Having broken down today I have discovered my breakdown cover is useless. It is the top level which covers me in any car and has national recovery but what it no longer offers is being dropped off to the garage of my choice and being able to be taken home! Because the specialist is more than 10 miles away from my home then I can't have that. Also the car hire that would be offered is only if you get the vehicle dropped off 10 miles away from home or where you end up. Basically it is flipping useless. And if you breakdown within a mile of home you can't be taken to a garage of choice, only a local one which if you have a specialist car this isn't suitable as I don't want any dopey mechanic screwing it up.
I want cover that will take the car to the garage of my choice (it's invariably the same one) with or without me and then drop me home if the garage can't lend me a car if I go with mine.
Does anyone offer decent breakdown cover that does all this? I don't want the pay up front and claim back kind either as I wouldn't trust them to pay up.
And what really annoyed me was that they mentioned there could be extra charges for getting the car onto a flatbed as it might require 'specialist equipment' which basically meant a winch! Utterly ridiculous.
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I don't think you'll find breakdown cover that drops the car at your specialist and takes you home afterwards, because it would tie up a recovery truck unnecessarily. Thinking about it, there may also be an insurance issue if you're travelling in it without your car.
I had a minicab gearbox blow up on the M1 late one night 7 years ago, the AA's recovery agent took me and the car to the taxi company's usual garage but wouldn't then run me back across town to the office.
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If there is an insurance issue then they could drop you at home first then take the car away. Also it is misleading when they mention 'onward travel' as clearly if the aren't taking you to your destination as well as the car to the garage it isn't exactly onward travel either. It's only onward travel if you happen to be going within 10 miles of wherever the car breaks down.
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Been with either NBRC/Green Flag/DL or Britannia as long as I've had a car. Both will take me home and continue to garage with car. Or, outside garage hours, drop me & car at home and return next working day to finish job off. But garage is less than ten miles away.
For a few years preferred garage was a village enterprise whose customer car park was open 24/7/365. Contractor very reluctant to comply with my request to leave car there on Sunday afternoon - garage would have immediately recognised it as mine and probably called me before I'd had time to get on to them.
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Which only works if you live within 10 miles of garage. I'm going to have to move!
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>> Which only works if you live within 10 miles of garage. I'm going to have
>> to move!
I don't know if they had a 10 mile restriction - no need to ask question.
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Greenflag seem to. RAC is a single destination also according to the recovery guy. Having had GF cover for years I've noticed it's got worse as time has gone on.
Definitely check the small print as there seems to be more and more of it.
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Breakdown cover with decent recovery options - Dave_
