Breakdown cover - difference between cheap and expensive

[Bonefishblues]

Originally Posted by canis

This is precisely my point - Roadside Assistance is useless! Unless they'll tow me home (usually an extra fee to the policy) I'm not interested. It's the only service I want or need, everything else has no purpose.

I was quite happy with mine when they put themselves in harm's way beside the A40 going into London after my car fell off its jack, also when they recovered me home when a driveshaft popped, and then recovered the car to the garage a couple of days later so it could be fixed.
AutoAid, under £50, and my wife's covered too.
I find it very useful, and for the money, stupid value.

[marsdalebear]

Green Flag for me. European cover included and any driver covered. Used them once when the Honda failed to start due to me emptying the battery and they came out to the wilds of Lincolnshire within the hour to jump start me.

[green van man]

Originally Posted by marsdalebear

Green Flag for me. European cover included and any driver covered. Used them once when the Honda failed to start due to me emptying the battery and they came out to the wilds of Lincolnshire within the hour to jump start me.

I have an issue with green flag and will not use them on principle. I was with them years ago when they introduced a surcharge on cars over 10 years old. Not happy about it but paid.
Went on holiday to Devon or Cornwall, can't remember which in the 1600e Cortina. When on holiday the gearbox decided to play up and drift out of top gear on the overrun. Not a problem more an inconvenience that I coped with untill we got home and I could pull the box and fix it.
However on the M5 on the way home as I am Bollington along in lane 1 with the camping trailer behind holding it in gear, I am overtaken by many green flag breakdown trucks with 2 and 3 year old cars on the back.
I thought cheeky buggers, charge me a surcharge for being more than 10 years old and I'm the one getting home under my own steam. Never again will they see my money, I will walk first.

Paul.

[loki_the_glt]

Autoaid for me - At Home, Roadside and Recovery on a personal- rather than vehicle-based policy for less than £60p.a.

It's better now that they've changed their procedure so you no longer pay and claim back.

They use local recovery firms so there might be differences in the response times/standards.

[Ian21401]

IMHO the quality of service is down to the quality of the local agents that the service is out-sourced to.[/QUOTE]

I agree totally.

I joined National Breakdown decades ago. I still have my original enamel radiator badge. They eventually became Green Flag. To my knowledge they have always used local agents. Have used them a number of times spread over the decades. A punctured radiator when towing caravan on A1 - car and caravan transported back to our home. A broken windscreen in my Marina in Lincolnshire - flat bedded to my intended destination ( a car club member ) where we fitted one of his spare windscreens. A flat battery in my Orion (parked at work and left sidelights on ) - a local garage attended and jump started from the recovery truck. A dead Volvo on way home from work (MAF failed ) - again a local garage flat bedded me to home. Now with Mayday (Green Flag ) through Caravan & Motorhome Club. Needed them recently when could not get vehicle jack to fit jacking point when had a RNS puncture. Local CF Recovery attended very quickly with trolley jack and wheel changed.
Never had cause to complain.

[Marty Dolomite]

There is a BIG difference, the level of service you receive from the call taker earning min wage and having to meet targets or a dedicated call centre that belongs to the breakdown company is the major one, then you have the recovery service the very basic cheap cover will get you towed up to 10 miles which if on a motorway miles from the nearest junction and miles from home can get costly paying the excess mileage which will differ between companies. (anything from £1 to £3.50 a mile).
you may also find that even with the lowest level cover some will cover towing if you put the wrong fuel in, lock you keys in the car, get more than one puncture and a lot of other 'minor' issues and some will charge you extra even breaking down in car park with a height restriction or an off road car park (car boot sale field) may see you charged extra if the recovery provider can't fit their van or truck in

[Bonefishblues]

Originally Posted by Marty Dolomite

There is a BIG difference, the level of service you receive from the call taker earning min wage and having to meet targets or a dedicated call centre that belongs to the breakdown company is the major one, then you have the recovery service the very basic cheap cover will get you towed up to 10 miles which if on a motorway miles from the nearest junction and miles from home can get costly paying the excess mileage which will differ between companies. (anything from £1 to £3.50 a mile).
you may also find that even with the lowest level cover some will cover towing if you put the wrong fuel in, lock you keys in the car, get more than one puncture and a lot of other 'minor' issues and some will charge you extra even breaking down in car park with a height restriction or an off road car park (car boot sale field) may see you charged extra if the recovery provider can't fit their van or truck in

...so the message is to check the cover offered.

In the many companies I have used over the years, I've never seen any correlation I can discern between cost of cover/'premium' badge and how long it has taken to help me, or the courtesy and competence of the operative.

In fact as I have said earlier thread, in many ways I have been most impressed by the cheapest and (formerly) least well-known.