[Closed] Vehicle breakdown recovery- who’s a good provider?

Anybody. The AA (and possibly the RAC) have their own vehicles but the rest just act as a clearing house, sending jobs to those recovery guys you see parked next to a Portakabin at the back of an industrial estate. Same as lots of "local" phone numbers for tradesmen, which turn out to be somebody in an office miles away.

Van developed a bald spot on a tyre with metal showing through. Called the AA who refused to attend "because the vehicle isn't safe to drive". Obviously the best time to call the AA is when the vehicle is safe to drive and has no faults. Green Flag located a tyre fitter and arranged to have a tow meet me at the ferry (was at a ferry terminal in Holland).

Are you sure that Green Flag won't cover your cars? As far as I can see they will cover your car regardless, plus give you personal cover for any vehicle you are travelling in as long as it is less than 16 years old. My car is with Green Flag and is just coming up to 16 so I need to find out for sure.

I'm with Start rescue (following a recommendation here ages ago), cheap enough but I've never called them out so no clue on the actual service they provide. I was with the RAC, paying a load and the one time I needed to call them (after 10 years of paying) it was a hassle (midnight call, local garage guy shows up at 3am and wasn't repairable at the roadside anyway)

Nico
You might be right tbh I skimmed the renewal letter and haven’t got it on me, doh!

I’m with the RAC as they cover the person rather than the vehicle.

They’ve been quick and efficient on the rate occasion that I’ve called them.

I've just checked with Green Flag. According to them:

"The vehicle named on the policy is covered no matter who is driving and no matter how old the vehicle is".

Cheers, may still shop around as it was quite expensive c£280 renewal

I'm with Gem this year:

https://www.motoringassist.com/

Called them out a few times (my wife's hobby is flattening her battery) and they've always been fine.

Recovery EXTRA is the level of cover I choose, you can save money on the premium by choosing Recovery RECLAIM. Make sure you understand the difference. (With RECLAIM, you pay for your repair or recovery yourself and reclaim the appropriate costs from us afterwards. You can call our Rescue Control Centre, or make your own arrangements if you use a specialist garage or want to use your preferred mechanic.)

I fear that breakdown cover is now just like any other insurance and you shop around every year and shift companies without loyalty.

Europ assist or red star

I pay about £60 for Green Flag for 1 car. I've been with them for yonks and got it through my Coop Bank account.

https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/rac-v-aa-age-old-question/

Autoaid - just over £40 covers you and your wife (you must be married) for recovery anywhere in the UK. Had a bad run recently and used them quite a few times. They use local operators so sometimes you get quite a large company and sometimes small companies who might be on call rather than actually working. All bar one occasion they've got to me in less than an hour at the time they said they would and recovered me straight away various distances between 1 mile and 200miles. Only time they were late (took 1h15m instead of 1h) was due to his previous job over running slightly.

You're possibly more likely to be recovered straight away rather than attempt a fix at the road side but the problem I had with the RAC years ago was that even if you told them you needed a recovery truck they still sent a man in a van who'd then say "you need a recovery truck" and you're only put into the recovery truck queue at that point rather than an hour earlier when you phoned them.

Horses for courses but it's s lot cheaper than the RAC.

Nationwide FlexPlus account. It's a joint one so covers myself and my wife. Phone insurance, European travel and Breakdown for £13 per month. Also includes our children until they are 18 years old.
In the last month I now have a new phone for a £25 excess after breaking mine and had the breakdown (it's provided by Britannia Rescue) take me and my car 150 miles to the garage of my choice near home rather than dump me at the nearest place they could find.

I'll second AutoAid.

Used them for about five years after my AA renewal seemed a bit steep.

The £43 covers you and your spouse in any vehicle that you're driver or passenger in. It gives you the top level of cover that AA/RAC give you as in: Recovery/Homestay/Relay/Hire Car/Hotel/Onward Travel but at around a fifth of the price.

They use local contractors and you're more likely to be recovered than repaired but it's still a great deal.

