Best breakdown service recommendations
Hi all
Just wondering whats considered to be the best breakdown/recovery service these days
I specifically want to make sure the caravan is covered as well as the tow car
I have heard stories of a car breaking down and needing recovery but the service didn't cover the caravan
Looking for cost effective cover of course
Autoaid has been suggested but am unsure if they cover car & caravan as yet
Can anyone recommend any particular service they are using please
Comments
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Click on Insurance at the top of this page.
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Thank you but all that does is lead to Mayday, it doesn't tell me if they are any good or if there are better options
Thanks anyway
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I sent a message to Auto Aid
I asked what cover was included as a caravanner, their answer follows
Please be advised we can cover you towing a caravan, we do not have a limit to the size of the caravan you can be towing. If your vehicle breakdown whilst towing a caravan we will tow the caravan with the vehicle, however if there is something wrong with the caravan and nothing wrong with the vehicle then you will not be covered.
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Herb, your reply from Autoaid puts things in a nutshell. "if there is something wrong with the caravan and nothing wrong with the vehicle then you will not be covered". That applies to many other breakdown policies although they may not spell it out so clearly.
Mayday is one of the ones which will cover Caravan as well as car. I am not a MayDay policy holder but if you ask Google for reviews of that service they will be there to read.
An alternative is to accept your car only policy from Autoaid and also take out a caravan only breakdown policy from Lifesure for an extra £15. That would cover things like caravan punctures.
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If just for UK, as a CC member I would definitely use Mayday provided by Greenflag.
The RAC do a similar recovery for Camping and Caravan Club members. If not presently a member they offer free C&CC membership as part of the deal. https://www.rac.co.uk/uk-join-mobile/bundle1?JID=Nt8DkGm6qfC39MTyi7XfhOwRNs%2bZG18ybDlIDRHSJnnkvV362ekuMBcBt%2b7KOKBq&aliaspath=/bs3-journey/uk-affinities/landing-page
I may well join C&CC next year but will stick with Mayday rather than using the offer.
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Thanks for that link, I was quite interested until I saw the price, looks like they add in the free membership before charging you ;-)
We were only talking about perhaps joining the Camping & c club as well as the caravan club, but I think we have enough to visit before joining another club
Interesting though
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Thanks for that, I hadn't heard of lifesure so will look at that
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Thank you
The choices are legion, so am just trying to weigh up the pros and cons of as many options as I can
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My recovery is by May Day. It's been used a few times on various cars (there are 5 of them at our house
) with very little problem. Both myself & my wife have personal cover with home start and my daughter is also covered on her car only ..... she's had more than her money's worth. IIRC it was about £120 last year.0 -
Been with the AA for the past 27 years, a few years back, there was a discussion on here about the same thing i.e. which breakdown service should I join? Many said that the AA will not recover your caravan if you breakdown nor will they if the caravan breaks down, for example, caravan wheel bearing. I battled this out with the AA on my next renewal and I told them what CC members on CT were saying about them, they confirmed to me that they do cover caravans in said manner and they were upset about possible loss of trade due to incorrect stories. The AA is more expensive, but they do cover all vehicles, handy for me when I'm out on my motorcycle, they even cover you if you are a passenger in another car i.e. if I'm traveling in my friends car and it breaks down, we will still be recoverd as if the car were mine! in other words, it me that is covered not the vehicle.
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Down the years, we have used RAC, Green Flag, MayDay etc.... (sister had a very poor experience with the AA, so we don't use them) During that time, we have had the odd breakdown, but luckily minor issues, and never had to have caravan brought home.
When we changed our bank account, we took out one of those that gives lots of extras, and ours included breakdown at home and full recovery either to home or garage of our choice. We did have to use it, once to get a none starting vehicle at home transported to our preferred garage, and all went smoothly with minimum waiting time. We did check that it included recovering Caravan home as well if required, and yes it does. Couple of years ago, we bought a secondhand MH, and to our delight upon checking, found that this too was included. We did need to use the service, merely phoning the bank contact number, and they were fantastic. Low loader back to our site (small CL) with a promise that they would send a mechanic out the next morning. This indeed happened, he couldn't fix it, but sorted out an appropriate low loader that took the MH all the way home. The only thing they were not allowed to do, and as far as I am aware few recovery companies do was carry our dogs. I got these home with help from family.
So before leaping in on the big name firms, who often sub contract out to local recovery garages, it might be worth looking at this option. Doubt it would include overseas, we haven't checked, but is working superbly for us at £10 per month, with holiday insurance and other extras included as well. Sorry but I am not naming our bank, but it isn't one of the big high street ones.
It covers all four of our vehicles, plus any others we are out in.
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We have Mayday, have used it once for the (previous) towcar and twice for the caravan,once for a puncture while towing andd once for a jammed motor mover on our driveway.
I would check other policies very carefully, some also have a length limit on the van.
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Yes they will recover in that situation. The mpre important question arises when car breaks down away from site. Will they then take car and passengers to the site and, when you are ready ferry car and caravan home?
I am with mayday and myself and OH are covered in any vehicle plus other add ons. Think it is £120 or under.
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Good point EasyT, To be honest, I don't think the AA would do that in your aforementioned circumstances, the AA unlike Mayday, does not have a special in house deal with our Club. You've set me thinking for my next AA renewal next year!!!
PS, I've given your post a like as I think its a very valued point!
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As far as I can see the written terms of cover are best with Mayday and the RAC scheme offered by the C&CC. The Mayday one is generally cheaper and has proved very reliable, although like all services there is the odd glitch. At the price I would look no further.
What irks me is that our car has 3 years breakdown cover and all I actauly need is cover for the caravan but no one offers this. I am by no means alone and given the number of people who have raised this point it does seem there is a market out there if it was offered.
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Had to use Green Flag European Recovery in France this summer and cannot fault them. They really looked after us for 5 days whilst the car was being repaired in Dijon (broken hydraulic pipe due to rather large pothole on French motorway which we were unable to miss with caravan on the back and quite a bit of traffic). Provided us with a car hire for 5 days (even sent a taxi to collect me from the campsite to the car hire office - half an hour away). Only downside was that I had to pay for the repair as they don't offer any contribution.
Never used in UK but understand it is just as good and that caravans are covered.
This cover came with my bank account so cannot complain at all!!
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I will give my usual reply... whilst I'm sure Club products are excellent, if they are "cost effective", depends on your views on cost.
Safeguard insurance do a bolt on UK & Europe CARAVAN based (car is covered too) breakdown cover via AA for £65 extra over their caravan insurance price (if that is right for you)
We have used this for over 3 years (but never had to call them out, thankfully.
We'd try to do the basics ourselves but just want some help on motorways of if we have a big problem with car or caravan. of course, insurances should cover accidents and subsequent damage to car and caravan so they are the basics to get right first?
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I already posted an answer to this problem. Lifesure offers caravan only breakdown cover for £15 a year - but it is UK only
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Hi, Ive been looking at the same issue and after hours of Googling I finally settled on ADAC. These are the German AA equivalent and they cover caravans up to 10m in length. It's worth doing some research on ADAC as the reviews from people who have broken down are brilliant
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