RAC/AA recovery

[Terry7556]

im thinking of sgning up for the RAC roadside assistance with extra cover which means you are covered if you are a passenger in another vehicle as well.
anyone used this?
recommend it or another service for recovery?

 

[edphill]

I use it - great service. I broke down when on route to Scotland in a friend's car and they came right out. The only thing is that at the end of the year, if you choose to renew with them, it can up your premium if you have used the callout. I just cancelled and signed up again online.

I also have the RAC breakdown warranty which is really good value. Just had a relay blow up that cost £200 and they covered it. Good service.

If you use a cashback site like www.topcashback.com you can get a load of money back on signing up as well.

Hope this helps

 

[gblades]

I thought these always covered the cardholder and not the vehicle.

 

[edphill]

Nope, you can get personal or vehicle breakdown cover - one covers the person, the other covers the vehicle.

 

[Terry7556]

there is a few options ,all £100 or thereabouts, quite a good choice and at £2 a week it looks like good value for money

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

there is a few options ,all £100 or thereabouts, quite a good choice and at £2 a week it looks like good value for money

Only if you use it!

 

[Terry7556]

might do freddy in two weeks i will be at croyde bay , anywhere near you?
ill be as sick as a parrot, had the 6 week check on the new hip yesterday and he said definately NO surfing or even bodyboarding for that matter. mind you pulling on the wetsuit was always gonna be a mission

 

[timtheenchanter]

is the RAC cover not personal as standard anyway? pretty sure that you have to choose NOT to have personal with them

apologies, they do seem to have vehicle on there as well now (used to be hidden away)
just had a quick look, and there's not much in it (£6 for roadside/recovery/onward), unless theres a few people driving one car, I'd go for the personal.

The only thing with other breakdown companies, apart from the main ones, AA, RAC, Greenflag, is they seem to have very few of their own patrols, so the "roadside assistance" is pretty poor, I have used breakdown quite a bit with previous cars, and even the main companies use 3rd parties on occasion.
typical scenarios:
Company patrol, its broken, lets see if we can fix it here, even if its a temporary fix (had a patrol spend 3/4 hr on a repair once)
3rd party, opens bonnet, scratches bum, "its broke mate" tows you home...

Breakdown insurance is one of those things thats only good value if you use it, but break down on a motorway once, and you wish you'd bought it!

Personally with 3 kids, I wouldn't venture out without it!

 

[Peter.N.]

I have been with the AA for over 50 years now and they have always given good service. The only gripe I have had is that they wouldn't recover the car after my wife had been in an accident a couple of years ago. The did send me a leather bound road atlas on our 50th year renewal

Peter

 

[Burnerman]

I have been with the AA for over 50 years now and they have always given good service. The only gripe I have had is that they wouldn't recover the car after my wife had been in an accident a couple of years ago. The did send me a leather bound road atlas on our 50th year renewal

Peter

You'll remember the old side valve BSA and sidecar outfits then, Peter - plus the obligatory salute
I've posted before on this - the AA were absolutely wonderful in recovering my motorbike.
John

 

[Peter.N.]

Oh yes, I'm afraid I do John. I wonder if anyone came off their bike doing that I was only on two wheels until I was old enough to get my car license and that was on a 125 Vespa. The only teenagers you were likely to see with cars in the '50s were TV engineers.

Peter

 

[Crickleymal]

I switched from the RAC to the AA a few years ago. We didn't have many breakdowns but I found the RAC never came out in less than 2 hours sometimes 4. Each time they came out to me the mechanic would ask when I called then express suprise that I'd had to wait so long as he'd been sitting at home twiddling his thumbs until 20 minutes previously. I've only used the AA twice and SWMBO 3 times but each time they've been at the car in less than an hour.