You HAVE to be a married couple to have both of you covered or else you have to pay £43 each. We're married but have different surnames so I had to send a copy of our certificate. If you both have the same name, they won't ask so that's maybe a way round it for those living in sin......

I’m with Start rescue (following a recommendation here ages ago), cheap enough but I’ve never called them out so no clue on the actual service they provide.

Likewise. I like the simplicity of their app for making call outs - because I've had a couple of times with other companies where I've been in the middle of nowhere, able to describe exactly where I was but not in terms the call centre staff could relate to ("I'm on the A92, just after the dual carriageway ends, at the Cupar turn off", "Do you have a postcode for that?", "I don't think the postman even has a postcode for this place! Do you know where he's coming from and I'll give him directions", "I can't see which agent to assign it to until I have an address, can you tell me which towns you are near", "Well if you've got someone near Glenrothes or Cupar that would be sensible", "Is that C-o-o-p-e-r", "No C-U-P-A-R". "Ok, I'll pass your details to the driver in Cupar". 15 minutes later a call comes from a guy who is on his way from Forfar to Coupar Angus!). I presume though that most of them will now have this sort of feature?

My RAC renewal arrived today. £254 for 12 months. That seems steep.

Anyone know if they are like insurance companies and will give different prices for new customers?

The Autoaid prices quoted above^^^^
Are they monthly or annually? Monthly seems steep and annually seems exceptionally cheap.

Another Autoaid user, been with them for years.

The price is per year.

And you can now also cover your common law partner.

Quote from MSE "Free cover for a husband, wife, civil partner or common-law partner. The same cover applies to your spouse or civil partner, or for those with a common-law partner (though you'll need to provide proof of the relationship within seven days, eg, both names on a utility bill, shared ownership of residential property or joint lease or rental agreement)."

AutoAid, £43 per year for the full monty of AA or RAC.

My RAC renewal arrived today. £254 for 12 months. That seems steep.

Anyone know if they are like insurance companies and will give different prices for new customers?

Yep, i just swap backwards and forwards between AA and RAC every few years.

I was with Autohome for years and only ever had to call them out once and they turned up in their own breakdown truck. And their top cover was a fraction of what the AA wanted.

Thanks guys. The autoaid will be looked into.

+1 for autoaid.

Over the years we've had them out for the OH's landy a few times. One time they were there quicker than I was and I was less than 10 minutes away. They also recovered out sheep trailer (with a small tractor inside) after we had a blow out and no spare.

another +1 for autoaid here, £43 for me and the wife. never had to use them but ive only heard positive things from those that have.

I changed bank account recently so the packaged "stuff" with the account (like various random bits of insurance, breakdown cover and so on) no longer exists so I went off in search of other breakdown cover. Ended up going with Green Flag who I've used once before many years ago. £80 for a year, covers my car anywhere including home callouts and covers me if I'm in another vehicle. Seemed a reasonable price; AA and RAC both wanted over £100.

Cheers all gone for autoaid

I n r a t s but MSE has a company that is less than half the price of AA etc.

Not had to use them yet.

LOL. Just checked and it was autoaid.

i was with kwikfit, who in turn were someone else that kwikfit bought, but it was just another front end for contracting out to the private operators. They've now also been bought out but not sure who by.

I've only had to use them twice but both times they were excellent. The second was a battery, he jump started it but it was basically goosed; he said he could source and fit a new one as part of the service but the cost would be marked up, then handed me a post it with his number on - suggested I get a new battery from ECP and then he came and fitted it privately in 10 mins for a foldable consideration 😉 

Is autoaid the one you have to fork out and recoup?

Autoaid used to be pay and reclaim but not any more.

Looked at Autoaid but reviews on Trustpilot were either 5 star or 1 star.
Googled around and then rang my car insurance. They offered me everything I have from RAC for £66 per annum. RAC want nearly £200 more than that.

Just waiting for details to be emailed to me but can't see me staying with RAC.