We have AA family membership with three drivers all covered, whether driver or passenger, in any car. Last year, after a little haggling, we paid £116.70 for the years cover. We have just received a renewal notice for this year at £251.20 even though we have never troubled the AA in the 5 years we have had their breakdown cover.
I am so annoyed at this rip-off that I will probably not even bother to haggle this year but allow the AA cover to lapse. Out of our four cars, two have free breakdown cover anyway - the Toyota GT86 is covered by Toyota for the first year and the Puma is covered by Ford Assist having been serviced by our Ford Dealer.
My Green Flag renewal had increased this year, even though it included 3 years discount for NO callouts! Last year I got a fresh on-line quote which worked out cheaper and they couldn’t argue with that. I’ve now looked around and found a better breakdown offer available with the new car insurance.
I changed online to the RAC the year before last as I have 3 cars and took the personnel cover which covers any vehicle whether I am driving it or as a passenger. When the renewal came up last year there was no increase on the previous years quote.
Nick i`ve got similar cover with the AA & pay about £100 ish usually. This renewal came in at about £165. A quick phone call (rant) to their “Are you thinking of leaving the AA” department & a deal was done at £104.
And i had them out twice last year, although the second call out was only because the first guy didn`t repair it properly.
Seems i have to threaten to leave to get a decent price come renewal time what ever service it is nowadays. Insurance, Mobile phone, breakdown cover etc etc. I think they just hope people will renew without querying the price & i`m sure many do just that!
All the pricing is aimed at brand new customers, so you have to chop and change or threaten to leave. Do you also get cover included through a bank current account? Some people do.
I imagine their costs have gone up a little - running out of fuel has become more common (fewer petrol stations and people running cars emptier by only putting in £20 each time) and there’s the problem of new cars rarely having spare tyres. Some breakdown firms used to charge extra for the latter type of incident (considering it to be your fault for not carrying a suitable spare) but it’s so rare to get a spare included these days that they may have absorbed the cost and increased all fees to cover it.
With the Clydesdale Bank, ours only covers a breakdown within a 10 mile radius of home which is as much use as a custard walking stick.
To upgrade, it would be nearly £50.00 extra.
We pay an Account Membership “fee” of £13.50 per month. I’ve not read the size 2 font as to why until a couple of days ago.
I now know it’s to pay for “free” travel insurance, “free” breakdown cover, and numerous other freebees we do not require so I will be having a word with the bank regarding refunding them. Seems some banks are refunding years of charges…not talking PPI claims here by the way.
I’ve been covered by Autoaid for the past 2 years, pay for the recovery then claim it back £39 for the year. Never had to use it yet so can’t comment on that. I’m guessing they operate similar to Greenflag and send the nearest outfit out to you to recover. I got fed up of increasing prices of the main firms mines only got up £1 in the 2 years I’m been with them.
Phoned AA determined to cancel but ended up accepting a revised price of £126.99 for family cover, i.e. a saving of £124.21 over their original renewal quote.
I am just too soft !
They all do it, I’m with the RAC and they offered a £11 discount for this year which is still £65 more than others. It does annoy me that you have to do this every year.
If you haven’t already heard of them, ADAC (based in Germany though in the UK the AA will serve you on their behalf) offer a European breakdown and recovery service which is second to none. ‘Mitgleidschaft’ is the level of cover you’ll need and it costs around £40. Please don’t worry if you don’t speak or understand German as their operators all speak an excellent level of English. I used them for the campervan and called them once after being bogged in. About 40 minutes later, the AA guy helped to push me out of the mud we had sunken into. Had I asked the AA for this service, I would expect to pay well over £100.
All of this for a year cost less than a third of whatever UK services were offering. ADAC operates on a freephone number and they call back anyway.
If you are feeling as if you’re doing all the running around while paying a UK company for the pleasure; the normal way UK businesses treat their loyal customers whose calls are really important but which they cannot answer when we dare to disturb them, look to companies outside of the UK who will offer better cover if we ever need to use it and who will treat you with the respect you have paid them for.
I heard of ADAC being very good, but I also heard that their tow you home service has a limited mileage after which you have to pay. Do you have any details of that? I was thinking of joining them because they cover you anywhere in Europe.
Hi. I could only tell you my experience of ADAC and direct you to their contact info on their website. I have no connection to them other than having been a customer of theirs.
We get Full AA membership with our bank current account. Also we get travel ins, mobile phone ins and entry to the VIP suite at Manchester Airport. Well worth the £12 a month that we are charged.