The AA, the RAC, Green Flag, LV Britannia Rescue, and Start Rescue are just a few of the firms that we evaluate and contrast in order to determine which of the 26 providers of auto breakdown cover are the most reliable and cost effective.
Car Breakdown
The auto breakdown cover service that you subscribe to makes a significant impact on the situation. The top ones will be at your location in less than an hour virtually usually and will, in most cases, be equipped with the skills and equipment necessary to get your vehicle back on the road.
In the worst case scenario, you might be forced to wait by the side of the road for many hours, during which time there is a significantly lower likelihood that your vehicle will be fixed. Our ratings are based on the direct feedback of over 8,000 individuals who had to contact their breakdown service within the previous year prior to completing our survey. This data was collected from people who had to call out their breakdown service. You can put your faith in our findings because they were derived from the actual, first-hand accounts of people who have utilised these services.
The tables that follow will show you how each of the 26 businesses that we scored compares to the others, and we will also explain how you might make sense of the results. The most reliable roadside assistance companies aren’t necessarily the most pricey.
Continue reading to learn about the differences between the best and worst manufacturer cover as well as the best and worst third-party breakdown cover.
Compare the many third-party providers of breakdown cover.
Providers of third-party roadside assistance, such as the AA and the RAC, offer protection for nearly every type of vehicle for a rate that is typically calculated annually but may, in some cases, also take monthly payments. In addition, third-party providers may offer breakdown coverage as part of a package deal with other paid services, such as an all-in-one checking and savings account or auto insurance. We evaluated and ranked 12 different firms that provide third-party breakdown cover. Our top four recommended service providers are as follows: (and which four these are might surprise you). Under the table comparing the best and worst third-party cover is where you can find the analysis of our findings, which you can read.
The top and bottom third parties in terms of breakdown cover, together with their total score
Axa (54) 81%
Start Rescue (146) 76%
AA (2,313) 75%
LV Britannia Rescue (286) 74%
Coverage for the Admiral Breakdown, 74%
Statistical Breakdown of Autoaid (166) 67%
GEM Motoring Assist is available (48) 65% Green Flag Coverage for Breakdowns (692) 77% 63%
Asda UK Vehicle Breakdown Cover (71) 52% 62%
Statistical Breakdown of Aviva (52) 61%
RAC (1,415) 60%
Allianz Assistance (72) 57%
Axa, a third-party breakdown cover provider, holds an 82% market share.
In the third-party provider category of our annual auto breakdown poll, Axa came out on top this year. 78% of vehicles are repaired along the side of the road, and 91% of consumers informed us that it arrived in under an hour.
According to our research, their breakdown cover is one of the most affordable options for both standard roadside assistance and comprehensive policies that include both home assistance and nationwide recovery. Axa provides four different tiers of coverage, which are referred to as Axa Local, Axa Nationwide, Axa Nationwide and Homestart, and Axa Annual European.
Start Rescue (76%)
Start Rescue is our Which? Recommended Provider that offers the most value for the money. At the time of writing, a comprehensive policy may be purchased for less than forty pounds (this includes basic roadside assistance, home cover and national recovery – see our guide on how to buy the best breakdown cover for a full explanation of different levels of cover). This is more affordable than the AA’s most fundamental cover, which just includes roadside assistance.
According to the findings of our survey, Axa fixes a greater percentage of automobiles that are broken down on the side of the road compared to Start Rescue. However, it is able to reach 86% of individuals in less than an hour, and its customer score is higher than that of any third-party service.
Coverage for onward travel and emergency overnight housing is included in each of the five policy levels that are offered by Start Rescue. It comes with an app that lets you report a breakdown and track where the recovery patrol is in the process of looking for you.
AA (75%)
This past year, the AA did exceptionally well in the field, repairing 78% of automobiles along the side of the road. Furthermore, 85% of the AA’s customers said that the AA arrived at their location in under an hour. The primary disadvantage is the high cost of insurance coverage. The AA’s insurance policies are consistently ranked near the top of our survey’s list of most expensive providers.
In spite of this, it is seen as having a satisfactory value by those that purchase it. The AA does not provide predetermined policy levels; rather, they provide you the option to include any combination of at-home cover, national recovery, further travel and parts or garage cover in addition to the required roadside assistance.
The AA app allows users to report vehicle breakdowns, track patrols, plan routes, get real-time traffic reports, find charging stations for electric vehicles, and learn how to recognise the warning lights on their own vehicles.
LV Britannia Rescue (74%)
The LV Britannia Rescue product falls somewhere in the middle of the price ranges offered by the AA and Start Rescue. In spite of the fact that it is not the very fastest, it has consistently acceptable response times; only 12% of customers had to wait more than an hour for support to arrive. Although it does not fix as many automobiles by the side of the road as our other WRPs, it is highly liked by clients and has the second-highest customer score out of all the third-party providers.
