Breakdown recover - high admin fee explained...

[jimbouk]

Just got the standard price bump RAC renewal through, phoned up and they matched the new members web prices and threw in an extra 3 months to beat AA.

One thing I did query was the £49 admin fee on the policy - it seemed a bit high for something they were happy to renew without any manual intervention needed... This is something they've recently starting calling out on the renewal documents and something they never reduce on the phone. It turns out due to a recent change in the law you can get a partial refund for a policy when cancelling it mid-term (without use) except for the admin fees. I don't know whether these fees ever get investigated by an ombudsman (it does say the FCA in small print) but I guess it's how they protect their profits (has there been a clamp down on cancellation fees?). So £49 admin fee when they have all my details already and was going to happen automatically, and the equivalent of £4 a month for the actual cover - seems legit right?

[Butcher]

I'm not sure how they are so expensive in general. My Toyota cover is provided by the AA and costs a fraction of what the same cover would cost from the AA directly. I get full UK and EU cover with onward travel and home start for under £70. The AA website price is £120 and that doesn't even include EU cover I think.

[TeePee]

The pricing is surprising to me too. Here in the US I am covered for free by one of my credit cards, and I pay an additional $2 a month for the same cover from my car insurance company as a backup.

Basic AAA coverage here is $56 a year, and this is in a Yuge country that means much longer travel distances for assistance.

[jimbouk]

Basic breakdown cover for a single car is £35/37 for a year. European is more interesting because they actually look at the age of your car whereas UK personal cover (with AA/RAC at least) is any car, annual European cover doubles with RAC going from a 2 year old to 10 year old car. I guess it's the same when you have a new car - minimal risk as the cars shouldn't break down, car always goes back to a dealer and warranty should cover most things. - you're just left with the odd puncture to sort out and people leaving their lights on when they shouldn't.

[DanceswithUnix]

Personal cover is any car, but ISTR there is a cut-off. My wife's car is heading for 14 years old now, so might have to look at classic policies.

[jimbouk]

Personal cover is any car, but ISTR there is a cut-off. My wife's car is heading for 14 years old now, so might have to look at classic policies.

On classic insurance you can usually bolt on breakdown cover for not very much (even European), I guess they limit risk due to mileage restrictions on the policy. 14 years probably won't be eligible though. My work were offering breakdown cover cheap through some deal but it was only for cars up to 10 years old, at the time I had a 15 year old Mondeo and a 30 year old classic! Policies vary though, Green Flag's personal cover is for example "...only available for vehicles under 16 years old".

[Butcher]

Basic breakdown cover for a single car is £35/37 for a year. European is more interesting because they actually look at the age of your car whereas UK personal cover (with AA/RAC at least) is any car, annual European cover doubles with RAC going from a 2 year old to 10 year old car. I guess it's the same when you have a new car - minimal risk as the cars shouldn't break down, car always goes back to a dealer and warranty should cover most things. - you're just left with the odd puncture to sort out and people leaving their lights on when they shouldn't.

Funny you should say that, the last call out I had was a puncture. Made things a lot easier than no cover as he was able to tow me to a local garage for a new tyre.