Breakdown Cover provided by banks

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Sat 25 May 2024 09:18
Breakdown Cover provided by banks - Steveieb

Yet another discussion on this well aired subject.

But things are changing in that many people are relying on the cover provided by their banks and this has put a huge strain on the companies that associate with the banks.

Recruitment of technicians is a big problem especially with the social hours that the job entails and technical knowledge which pays better in Main dealers.

But one major problem for me with the big providers tied to the banks is the long call out waits compared with the nimbler local agents and also the prospect of being taken home in short two hour trips called relay.

It took 14 hours for a friend to get taken back from Dover to Northamptonshire.

These drawbacks are a major consideration IMHO when relying on your bank cover ?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 25 May 2024 12:18
Breakdown Cover provided by banks - edlithgow

Not their area of expertise, surely?

With the "Too Big To Fail" thing, they cant know much about breakdowns.

Perhaps you get a discount if you have a REALLY BIG car.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 25 May 2024 13:09
Breakdown Cover provided by banks - gordonbennet

Personally i would want some choice at the time, a simple-ish fix by all means if you can fix it at the roadside or at a local garage.

If repairs are involved where several hours labour is on the cards then i'd rather the car be transported home for me to fix or to a garage of my choice.

I understand firms like Autoaid use purely recovery agents, where AA and RAC are more likely to get involved in diagnosis and immediate fix where possible, maybe the relay system if that still in use is going to be a more drawn out affair.

Course there's always going to be odd chancer 'customer' who wants free transport of a car and arranges a breakdown to suit, and i believe one of the reasons why Autoaid was able to undercut the others by a large margin when the premium wasa pay and claim system...always the possibility of contesting and rejecting a claim.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 25 May 2024 14:02
Breakdown Cover provided by banks - Steveieb

Good point GB.

Trusting your car to a repairer chosen by the recovery agent draws me to the conclusion that there could be some commision involved.

Much rather have my car recovered to a garage of my choice in one go rather than be subjected to long waits in between Relay trips.

But long waits for the companies to answer calls resulted in a friend having to call a local firm as his car was blocking the road. Others waited 4hours on the roundabout at junction 15 of the M1.

So can these bank perks be no more than “ All that glitters etc?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 25 May 2024 15:28
Breakdown Cover provided by banks - galileo

For many years (when I ran older cars, not 100% breakdown proof despite my regular servicing|) I used Britannia Rescue, after suffering a long wait with AA and a similarly long wait with RAC.

I never had to wait more than 25 minutes for a Britannia local agent to turn up, had a continuous recovery home after a clutch cylinder failed, the 'local' agent system usually gives quicker response than the majors, who often have to come off the motorway network to attend.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 25 May 2024 16:22
Breakdown Cover provided by banks - Bromptonaut

I've been with Britannia for years now having previously been with NBRC and its successors.

When we broke down on the M1 at Christmas they were pretty good at getting an agent out with the means to rescue us and our caravan. We were though given some priority as we were on the hard shoulder. The fault was not one susceptible to being diagnosed and sorted at the roadside.

I think lack of recovery agents is a real issue. Round here local firms like Freeways and Westbridge have disappeared from the roster. The work is left in the hand of big outfits like Cowans and Mansfield.

We had a long wait at their depot with the latter several years ago with an electrical that my local man said should have been sorted, even if only temporarily, at the roadside. A couple of years later when the Berlingo's clutch gave up in the centre of Northampton I was waiting nearly two hours. On that occasion it was Cowans.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 25 May 2024 19:32
Breakdown Cover provided by banks - Engineer Andy

Good point GB.

Trusting your car to a repairer chosen by the recovery agent draws me to the conclusion that there could be some commision involved.

Much rather have my car recovered to a garage of my choice in one go rather than be subjected to long waits in between Relay trips.

But long waits for the companies to answer calls resulted in a friend having to call a local firm as his car was blocking the road. Others waited 4hours on the roundabout at junction 15 of the M1.

So can these bank perks be no more than “ All that glitters etc?

Some of the car insurers also offer 'tied' breakdown cover at - on the surface at least - a knock-down price. As I've never taken up any of these offers, I don't know if you get the same level of service (all were with the RAC) as a 'separate' contract, rather like second 'tier' mobile phone 'provider' get less priority on resolving problems with the main provider than their own customers.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 25 May 2024 21:42
Breakdown Cover provided by banks - Terry W

In the past I have had bank accounts which bundled a whole range of other services (emergency plumbers, electricians, legal etc) as a "benefit" for some accounts. I had cause to use them a few times - albeit not car breakdown.

The impression I got is that banks negotiate cut down rates for a high volume of accounts with price the major criteria providing it meets the basic spec.

Companies will tend to prioritise work based on how much they can earn - in the case of bank contracts probably not very much..

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 25 May 2024 21:54
Breakdown Cover provided by banks - Big John

Funnily enough I was messaged today by a friend who was waiting for AA (via Nationwide Flex plus) to turn up as he'd broken down in his Defender. I've just asked him how it went - pretty good he said about 35 minutes ish wait.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 26 May 2024 11:17
Breakdown Cover provided by banks - FoxyJukebox
I don’t think it makes any difference buying this from a bank.
The best advice I was given with breakdown cover was to read the small print of what’s covered, what’s not covered and if there are exclusions( eg the number of call outs “allowed” and if repeated call outs for the same or similar issues).
I just have breakdown cover for piece of mind.Hope I don’t have to use it. Fingers crossed.
I just know that if I cancelled it-I would immediatly break down and end up paying a fortune for rescue etc
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 28 May 2024 09:06
Breakdown Cover provided by banks - Stackman II

I recently had cause to use the AA recovery service.

This is provided as a benefit from my bank account. Phoned the number on the back of my bank card and was advised to use the App/webpage to report the breakdown.

No problems using the website on my phone and a technician was with me within 45 minutes.

I was given updates as to the technicians ETA and he appeared as promised.

The car was recovered as it was dead and they even arrabged a hire car for a couple of days.

As far as I could see I received no different service as a regular AA customer would have received.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link