I think the home start function is so useful. Saved me hassle and cash over the years.

Especially if there's no-one around to give you a jump-start. My RAC cover states that to use the on-street Roadside cover, I must be quite some distance from my home (can't remember how far, but it's enough that I wouldn't want to push my car all that way).

I have it, cheapest full recovery i know of, Autoaid.

If we had a breakdown miles from home, i don't want the car recovering to the nearest garage because it's entirely possible i will be able to fix the problem myself for a fraction of the cost at home, so the cheaper of the mainstream breakdowns which only recover to the nearest garage are of no interest.

Peace of mind also that my wife has cover when i could many hundreds of miles away at work.

It's good sense for people unable or unwilling to change their own wheel in the event of a puncture, thats if they have a spare wheel.

You're not mad though, if i wasn't on the road at unearthly hours i too might rethink, but at £45 IIRC this year it's cheap peace of mind.

Depends on personal circumstances. If I regularly travelled hundreds of miles from home or abroad I possibly would, but I don't. I've had cover for "free" previously and actually used it twice. Both occasions would have been easily managed if cover wasn't there, but it was, so I used it.

Generally I am anti insurance, despite having spent all my working life in the business. I'd be peeved having spent 40x annual premiums for nothing and knowing I'd subsidised drivers who don't do basic servicing and snowflakes.

The problem is that not all breakdowns happen because your car hasn't been well kept. Parts DO wear out/fail suddenly, or you can experience a failure due to unforseen circumstances.

My old Micra broke the water pump belt and started to overheat on a hot July day (nearly 20 years ago now) on my way home from work. The reason why it did was because a large stone on the road flicked up into the engine bay from below (I heard it, followed by the belt snapping). The car was only 3-4 years old and well looked after.

I managed to make it home (I wasn't that far away, about 10 miles) without the head gasket blowing (I kept an eye on the temperature gauage - nowhere safe to pull over), so called out the RAC who replaced the belt (I paid for the belt @ £8) and (once it had cooled sufficiently) topped up my coolant with a bit of water. Got it checked at a local dealer for the coolant content afterwards, all fine.

Not saying I'll never break down, but if I do, whatever it costs to recover me and the car, it will be manageable.

Out of interest, who buys boiler cover?

Ah, that's different. For one, local plumbers are (proven in many studies) far better (on average) than staffed ones from the utility firms etc, and can come out just as quickly as them to diagnose and fix problems.

If you buy a decent make of boiler, use a quality plumber to install and service it annually as well as maintain it more generally, it will work out far cheaper than buying the utility company's own/preferred brand and shelling out best part of £200+pa every year for cover, when that doesn't cover everything - many have limits on expenditure and will go up a LOT or reduce the cover level as the boiler ages.

As someone who has designed heating systems (mainly commercial, but some for new housing developments and refurbs) for a long time, I know how reliable such systems can be (or not), and how much parts and labour costs. In my view, if you do your homework, buy a reliable, good quality boiler and use a decent plumber, there's no need for boiler/heating system cover over the long term.

All you need as a backup is a reliable electrical sypply and the odd electric heater in case of a problem (9 times out of 10 they go wrong in the depths of winter). With cars, what happens on a Sunday and you're in the middle of nowhere and you may only have a 2G phone signal? No chance in getting hold of a local garage.

An out-of-the-way area may only have one garage, and the owner may already be dealing with another customer (if they are indeed open at the time, especially in the evening/early morning). Given that with the breakdown firms (at least the major ones) you only pay for parts for most fixable (at the roadside in a reasonable timeframe) issues, then that will save you a lot and hopefully get you back on the road, rather than stuck at a garage with no courtesy car available because the owner doesn't have the right part. All for £45 - £125 pa (depending on the level of cover).

Again, if you buy the right car (reliability-wise), like general insurance, you'll save money on the premium because they know you'll be less likely to call them out. I mean, I pay £65 or so covering At Home/Roadside for a 13yo car. The cost has actually reduced since I bought the car in early 2006 (was about £85 back then), and that's not even including for inflation - it's probably about half the price if it was.

Autoaid for last few years

Covers both me and Mrs for £48 for any car - no brainer

Used them twice, once when caravan wheel came off on A19 at 60mph (interesting!) - strictly speaking the car was not broken down at all, but they came none the less, big lump hammer got the bar under the caravan which had moved 12" forward having been dragged down the tarmac back in position, few spare wheel nuts to refix caravan wheel and we were back on our way..

Then again early Jan this year. Sorrento had been sat at Heathrow for 3 weeks whilst we were in Oz, flat battery. Came in about an hour and 2 mins later we were on our way.

It's so cheap at effectively £24 each not to have it.

Do these companies include cover for towing away after a collision? I've only had experience of breakdown, and when our Octavia was destroyed in a head on, the police arranged towing to the scrapyard . On the one other occasion, the car was just about drive able. I see a lot of cars on the tow truck after what looks like just a minor knock these days .

Had it last year under insurance my GF arranged. Was pretty cheap but I didn't use it and didn't renew, and I have possibly the worst car in Taiwan.

In the UK I never had it. though I did once get helped by an AA patrolman on the A9 in a snowstorm. Throttle cable (Marina Estate, 1800 B Series. Only the best...) had jammed on and we were accelerating uphill. Wasn't sure how the sudden engine-braking effect of switch-off would affect control (still don't know) so told the GF, who was driving, to de-clutch and switch off "simultaneously". She did (a) but not (b), causing the engine to race its nuts off until I turned it off and we coasted to a layby.

Tappets were loose, which I was fixing, but my torch was a bit weak and the AA guys one was, as you might hope, a lot better.

I wasn't a member but I THINK the car may have had a little badge. IIRC I gave the guy a fiver. Might have been a tenner but anyway a lot cheaper than an annual subscription.

Edited by edlithgow on 09/03/2019 at 01:28