Was about to sign up for AutoAid as recommended by MSE until I realised it only covers married couples/ civil partners and not cohabiting (you'd think 25 years would count for something?)
Rescuemycar seems cheap but has some poor reviews.
So can anyone recommend a reliable reasonably priced breakdown service for:
Don't mind paying and reclaiming. Are there any that do no-claims discount or partial refund for no claims?
On Wednesday 18 December 2013 09:21 mike wrote in uk.d-i-y:
The AA have always been reliable IME - and faster than other recovery services to turn up (
FWIW, Which Sept 2013: roadside assistance rated
Allan (no connection with Which other than as a member)
Just went AA (new cover) based partly on Which review and partly on the good "signup" deal. I believe you need to challenge renewal premiums, then they come down (as long as you have not been a heavy user).
AA/RAC. But they'll clobber you if you renew so always switch to get the new customer discounts.
I've been happy with the AA, service good and fairly prompt. The times I've needed them it has been a recovery job (knackered injector, leaky air suspension), car taken to garage of my choice for repair, me taken home, hire car arranged and delivered.
Pretty sure AA cover is for the person not a specified car. So if you breakdown as a passenger in another vehicle you can still call on their services.
The cost of the AA is rather eye watering but I suspect you get what you pay for. I shall have to remember to haggle next renewal...
You can choose to either cover the car or the person.
They refused to haggle so I moved to the RAC. I would have paid about
50% more than a new customer with the same cover.mike grunted in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:
Personally I use and would indeed recommend AutoAid (but I'm half of a married couple, so...!)
I really don't think there's much to choose between RAC and AA, having used them both. But whatever you go for (whether either of them or many other outfits) *do* make sure you join via a cashback site like Quidco or Topcashback - they are particularly worthwhile for that and it's a no- brainer IMHO. Certainly don't pay the full asking premium, anyway!
PS if you want to join one, then at the risk of getting by butt flamed, please feel free to support my crimbo fund by using my affiliate link below :) )
Yep, I phoned the AA up this year at renewal time and told them I was leaving them as the RAC were cheaper with an introductory discount. The AA then dropped their price straight away to almost the same price as I would pay to be a new customer. And when I used them a couple of weeks ago (not my van or AA card) they arrived within 10 minutes - and the service was superb.
Now I seem to remember a post here this year about someone getting stung by one breakdown cover provider charging them to cancel their policy as they had signed up for automatic renewal of the policy. It was in the small print and I am sure it was not the AA.
Probably Green Flag. They seem to have a bit of a reputation.
The premium depends on the age of the car but I have an old car and the premium is £58 BUT only if I call them out. I only pay £18 up front with the additional £40 only being payable on the first call out.
In 3 years I've called them out once and found them OK. Like many others they use local garages to supply the service.
Read the terms and conditions VERY CAREFULLY.
This usually bumps up the premiums.
Only thing I picked the AA for was their European cover. Some take you to the nearest suitable garage inside 25km or something silly. We tend to go to places where there's probably no garage of any sort within
25km... AA looked better.Andy
I use RAC, as we get discounted rates through work. I also have European cover through them. I've had to use it as well, taking our car easily more than 25kms to be fixed by the main dealer.
Much better than having to deal with people in French, and car hire thrown in while ours was fixed.
But clearly a limit to what they can do over the phone. When our car still wasn't fixed a couple of days before we were due to drive home I had to go into the garage myself and persuade the mechanics to fix it - lots of pointing and saying English words in a French accent. (I did discovered that "ECU" is pretty much the same in both languages!)
ADAC - You can join via the German site (in English). They sub out to the AA, amusingly enough. First class service, and no messing you around about coverage -if you're paying them, you're covered, it's that simple, no matter what vehicle you're in on the day. Single membership, plus spouse, very cheap.
Now that IS interesting. The AA are well and truly pissing me off with their sharp practices, but the service on the road appears to be as good as ever.
I've been with ADAC for a couple of years now - they're leagues ahead of anybody else if you want full-year pan-Euro cover. But we've stuck with 'em back in the UK. One of the reasons, of course, is that they only charge ?90 for a couple for personal cover...
We've used 'em twice in the UK. Both times, you ring Germany, but just ask them to call you back, and they will (from Croatia - offshoring!). Then the AA call you from France within minutes. Both times, the patrol arrived within the hour. Neither time did we get grief for not being AA members.
Homestart is included, but the fun'n'games MIGHT begin for some if you need relaying. They don't do that in the same way as AA/RAC. What they do is pay a fixed maximum allowance for towing. You then get an allowance for three days of overnight accomodation or a hire car. You pay, you reclaim. If the car can't be fixed in three days, it's recovered to your home (or, presumably, your preferred local-to-home garage).
All the German you need to know is "Sprechen sie Englisch?". I think I've spoken to one person there who said "Sorry, no, one moment" (in English), and put me on hold to transfer me to somebody else.
In message , mike writes
Currently we have it included with a bank account, but before that we most recently used GEM Motoring Assist for a few years.
Reasonably priced, do a pay and reclaim option, had a couple of call outs, all was dealt with efficiently
Don't you need an address in Germany for this?
To buy online, yes. But call 'em, and they're quite happy for a membership with a non-German address.
They even send you a nice glossy magazine regularly.
Anyone with a Toyota should join the Toyota Club, for £64 pa by DD, which includes full AA membership including home start and relay.
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