I have "free" RAC euro cover" with my new car for 2 years.

After I'll go back to Start.

They'll do their best to take Doggy, and for 25% of your renewal price..

Call it a 5***** review.

Thorougly recommend.

It certainly doesn't hurt to get some quotes from other providers for the level of cover* you need, then go back to the AA and see what they can do.

My annual RAC cover (Roadside & At Home for my car only) jumped from £67 last year (negotiated down from around the same plus 3 months 'extra cover', i.e. 15 months for the price of 12) to £85, and so I looked around again.

The best quote I got was £67 (again, as 2020) from Green Flag. Went back to RAC, who said they could 'only do' £70 but after a bit more haggling, would again throw in the extra 3 months again, so quite a bit cheaper.

This seems to be the default modus operandi at the moment - I used to have to do the same with esure with my car insurance up until 2020 when, for the first time (no claims with them since joining about 15 years before), they would not budge from their renewal quote. I moved my business elsewhere (QuoteMeHappy) and stayed with them (cheaper renewal quote this year than I paid in 2020) for 2021.

I've noticed now that cover often depends on what car you've got and especially it's age. My cover (even after haggling each year with the RAC and rival quotes) went up after my car was 10 years old.

* Always worth checking that the cover doesn't come with caveats which may not suit your specific circumstances - some comes with free this and that which may or may not be neede (sometimes you may alrady be covered on the car insurance for things like keys, etc)

Much has been posted in the past about good value breakdown such as Autoaid etc although I found it more difficult to find cover for older cars especially driving abroad. Myself for reliable good value UK breakdown I rate GEM recovery. I used for many years and recommended to my sister who still uses them. They were fabulous when her clutch failed on a Mondeo when visiting us in Yorkshire a few years ago - she got recovered all the way back to Bristol and they came out really quickly.

Mr + Mrs BJ now use a joint Nationwide Flex + account which costs £13/month joint giving Europe wide breakdown/ recovery for a car each (any driver any age of car) and personal recovery each in any car. In addition it gives us effective mobile phone and worldwide travel insurance all of which have been tested in real life! - and that's with the big C in previous health history for one of us. Possibly not a bargain this year with European/worldwide travel being curtailed somewhat but in normal times I always think it's a good deal.

Edited by Big John on 29/07/2021 at 21:48

Does your car manufacturer offer a scheme? E.g. I have mine via Toyota Roadside Assistance which is actually performed by the AA - it's full recovery, at home & European cover for £72 p.a. which makes a mockery of the AA's published prices.

Living in a rural area and for my own piece of mind-a most essential "add on" is Home Start -to that end I've found Green Flag good value-with a useful active app too. Mrs Dogfuzz covered too.

I expect there might be better value elsewhere-but beware cheaper deals emerging from price comparison sites that "charge" for call outs. I would also look carefully at just exactly what you are paying for should you tick "breakdown cover" when renewing your car insurance.

As others have pointed out-why not do your research--then see what the AA can re-offer before taking your business elsewhere