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FAQs

Basic Cover - Road Assistance

Roadside assistance comes as standard with all types of breakdown cover. No matter where you are in the UK, and regardless of which roads you drive on in Britain, if you take out any form of breakdown cover you'll have access to roadside assistance 24/7, 365 days a year. It's great for your peace of mind and means that should your vehicle develop a fault, break down on the motorway or just plain stop working, help from an experienced breakdown patrol is but a phone call away.

Basic Breakdown Cover

Rescue

From £25

Established in 1999, Green Flag is one of the UK’s largest roadside rescue and recovery services, with almost 5 million customers and responding to over a million calls for help each year. Green Flag only cover the designated vehicle.

Roadside

From £29

Upto 34%

Formed in 1905, The AA is the UK's largest breakdown organisation with over 15 million members, handling a breakdown every 9 seconds and a 40 minute target reach time.

Roadside

From £33

Upto 28%

Founded in 1897, the RAC is the longest established motoring service with 6 million customers, 1600 patrols, over 80% roadside fix rate and 40 minute target reach time.

Breakdown Cover Packages (entry level)

What you get with Roadside Assistance

Roadside assistance provides motorists with essential breakdown cover. First and foremost drivers have a direct line through to a vehicle breakdown and recovery service with national coverage. Advice can be given over the phone, and if you need help at the roadside an experienced patrol is dispatched, and will generally be with you and the stricken vehicle inside an hour of you making the call.

If you are deemed to be a priority case -- for example, if your vehicle is in a dangerous situation or if you are a lone adult carrying a baby or young children as passengers, the rescue patrol could be with you sooner. Much depends upon the proximity of available patrol units and the state of the roads between where they are and your location. The more proficient providers will keep you updated on the progress of the patrol's journey to reach you via calls or texts to your mobile phone.

Once on site the patrol's first concern is safety -- your safety, the safety of other road users and the safety of your vehicle. It may therefore be necessary to move or tow the vehicle to a safe location before any diagnostic and repair work begins.

In up to 85% of cases the UK's breakdown patrols are able to fix vehicles they attend at the roadside. Repairs may be temporary solutions or they could be permanent fixes. Either way, it ensures that the vehicle gets back on the road, so enabling driver and passengers to get on with their journey.

Normally, the time spent by the patrol in diagnosing and fixing the problem is covered by your policy. However, some breakdown providers do limit the amount of free labour offered. Anything extra is then charged to your membership account, or billed directly to you by the patrol. You may also be charged for any parts used to get your vehicle back on the road.

In the event that your car cannot be fixed at the roadside, the patrol will offer to tow your vehicle to the nearest approved garage. This service is normally provided for free as part of your roadside assistance cover. Recovery of your vehicle to your home address or to a destination of your choice (other than the nearest approved garage) is not covered by your roadside breakdown policy. If you require these additional services you will need to pay for it or upgrade your breakdown cover membership.

Cover options

Roadside assistance is the cheapest breakdown policy available. It can be arranged to cover a nominated vehicle or just the member regardless of the vehicle they are in or whether they are the driver or passenger of that vehicle. Joint and family membership options are also available -- very useful if more than one driver uses the vehicle on a regular basis.