Advice On Purchasing Breakdown Cover

Last checked 31 August 2026

Those in sales will tell you that most people make buying decisions based on their emotions — on what makes them feel good at the time. But there are services and products that should only be purchased on what matches your needs, and breakdown cover is one of them.

So it is worth taking a bit of time to ask what is needed in terms of cover, when a call-out might be most likely, where a potential breakdown would be very expensive, and how much the emergency service would be needed in those circumstances.

That is a lot of information to digest, but only by working through it can you be confident of buying the right policy.

Some Questions Worth Asking

• Do I drive away from home regularly?
• Has my car broken down before — is there a history?
• If I did break down, do I have the knowledge and the tools to deal with it, or will I need a patrol?
• Can I do my own mechanics if the car was towed home?
• Does it matter which garage gets to repair my car?
• What other members of the family drive this car?
• What other cars in the family do I drive?

These sorts of questions help decide whether you need a recovery policy, where your vehicle is transported to any location in mainland Britain — back home, for example — or a basic roadside assistance policy.

They also help decide whether the policy should follow the person, whatever car they drive, or the vehicle itself, no matter who is driving.

Match The Risk To The Policy

Associating the risks — the likelihood of a breakdown occurring in the first place, and which roads you drive on and where — is critical to buying well. If you are happy for a local garage to repair the car when the patrol cannot fix it at the roadside, a basic roadside assistance policy may be suitable. But if you want to control where that vehicle goes after an unrepairable breakdown, a recovery policy is likely to be more appropriate.

The good news is that the larger providers, the AA and RAC among them, do help you make the right decision by asking these questions as you work through the application process.

Four Checks Before You Pay

• Are you already covered? Breakdown cover comes bundled with a lot of packaged bank accounts, some car insurance policies, new car warranties and most leases. Duplication is the most common waste of money in this market.
• How old is the car? Some providers cap cover at 16 years. With the average UK car approaching ten years old, check before you compare.
• How many callouts do you get? The cheaper tiers cap them, and an older car can use them up.
• Is this a new-customer price? It almost certainly is. Budget for the renewal being higher, and diary a reminder to re-quote before it happens.

Prices for basic cover from the big three start at roughly £57 to £67 a year online, with smaller providers from under £30. The gap between them is mostly coverage density on a bad night a long way from home — which is worth paying for, or not, depending entirely on the answers above.