Used Start twice and rate them excellent. Relative used them and they insisted on providing a taxi for the elderly relation , the car and others on the recovery truck.

Green Flag recently took three hours to arrive to a friend then told him he couldn’t claim again for two weeks.

Bank account recovery performance with the large companies has been affected by the number of vehicles covered and difficulty recruiting technicians .

Be aware that some providers will check if your MOT is valid, I'm not sure about VED or insurance, but there was a case a while back. In the terms and conditions of some, it states that it must be serviced too!

Just got my RAC quote for Roadside + At Home, coming in near 50% more than last year at around £115, though they are now 'giving away' (how generous, given it's my money) me £10 to 'spend' on the premium or some other 'benefit', plus last year I got 15 months' worth of cover instead of 12 because they wouldn't budge on the price hike from that year!

I sourced a quote from Green Flag at just below what I was paying for the last year, so I'll see tomorrow if RAC will budge at all, and by how much if they do. Otherwise its shopping around time.

Andy, just go with Start. I'll even buy you a pint and lunch. pub at bottom of town.

Going up to meldreth shortly to see an old female friend.

As some here might have seen me say ... I've been with Autoaid since 1984. But, like some others here, have become less enamoured with them and, as renewal is near, will look around.

I will now only want to cover myself driving two cars in the same household. I used to cover the Mrs and I for both cars.

I'm a member of CSMA/Boundless.

Anyone got any idea whether "Personal Cover" is still the best arrangement given the slight change that I've noted above? I may well go to CSMA/Boundless but will look at Start too.

For peace of mind I'd like full recovery and homestart even though I haven't had called on AutoAid for donkeys years.

Appreciate anyone's thoughts.

Just rang START and asked abot Level 3 cover - Full recovery plus Home Assist.

Very helpful lady answered straight away.

To cover both cars with their "Vehicle" cover is ££134 or their "Personal" cover with just me driving is £109 or "Personal with both my Mrs and I covered goes up to £134

No age limit on cars.

---------------------------------

Boundless/CSMA membership price for "Personal" which covers the two cars and covesr myslelf plus the Mrs at no extra cost is £99. No age restriction on the cars

The bloke on the phone answered quickly and was helpful ... much like he lady from Start.

Edited by KB. on 22/03/2025 at 15:56

Bit of an update.

Having been with Autoaid for very many years (41 in fact) I/we have finally parted company.

The additional fees for older cars, the additional fee for spouse, the additional £25 per callout were all worthy of consideration but more recently a couple of emails were sent to them and only an auto generated reply was received and when I called today I was told that emails are not monitored and that emails are not replied to individually.

We have cancelled our renewal and gone with Boundless/CSMA/LV-Britannia. and, at the moment, the customer service has been far better. Obviously it's what happens if we breakdown that ultimately matters - and we won't know that till it happens - but for now I feel glad to have left Autoaid.

I will say that Autoaid's system for sending out regular renewal reminders works well though. I'm hoping it'll stop after the years subscription period is up.

Edited by KB. on 19/04/2025 at 13:14

ht then charge a small fortune if they can't get your car repaired at the roadside.

That could've been just sales scare tactics, but for one year I wasn't going to quibble too much, given the RAC did replace my car's dead battery FOC at 4yo, as they had fitted the previous one when the one before had given up the ghost after the lockdowns in 2020.

Let's hope the car fires up ok when I go and see my relatives tomorrow.

A very valid consideration too not just scare tactics.

I also want the option for the vehicle to be ferried home, not left at the mercy of some people who know they can get away with all sorts because you are in no position to argue and who might have an arrangement with the breakdown operator.

I went with RAC for the same reasons KB listed above, had already left autoaid last year and didn't renew with Start this year.

Will do the same as we do when the annual insurance renewals come through, play the system.

IMHO nothing offers anything like the Nationwide Flex account deal if you need world wide travel insurance, phone insurance, breakdown cover including Europe for the WHOLE family living at the same address.Unfortunately I do not meet their criteria for Travel insurance so the package does not suit me .

But after being left stranded at Nottingham Airport by Brittania when they insisted I left my daughters dog in the car whilst it was being towed behind the recovery truck , I moved to Start after they confirmed that they would not leave me stranded in a similar situation.

Last time I called them to change a wheel they came straight away and were with me in about 35 minutes . They also collected my car from the Golf club where I had left the keys with reception. No problems and all went smoothly. So good communication, and even better if you have the App as you can track the arrival of the recovery truck.

I notice that Asda recovery gets the best reviews in Which .They use Brittania Rescue but has anyone signed up to Asda ?

......... "I notice that Asda recovery gets the best reviews in Which .They use Brittania Rescue but has anyone signed up to Asda ? "

When I rang Boundless / Britannia / CSMA recently they did say tyhat ASDA cover isn't identical to the cover offered with Boundless / CSMA. It's worth checking.

I think it might have been the age limit on vehicles but am not absolutely sure. Either way I believe it was beneficial to go with Boundless rather than ASDA if you happen to be a member. They told me the other day that I'd been a member for 27 years .... that came as a surprise but if that's the case then so be it .... and as such I do apparently qualify for the Legal Cover to be included at no charge - something that it isn't now for new joiners. Something else to be aware of.

Dear KB,

As a fellow Boundless member I may bump into you at one of their forthcoming breaks. We are booked on three this Yesr and find them just brilliant.

But do you take advantage of the special deals on LV insurance especially car insurance ?

Start still works out cheaper for me on personal cover and they get better reviews on Which ?

Yes I do have insurance on one car with them.

Re. breakdown, for me, when I looked at Start they didn't come out as well as Britannia. For two cars, both 14 years old and with homestart and national recovery Boundless was better. With Start, to cover two cars meant having Personal cover and to include national recovery and homestart the figure was £109.37 whereas I paid Boundless/CSMA/LV/Britannia £69.

Edited by KB. on 20/04/2025 at 19:17