger is only covered via an additional premium though it indicates that the fuel system would be covered which, as we know, can be an fairly expensive repair on a TDCi.

However the website says:

"This Insurance offers 'Parts and Labour' cover for specifically listed Components under the following categories. This is a summary of the cover offered. Specific Components are detailed in the Insurance document."

I am guessing that potentially costly items such as ABS pumps, injection pumps etc will not be amongst the *specifically listed Components*.



Any thoughts?
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Sat 15 Sep 2007 10:34
AA Mechanical Breakdown Insurance - 659FBE
Non essential insurance is bad value for money. As a backroom reader you are almost certainly more careful with the insured commodity than the average user. You are therefore, in addition to making the normal profit for the insurance company, subsidsing careless policy holders.

Mechanical insurance is a minefield of exclusions - you only get the real map showing where the mines are when you try to make a claim.

Buy good quality machinery and look after it.

659.
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Sat 15 Sep 2007 12:21
AA Mechanical Breakdown Insurance - Blue {P}
I've got it on the TF, although mine's the Premier policy so I suspect this may be different to the 3 star cover, I must say that mine's pretty comprehensive.

I'm still thinking of cancelling it though as I will be taking the TF off the road very shortly and I can't see the point in insuring a car that is off the road for 6 months!

Blue
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Sat 15 Sep 2007 13:19
AA Mechanical Breakdown Insurance - adverse camber
I once had the RAC equivalent.

taken out on the svx specifically for peace of mind on the gearbox.

When the box failed they tried to say that 'betterment'came into play as the car had 90K miles on it and that therefore only 50% would be paid by them.

They also tried to claim that I had driven the car knowing the box to be faulty (actually I noticed something not quite right when I was less than 2 miles from a service station and coaxed it in and called out a recovey firm).

If the same techniques still apply expect to be told that someone has misfueled and the car is more than half dead anyway.
:)
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Sat 15 Sep 2007 18:29
AA Mechanical Breakdown Insurance - Aprilia
The key word is 'breakdown'. The car has to stop moving. It will not cover things like bad running or poor starting. Usually they don't cover 'wear and tear (I think the Black Horse one does, but that's the only one AFAIK). At high mileage (like 100k+) most things are due to 'wear and tear'.
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Sat 15 Sep 2007 19:10
AA Mechanical Breakdown Insurance - nb857
"step away from the breakdown insurance, nothing to see here, or anywhere near the extended warranty area either"

£20 a month is £240 a year. That is several oil changes or a decent service.

They know what the average claim is likely to cost, they then add a percentage on for profit and admin. I really don't think you will see your £20 a month ever again.
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Sat 15 Sep 2007 22:37
AA Mechanical Breakdown Insurance - Aretas
I consider insurance as something to be taken out in the event of a life changing catastrophe.

If you look after your possessions then the occasional problem can be paid for from the money not spent on insurance over many years.

For example, I (obviously) insure our house and possessions, but don't bother with extras such as accidental damage. I don't often drop the TV. I suppose I would stand more chance of spilling a tin of paint if I did more decorating, but that is another story.
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Sat 15 Sep 2007 23:25
AA Mechanical Breakdown Insurance - Bill Payer
I don't often drop the TV.


Pretty well all contents policy's cover that as standard these days.
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Sun 16 Sep 2007 20:55
AA Mechanical Breakdown Insurance - graham woods
Forget it. I had this cover on a clio v6 I used to own. I had a funny sound coming from under-neath, out came the A.A. man and said "Sorry mate" it is to low to get my jack under to have a look. Totally use-less and 100% true. Then I found out they had cancelled the cover on it as there had been a mix up at the bank regarding payment (ample funds were in the bank).
All they had to do was ring me...Totally disgusting. I am with the R.A.C. now and will never have anything to do with the A.A. again. cheers, Graham.
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Fri 13 May 2011 07:46
AA Mechanical Breakdown Insurance - rosywills

My thermostat was done under the AA and my car was within the service period as 12 months hadn't passed since the the last service. BUT the car had done 91000 miles and the 90k service hadn't been done and the cam belt hadn't yet been changed but it still went through. The clarification of the service records was done over the phone by the garage and the AA never saw the actual documents and they still paid up. ...carinsurance1.co.uk

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Thu 23 Jun 2011 15:43
AA Mechanical Breakdown Insurance - bartyboy

not worth the paper its written on when i got this insurance they promised everything is covered being the 5star prestige cover now ive claimed they wont stand by cover and im landed with over £1200 bill from garage its not even the AA who cover its a company called motorway direct plc who the garages have never heard of STAY AWAY FROM THESE SAVE YOUR MONEY THERES ALWAYS A GET OUT CLAUSE FOR INSURANCE COMPANIES LIKE THESE

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Thu 23 Jun 2011 22:09
AA Mechanical Breakdown Insurance - bonzo dog

Hi Bartyboy, a few questions if I may:

  1. Who said "everything is covered"? The warranty document? or the salesman?
  2. Exactly what part has failed and
  3. Why have the warranty co said you do not have a valid claim?
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Mon 14 Nov 2011 17:30
AA Mechanical Breakdown Insurance - wallygog85

Similar problem.
Trying to put a claim through for a failed seal in the gear box and they'll only cover half the job! No reputable garage will just replace the seal, but that's all they will cover.
They insist it will return the car in a better condition than it was before - well, duh, your reparing a fault!

What is the point of not even covering the minimum job that can be done?

The AA are such hypocrites. They whinge at garages who only do part jobs, causing them more work when car's breakdown, yet affliate themselves with companies who do just that!

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