AA launches pay-as-you-go breakdown cover
The AA has launched a new pay-as-you-go car breakdown policy. If you don’t break down you don’t pay. But is it any good?
Traditionally, car breakdown services such as the AA and RAC involve buying an annual policy upfront and then not being charged anything at all in the event that you break down and need a mechanic.
But if you don’t break down you might feel you’ve wasted your money.
AA has now launched an alternative in the form of a pay-as-you-go policy. Let's see how the AA’s new offer compares with other cheap car breakdown options.
AA Breakdown Standby
The AA’s Breakdown Standby deal is the AA’s first foray into cover that doesn’t involve an annual policy.
Under the policy drivers who need to call a mechanic pay £80 per call-out. The AA says this is significantly less than they’d be charged if they broke down on the motorway and didn’t have cover in place. It says if you had to ask the Highways Agency to arrange a tow off the motorway and move the vehicle ten miles, it would cost £200.
To register for the new service you need to download the AA Breakdown Standby app which costs £4.99 on iPhone or Android.
After you’ve entered your details the app creates your virtual membership card, which goes live 24 hours later (assumingly so you don’t download the app and sign up the minute you break down halfway round the M25).
You then have access to AA Roadside Assistance for a fixed fee of £80 each time you break down.
Who’s it good for?
If you have a pretty reliable car and don’t do too many miles, AA Breakdown Standby might be a good option. After all, if you don’t break down all year all you’ll have paid is £4.99 for the app – and nothing in subsequent years.
However, the deal doesn’t cover breakdowns at home where a significant proportion of breakdowns happen; instead you’ll need to be at least ¼ mile away from home.
However, even if you break down just once a year you’d have been better off with the AA’s Roadside Assistance policy which costs £39 a year and includes a tow to a nearby garage if your car can't be fixed at the roadside.
So you’d need to be pretty sure your car was reliable – and be really short of cash – for the pay-as-you-go option to make financial sense.
Alternative cheap breakdown options
Full AA cover with road and home assistance and national recovery costs £99 a year. With this policy the car, driver and up to seven passengers will be taken to any UK mainland destination if the car can’t be fixed at the roadside.
Pay-and-reclaim policies can work out better value. With this type of policy the breakdown cover company will use a local firm and you’ll have to pay upfront for the call-out and recovery. You then claim the money back from your breakdown cover provider.
The best known pay-and-reclaim provider is AutoAid which charges £39 a year. If you break down you call AutoAid and it arranges for a local garage to come out to you. You pay the fee and then reclaim it from AutoAid which pays up within 14 days. Home assistance is included but you can only reclaim £65 for home call-outs – an amount it claims will cover the garage call out fee, basic labour costs and local recovery charges.
This type of policy can be quite economical if you don’t mind paying on the spot and claiming the money back.
Saving money
If you’d prefer a comprehensive breakdown policy with a well-known provider such as the AA or RAC, check out cashback sites.
At the moment you can get £10.10 cashback on AA policies worth up to £50 on TopCashback.co.uk which means you can get Roadside Assistance for just £28.90. Policies costing between £101 and £150 qualify for £35.35 cashback meaning you can get road and home assistance and national recovery for £63.65.
TopCashback also offers up to £55.55 cashback on RAC policies, the exact amount depending on which policy you buy.
Another option is to ring car breakdown providers directly and negotiate a price.
Finally, check you don’t have car breakdown cover already. It’s often offered as a perk on packaged current accounts while some insurers will offer it free, or at a reduced price, when you’re buying car insurance.
More on cars:
25 ways to cut your car insurance
The worst car hire charges and catches
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