Breakdown cover

[Fudger]

Guys and Gals, my son is 20 and has been driving for 3 years now. However, due to him hitting something in the road and wrecking a wheel/tyre/shock absorber that cost me £650 just before xmas , I have now taken an interest in the breakdown cover. They argued that the event, hitting an object laying in the road, was not a breakdown and although they did recover his car, they made sure he realised that they did not need to do so. The reason they did was solely down to the good nature of the breakdown driver who felt the situation was unsafe; it was 23:00, raining and he was on the A31 near Guildford which is a fast road.

Notwithstanding they are probably correct and that the small print says the same, it got me thinking about the following situations and how the breakdown companies deal with them.

1. Accidents - I now assume that in the event of an accident whereby the car was not drivable, they would not recover the vehicle.
2. Flat tyres - My sons car has a tube of 'gunk' and a tyre inflator but should the tyre not be temporarily fixable using this process, and the car needs recovery, they would not be required to recover it.

The question arises, therefore, as to what you would do in these situations and is there such a thing as a non-breakdown recovery policy?

 

[brucemillar]

Hmmmm

The AA recovered me and my car home after I was in an accident on the M1. The AA then attempted to invoice me as it was"not technically a breakdown".

Moot point as the car was driveable if we could have started the engine. The battery "safety" cable had triggered in the accident. I refused to pay. No further action taken.

Sent from my iPhone using MBClub UK

 

[GordonTarling]

Surely, if you hit something in the road, that's an accident and you would claim on your insurance for the recovery and repair costs? As for your unfixable flat tyre scenario, I would have thought that decent breakdown cover would handle that?

 

[NDFR]

Happy to take your £130 until you need assistance then try to wangle out of liability, smacks of profits over customer care.

ditch AA and RAC and go green flag at least its cheaper.

 

[paul73mt]

If you get a punture and you call out Mercedes-Benz Mobilo its up to there discretion if they come out (was checking there terms and conditions awhile back) Alot of breakdown companys will charge you if your involved in an accident but cant remember on the mercedes if its covered or not. For an extra £60 i got breakdown cover with my insurance. I called them out when i couldn't get a wheel off when i got a puncture they come out no problems at all. Now if i was in the mercedes and i called mercedes out as they dont do punctures as a general rule i wonder what would of happened???

As always we never know how good the service is untill we have to use them

 

[amiller81]

I get the benefit of RAC cover with my Barclays Bank at a very reasonable £15 a month. Worth every penny

 

[Fudger]

Gordon, you would have thought so but the AA confirmed to me, no more than an hour ago, that they would only take someone to a safe location (if you were not already) and call a mobile tyre repair firm on your behalf. This would apply whether or not you had their 'national recovery' service.

In terms of hitting something in the road, the insurance company would cover the situation but would you really want to call them when it appeared to be a blown tyre at the time? The long term ramifications of making an 'own' fault claim far outweigh the benefits I would suggest.

Thinking it all through, you are probably best to simply have a few numbers of national recovery firms and utilise them if necessary rather than call the insurance company.

If you get a punture and you call out Mercedes-Benz Mobilo its up to there discretion if they come out (was checking there terms and conditions awhile back) Alot of breakdown companys will charge you if your involved in an accident but cant remember on the mercedes if its covered or not. For an extra £60 i got breakdown cover with my insurance. I called them out when i couldn't get a wheel off when i got a puncture they come out no problems at all. Now if i was in the mercedes and I called mercedes out as they dont do punctures as a general rule I wonder what would of happened???

As always we never know how good the service is until we have to use them

Well, as I said previously, it was only the good will of the chap that turned up that got my sons car home. It probably helped that it was less than 20 miles also. However, I would rather have the certainty than relying on someones good will at the time especially when it is my wife or one of my two boys who, with all respect, have little idea how to solve problems such as this.

 

[John]

In any kind of accident - your insurance company should be recovering your vehicle if undrivable - subject to the policy.

The tyre thing - I make sure we have proper spare wheels in our cars.

Perhaps not a huge surprise dealers want to both save money and possibly make money out of a customer's bad luck.

 

[Fudger]

In any kind of accident - your insurance company should be recovering your vehicle if undrivable - subject to the policy.

John, its not that they will not help, its more to do with the costs especially in own fault claims and the long term issues of having to declare such for the next 5 years.