Find out more about LV vehicle insurance if you are interested in getting a discount on your coverage by having LV auto insurance. LV has five policy tiers, each of which includes unlimited roadside assistance and covers you in the event that an accident or lack of routine maintenance causes your vehicle to become inoperable. In addition, it can provide on-the-go recharging for electric vehicles.
Providers of third-party breakdown services to stay away from The worst service providers have response times that are painfully slow, and their customer service is frequently unimpressive. Allianz Assistance has the second-worst customer score and the worst overall score out of all of our companies. This places them at the very bottom of our chart. Our survey found that one in five clients had to wait more than an hour for assistance to come, despite the fact that the company’s costs are quite affordable.
The best and worst car manufacturers, according to the provider of breakdown cover
Lexus Roadside Assistance (59) 90%
86% of Toyota vehicles have roadside assistance (225).
Honda Assistance with Breakdowns (102) 83 percent
Hyundai Roadside Assistance (59) 81%
Skoda Roadside Assistance (77) 76%
Ford Assistance (98) 73% of the Total
Volkswagen Roadside Assistance (51) 70%
Audi Roadside Assistance (99) 63% Jaguar Assistance (40) made up 62% of the total.
Nissan Roadside Assistance (64), representing 62% of the total.
Land Rover Assistance (57) constitutes 60% of the total.
BMW Roadside Assistance (102) 56%
Volvo Assistance (100) 78% 53%
Mercedes-Benz Roadside Assistance (106) 52%
Providers of third-party breakdown services to stay away from
The worst service providers have response times that are painfully slow, and their customer service is frequently unimpressive. Allianz Assistance has the second-worst customer score and the worst overall score out of all of our companies. This places them at the very bottom of our chart. Our survey found that one in five clients had to wait more than an hour for assistance to come, despite the fact that the company’s costs are quite affordable.
Check out the many sources of manufacturer breakdown cover.
When you buy a new car, the insurance that is branded with the manufacturer of the vehicle is often provided at no additional cost for a predetermined amount of time (typically one or three years). If you have the vehicle repaired at a dealership or by an authorised repairer, the majority of automobile manufacturers will extend this breakdown cover by one year at no additional charge to the customer.
The breakdown service is not really provided by the automobile manufacturers; rather, it is offered by a third-party supplier such as the Automobile Association of America (AA) or the Automobile Club of Great Britain (RAC). For instance, if you’ve recently purchased a new Ford, you’ll be eligible for the “Ford Assistance” breakdown cover programme. However, because the AA is the service provider, a van from the AA will come to your aid in the event that your Ford breaks down.
We evaluated the roadside assistance offered by 14 different automobile manufacturers. All three of these companies responded to more than 85 percent of breaks within an hour, and their excellent customer satisfaction numbers indicate that their clients are pleased with the service they receive.
Recommended companies that provide breakdown cover for manufacturers
The roadside help provided by the manufacturer arrived within an hour for more than nine out of 10 Lexus customers. These customers have the best experience overall. When it comes to repairing vehicles at the scene of a breakdown, Lexus had a success rate of 89%, which was unmatched by any other firm.
If their brand-new vehicles experience any teething problems, owners of new Toyotas and Hondas can also rest confident that they will receive outstanding servicing from the respective manufacturers. Owners of Lexus and Honda vehicles will be especially encouraged by the fact that they will receive free coverage for a period of three full years (Toyota gives just one year as standard).
What characteristics define a WRP as a breakdown cover?
Both third-party providers and car manufacturers must receive a customer score of at least 70% in order to become a Which? Recommended Provider (WRP) for breakdown cover. Additionally, they must be among the best performers in terms of how long customers had to wait for help to arrive and how knowledgeable the mechanic was.
The degree of success that third-party service providers had in repairing the problem at the location where it occurred is another factor that is considered when rating them. All scores are derived from the responses to a survey that were given by more than 8,000 customers who had encountered a mechanical failure in the year prior to our study.
Score based on customers
The customer score is a reflection of the degree to which consumers are satisfied with their provider and the likelihood that they would suggest that service to others. In order for providers to be given a customer score, there must be a minimum sample size of 30 customers.
Total score
We rate the providers of breakdowns based on their combined score. The following factors contribute to the total score for third-party breakdown providers:
50 percent rating from the customer, 25 percent waiting time, 15 percent work done on the spot, and 10 percent knowledge of the mechanic The total score for automobile manufacturers is determined by the following factors: customer satisfaction (50%) wait time (35%) knowledge of the mechanic (15%)
Should I even get insurance for my automobile in case it breaks down?
We found that if you choose the wrong level of breakdown cover or choose not to have it at all, you might end up paying hundreds of pounds more in pay-on-use fees and premiums than you would have if you had started out with a policy that provided the appropriate level of cover from the beginning.
