Breakdown insurance offers complete piece of mind that when you car leaves you stranded, it won’t also leave you out of pocket. There are plenty of different providers available but it’s important to strike a healthy balance between making sure you reach a level of cover you are comfortable with and not overpaying for features you don’t need. But how can you make sure you are completely covered without paying extra?
Currently, your two main options are to sign up to become a member of a ‘club’ like the AA or RAC, or signing up for a ‘per-claim’ company like Green Flag. There’s a third option of getting your breakdown cover through a third party such as your car insurance or premium bank account service, but these can end up being costly and are usually fairly rigid in exactly what they provide, so you want get the flexibility from having separate cover.
Paying for what you need
Like most insurance packages, there are different ‘levels’ of breakdown cover that you should consider before making a purchase. Basic services offer you enough to save you from a situation where you’ve got stranded, while premium tends to offer much more for a hefty charge. Most basic packages will give you recovery to a local garage, transport to take you to where you were going and a messaging service to keep you updated.
More expensive packages can include things like home start or multiple vehicle protection and might not be necessary for everyone. Think carefully about just how much you want to be paying out a month before you jump into a package at anything above the most basic level.
Some insurers will let you take out a policy on the car rather than a person, which can save you money if you only ever drive a single car. If you drive other cars regularly this obviously isn’t worth the small price saving, however.
Other Tips
Pay-Per-Incident insurance can sometimes be a good deal, where you pay repair upfront and claim back from your provider. It works providing you’re organised enough to make sure you make the claim and chase up the claim if anything goes wrong, but if you forget then you won’t save any more than if you had gone with the AA or RAC. However, for older cars that are likely to break down more often, a complete recovery service like that offered by the AA might well be cheaper for you anyway.
You should always look into buying breakdown cover online, at least to begin with, to get an idea of rival prices and the markets and current available deals. Nothing is stopping you from calling companies up after that, but a comparison site is usually the best place to start looking at providers.
Author Resource:
Breakdownchoices.co.uk provided tips and gudance on the topic of finding and purchasing breakdown cover. The key point from those in the know is to always take the time to perform a realistic breakdown cover comparison before purchasing either car or motorcycle breakdown cover . When taking your vehicle to Europe it is vitally important to establish whether you need European breakdown cover single trip or an annual policy, once you have determined that answer there only remains the task of completing a European breakdown cover comparison to find the most relevant policy for your circumstances and budget.