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AIBU

Cheeky bloody car insurers..

(45 Posts)
MaryTheBookeeper Wed 12-Aug-20 11:47:27

I'm buying car insurance & I see that 'breakdown' cover is no longer part of the package but an optional extra you have to pay more for! Cheeky sods. Of course we want breakdown cover that's the whole point. Pick me up & fix my car when I'm stuck on a journey. Oooohh I'm pissed.

TwiceAsNice Wed 12-Aug-20 11:59:55

I’ve never had breakdown cover as part of my car insurance I pay for that with the AA. The only extra I’ve ever had is the use of a car whilst mine has been in the garage

FlexibleFriend Wed 12-Aug-20 12:02:47

I've always had breakdown cover but not as part of my car insurance. Some insurers offer it as an extra but I prefer to choose my own.

NanTheWiser Wed 12-Aug-20 12:32:25

Breakdown cover is usually an added extra - not part of your insurance. I drive a Volvo and have their own cover.

tanith Wed 12-Aug-20 12:46:53

Not had it as part of my insurance but get it free for a year when I get my car serviced with Nissan.

Callistemon Wed 12-Aug-20 13:04:27

Insurance covers accidents, theft etc, not breakdown although some insurers may offer it as an extra or even an incentive for a while.

You could try another insurance company.

TheFrugalPiggy Wed 12-Aug-20 13:10:15

Breakdown cover has always been an optional extra!

Pantglas2 Wed 12-Aug-20 13:18:37

Here in Spain it’s included but I have my cover in UK with bank account.

Greeneyedgirl Wed 12-Aug-20 13:26:33

I’ve never had it as part of insurance. If I have my (old) car serviced at the dealership (Volvo) it includes annual breakdown.

SueDonim Wed 12-Aug-20 13:51:40

Ime, it’s always been an optional extra. Many of these ‘add-ons’ are cheaper if you buy them separately anyway.

I wanted legal costs covered and rather than pay out via my insurance company I have a stand-alone policy to cover two cars and household incidents for two years for £49.99.

timetogo2016 Wed 12-Aug-20 14:43:57

I do the same as FlexibleFriend.
The RAC have given me a great deal on-line,less than £20 for full recovery etc.

MerylStreep Wed 12-Aug-20 15:09:58

SueDonim
Have you ever had call to use the legal costs options?
We have: never again. A straight forward accident. Witnesses. Admission by the woman who drove across a main road without stopping ( but she did when my OH hit her)
One year down the line we realised that everyone was milking this claim for all it was worth.
It went on for another year.

Calendargirl Wed 12-Aug-20 16:29:35

MerylStreep

SueDonim
Have you ever had call to use the legal costs options?
We have: never again. A straight forward accident. Witnesses. Admission by the woman who drove across a main road without stopping ( but she did when my OH hit her)
One year down the line we realised that everyone was milking this claim for all it was worth.
It went on for another year.

Yes, I was hit by a Dutch lorry delivering flowers to our local florist.

No one hurt, but my car was a write off.

If we hadn’t had the legal costs bit, we wouldn’t have received a pay out as the foreign insurers were being awkward.

Chewbacca Wed 12-Aug-20 16:35:37

I was stationary, in a line of traffic, waiting for the lights to change and I was shunted from the back. The driver behind me quickly swerved out of the line of traffic and made a quick get away by driving across the junction with the lights on red. That caused another accident between him and a car that had right of way. He then fled from that accident. Without the legal costs on my insurance, I'd have been screwed because I had no car registration number, no documents, nothing.

SueDonim Wed 12-Aug-20 18:23:49

MerylStreep thankfully, no.

A friend is using hers to sue for damages when she fell on a slippery pavement and sustained a very nasty fracture that has meant she’s had to retire early.

Calendargirl Wed 12-Aug-20 18:24:19

Should have said, before my accident, I had decided not to pay for the optional legal costs part of my insurance renewal, but DH persuaded me it might be false economy.
How right he was, so glad I listened to him.
Always have it now, whatever it costs.

4allweknow Thu 13-Aug-20 10:13:52

Always had to have breakdown cover separately usually not from insurance company. Different if in an accident totally immobilising vehicle insurance company would deal with having vehicle moved or pay for cost as they would want to be able to inspect vehicle- different from a breakdown.

Aepgirl Thu 13-Aug-20 10:26:58

I have always paid for breakdown cover - I use Green Flag. Insurance is not for breakdowns,

Edithb Thu 13-Aug-20 10:35:18

We use Greenflag for breakdown insurance as they haven’t messed us about with renewal premiums shooting up after year one. We always have legal cover and had cause to use it when a Polish lorry driver claimed an accident was half our fault and the insurer was willing to accept that. We said we would go to court and that threat was enough for them to pay up in full!

Riggie Thu 13-Aug-20 10:35:59

In all the years Ive been driving Ive onkybever been offered it as a paid add on to insurance, usually from a comoany I habe never heard of so I've stuck withbAA/RAC.

I have had some free breakdown cover with a new car purchase - so I just suspend my paid for membership for the duration and then resume afterwards.

jenpax Thu 13-Aug-20 10:44:22

The OP doesn’t say which company she is with it would be interesting to know

Alioop Thu 13-Aug-20 10:56:58

Only ever offered breakdown cover as an extra too. Insurance is a minefield anyway, the time you spend trailing through the small print drives me bonkers. I've had my dogs in and they have put it up a third, I've never claimed & she is only six. Greedy, greedy companies the whole lot of them!!!!!

HootyMcOwlface Thu 13-Aug-20 11:03:37

If you get quotes via a comparison site you can put it in at the beginning when you add all your requirements, but other than that it’s always been an optional extra as far as I know.

I always used to be with AA then whenever I called them out I got a Green Flag van or local mechanic with Green Flag on their van. So I thought I’m not paying AA prices if they’re contracting on, so I don’t bother with them I go straight to Green Flag now.

Dareyouto Thu 13-Aug-20 11:21:06

In 35 years of driving I have been fortunate and never had an accident or really broken down- just 2 instances of needing help with a puncture. Legal cover on the used Audi I bought was offered free with Audi for the first 3 years and I always used to save my Tesco points for recovery with the RAC.
Every penny counts when you live alone and there is only one pension coming in.
Prior to Audi free cover I never included any extras with my car insurance as it was far cheaper to obtain my own. Nowadays, there is always a special offer somewhere to be had.

rowyn Thu 13-Aug-20 11:35:04

Re breakdown -- never had with insurance and if i had I'm sure it would have cost me a lot. At moment I use AutoAid, which is reasonable , and proved to work well as I had to call them when my clutch gave up.