A word of warning about Relay: You only get one bite.
This is a true story… A lady who lived in Redditch went to Sheffield for a week. On the Friday afternoon she set of for home but broke down after a couple of miles. She called the RAC who attended promptly (lone woman driver) but he couldn’t fix it on the roadside. He then towed her car to the nearest Ford dealer.
It was now 4pm Friday. She waited patiently in their plush waiting area but eventually discovered at 5pm that they were closing up for the night. They, of course, hadn’t even looked at her car and had no intention of doing anything before Monday.
She phoned her husband who phoned the RAC and asked them to Relay her home (She was a full member). They refused on the grounds that they had already dealt with the incident. Her husband then drove the 240 mile round trip to collect her and then again on the Tuesday to collect the car.
He then tried to claim his costs from the RAC, but they insisted that they had fulfilled the contract because she had “requested” them to take her to the garage. She, of course, insisted that it was their idea to take her to the garage and had she been given the option, she would have asked to be taken home.
Knew someone who had it was about £35 a year, if your car breakdowns you get a company to uplift it or tow it, pay for it then then you put a claim in and they refund you within 10 days.
They used it twice and never any probs, always a bit skeptical tho because of the low price.
I too rate them highly but there’s 3 things you need to remember :
to make sure you have enough available funds in cash/credit to pay for the recovery. Some recovery companies require payment before dropping off your motor and if you’ve just had your car recovered from the other end of the country then it’s gonna be a few hundred quids.
get an itemised receipt clearly showing which bit is the recovery cost and which bit in the parts/fixing cost (the company will only pay the recovery portion, obviously)
remember to put your claim in
I’d never touch RAC or AA again with a very large stick after the experiences I’ve had with them in the past, regardless of whether cover can be bought for £7. Even £7 is £7 more than they’re worth.
trux:
As for the cars that now come with a can of spray for a flat tyre — waste of time if the hole is more than a pin prick or the sidewall is shredded or blown out.
And if hole is small enaugh to get it repaired by this magic foam, the tyre often becames unrepairable… So you have to fork out for a new one, as the can won’t fix it forever…
You only need one call out per year to justify having breakdown cover anyhow, given the cost of not having it.
Couldn’t get the wifes car to start on Sunday evening, called Green Flag who she’s with, and one of their agents turned up 10 minutes later and started it. Turned out it had got an air lock in the diesel fuel line.
The agent is only across the other side of town, and have in the past taken up to 90 minutes to attend, but fair play to them this time.
merc0447:
Im seriously considering this autoaid now, im paying a hundred odd quid to the AA and ive never had the need for them, does my ■■■■ in
Can’t go wrong. £3.50 per month for peace of mind knowing that if your motor goes kaput somewhere you’ll get it - and yourselves - brought back home. They also change wheels if you get a puncture or blow-out, unlike RAC/AA etc.
Driveroneuk:
That’s the advantage of running old vehicles, not full of electronics.
Exactly. One roll of gaffer tape. One pack of cable ties…
Another (probable) reason that Pay & Claim type services are cheaper is that they don’t attract ■■■■ takers that use the service as an alternative to a reliable car.
Like most things it pays to check the small print before you use it.
macplaxton:
Another (probable) reason that Pay & Claim type services are cheaper is that they don’t attract ■■■■ takers that use the service as an alternative to a reliable car.
I think they also have lower costs as they don’t need to keep and manage large fleet of recovery vans or partnered garages.
I lost the keys to my car in Cheltenham,where i work called them up and they stuck it on the back of the recovery truck and took me home to South Wales,didn’t cost me a penny
Scarab:
Yeah I have the Lloyds TSB on and was only covered within 35 miles. Only found this out when broke down 47 miles from my house!
Check the smallprint!
I guessed as much + how much is the monthly maintenance fee on that account?
Driveroneuk:
Once accidentally left a little fridge plugged in, in my car for 2 days. Flat as a pancake
Pushed it out, backed the unit up to it, put my rope out of the car on it, grabbed another driver to drive the unit, 20 metres down the yard I was good to go.
I don’t like to be rude but isn’t that called a “bump start”? Hardly a novel idea really. I had a car once that I always had to park on a hill as that was the only way I could get it going
No, a bump start is when you get pushed rather than pulled off.
This would be called a tow start.
mike68:
Get yorself a Lloyds TSB platinum curent account AA recovery is free!!!
Snap!!
I’d check the smal print on that. I have it with RBS Royalties, but it only covers me in a 35 mile radius of my home address. Hence why it is ‘free’.
I started to commute from Newport to Avonmouth on my bike which is getting on a bit so I gave them a call to check, fully expecting to have to pay a top up, turns out i’m fully covered result!!!
Also check the small print with reference to punctures. Certain recovery companies will not attend you for a flat if you don’t have a serviceable spare. ie. inflated and fully legal.
They will also not attend if your excuse for not having a spare is because you’ve taken it out to fit gas etc. They will attend however if the car originally came from the manufacturer without a spare. ie the mini.
For a “normal” roadside breakdown on a motorway, if you haven’t got recovery it can be organised for you at a price, kerchingggg! £150 to remove you to the nearest place of safety, ie off at the next junction if you can pay the bill there and then, if not, then your car goes to the garage’s compound to await your collection with storage charges added to the bill daily. other-wise you have 2 hours to get it removed by friends or family member or it will be removed under Statutory powers, and you still get the bill etc.
The fees go up if it’s off the road, upside down, severely damaged etc
Don’t bother with pay and claim cover, you could end up seriously out of pocket if you dont claim in time. I used to have AA cover £100 plus, then stared taxi-ing. AA wanted £189 , RAC the same, then found a company called INSURANCE CHOICE, £89 full taxi cover, breakdown, recovery home from anywhere in UK or Europe.
I have picked up customers at cardiff airport whose vehicle has broken down in France and they have been put up in a hotel and had all travel arrangements sorted to get them and their motorhome back to UK. I have personally used them twice and found them to be top notch. They do gold cover for £69 ,every benefit going! By the way, I dont work for them but i’m really impressed at the value for money.
