Airport Parking and Hotels has created a guide comparing breakdown cover and assistance policies to help drivers plan ahead before starting their journey.
With the school holidays just around the corner, many drivers across the UK will be packing their cars and charging up their sat-navs ahead of the summer break. With this in mind, Airport Parking and Hotels (APH) has created a guide comparing breakdown cover and assistance policies to help drivers plan ahead before starting their journey.
The research compares 61 breakdown cover and assistance policies offered by 20 vehicle insurance providers including The AA, Direct Line and RAC and compares the annual breakdown cover cost for one named vehicle, the level of assistance provided, the radius of recovery location, call-out charges and any additional add-ons available.
Depending on the level of cover required, the cost for breakdown cover for one named vehicle varies from £16.45 per year for One Star Cover from Startrescue.co.uk, which includes standard UK roadside assistance to £134 per year for European Breakdown Cover from ASDA Money, which covers roadside assistance and recovery at any location in the UK and mainland Europe.
If a breakdown occurs, 17 of the 61 insurance policies, including Rescue Plus from Direct Line and Full UK from Kwik-Fit, offer breakdown assistance at any UK location and nine policies such as European Plus Cover from Admiral extend this assistance to include roadsides in mainland Europe. Drivers should keep in mind that 15 policies surveyed only offer roadside assistance to breakdowns that occur at least one mile from the registered home address with a further 20 policies only offering roadside assistance to breakdowns that occur at least a quarter mile from the registered home address. However, three insurance providers offer an add-on to extend the cover to any UK location such as At Home cover from The AA for an additional £46 per year.
If a vehicle cannot be fixed at the roadside, all 61 of the insurance policies researched will tow a vehicle to a nearby garage. 13 insurance policies extend this to any location within a 10-25 mile radius of the breakdown location and 30 insurance policies including Finest cover with Tesco Bank and UK Recovery with LV, will tow the vehicle to any one UK location of the driver’s choice. Drivers with Green Flag should note that the towing distance is limited to 10 miles for vehicles with a flat tyre.
For those looking for extra security in breakdown situations, 29 insurance policies, including all policies from The Co-operative Travel and UK Cover from Drive 24-7, offer onward travel as standard to policyholders in the form of overnight accommodation or car rental and similarly, Startrescue.co.uk provide their customers with a mobile app that can be used to report breakdowns. Likewise, 10 insurance policies, including Recovery EXTRA from GEM Motoring and Rescue & Recovery from Aviva, will provide an alternative driver should the main driver become unfit to drive. For those who wish to extend their cover, seven of the insurance providers offer optional paid add-ons to a policy including Parts and Garage Cover at £67.28 extra with The AA and Key Replace at £15.99 with the RAC.
Drivers should note that breakdown cover from Tesco Bank and Admiral is only available when bought with car insurance and likewise insurance policies from Tesco Bank are not available to drivers under the age of 20-years-old.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