 

[Blowpipe]

About fifteeen years ago I got a car stuck in the mud in stupid (totally my fault) circumstances on an unmade road. The AA sent out a transit and the patrolman, with some difficulty, winched me out.

It may be times have moved on, but they did the job and the guy earned himself a substantial unofficial 'drink' for helping me out. Not a breakdown, nor an accident, but this kindness ensured I stayed with them for years.

 

[John]

John, its not that they will not help, its more to do with the costs especially in own fault claims and the long term issues of having to declare such for the next 5 years.

Got you.

You could try my parent's trick which was to not get involved in my vehicular-associated costs whatsoever so any damage I inflicted I had to pay for...

 

[Fudger]

Got you.

You could try my parent's trick which was to not get involved in my vehicular-associated costs whatsoever so any damage I inflicted I had to pay for...

I tried that but my wife and both my son's thought I was being extremely mean

 

[meeeb]

Always best to read the policy before purchase and then accept the terms and pay, or reject them and keep your money in your pocket. These days most policy documents are available to read online before paying anything, and wording has been simplified to make them more understandable by laypersons.

Doing so may be a pain in the butt, but so is sitting helplessly at the side of the road on a cold wet night because you're not covered.

 

[John]

I tried that but my wife and both my son's thought I was being extremely mean

Really? I thought it was fair enough personally.

It would have been nice to have a bottomless pit of money to dip into but just one of things that assists in teaching the value of money.

 

[Belldarr]

When my jetski trailer axle failed while I was towing it on the A3 I called the RAC to help as I was blocking a live lane on a bend on a very fast dual carrigeway, they informed me that my trailer was not covered under my policy and they would only help if I payed £450 on a debit card over the telephone there and then, I was effectivley being held to ransom even though I had checked this with the guy selling me the breakdown policy several months earlier. Once the drama was over I registered my complaint with RAC and asked for the recording of that sales call, it was never supplied to me but I was refunded my annual fee as they could not provide cover for my trailer but not the £450 for the recovery - I will never use the RAC again as clearly they will tell you anything to get a sale and worry about the finer details as and when they arise.

DB

 

[Major774]

Surely, if you hit something in the road, that's an accident and you would claim on your insurance for the recovery and repair costs? As for your unfixable flat tyre scenario, I would have thought that decent breakdown cover would handle that?

I go with that.

 

[kianok]

I called them out when i couldn't get a wheel off when i got a puncture they come out no problems at all. Now if i was in the mercedes and i called mercedes out as they dont do punctures as a general rule i wonder what would of happened???

When I called Mobilo for that exact same reason (wheel stuck on) they came out, no problems at all.

 

[219]

If you have a wheel stuck to the hub - loosen all five bolts then drive a short distance and it will come loose by itself .

 

[the prince]

Around 20 years ago i had an RAC policy and they came out to me up in Middlesborough after my starter motor failed. As i was working away from home and it was out of hours, the mechanic took pity on me, sourced one from a late opening motor factors, and brought it back and fitted it. Great service.

Incidentally I now use Autoaid. It's afully comprehensive policy for around £38 per year and cover's at home and recovery including hotel if needed. They do cover trailers and caravan's i believe. It's a pay a claim policy whereby you pay the company that attends your call-out and submit your invoice and a cheque arrives within about 10 days. I've been paid out about 4-5 times in the 8-9 years i've had the policies. Most i've been paid was about £185 for a tow home. They pay up to £65 for a home call out. Either you can call them and they call out a company or you can choose your own choice.

 

[Piff]

If you get a punture and you call out Mercedes-Benz Mobilo its up to there discretion if they come out (was checking there terms and conditions awhile back) Alot of breakdown companys will charge you if your involved in an accident but cant remember on the mercedes if its covered or not. For an extra £60 i got breakdown cover with my insurance. I called them out when i couldn't get a wheel off when i got a puncture they come out no problems at all. Now if i was in the mercedes and i called mercedes out as they dont do punctures as a general rule i wonder what would of happened???

As always we never know how good the service is untill we have to use them

When collecting our car from the local MB dealer we commented on the collapsible tyre on the spare wheel and said that I doubted SWMBO would cope with a roadside wheel change. Salesman said to call out Mobilo and pointed out their phone number on the B pillar.