Understand the basics

It is not a legal requirement to have breakdown cover – it is a safety net to ensure you are not left on the roadside if something happens to your vehicle. But you should be aware of all of the policy’s limitations when you buy one.

The most basic policies start at £15. The price will depend on the provider you choose, whether you want to be brought home with your car, whether you want coverage in Europe, if you get a replacement vehicle, and other features.

The most basic level is simple breakdown cover. With this, if your car breaks down when you are more than a certain distance (for example, a quarter of a mile) from home, the insurer’s mechanic will attempt to fix it on the road and, if that is not possible, will tow it to an approved garage nearby.

Consider extras

With national cover, which costs more, your car will be towed to your home, or your destination, if you are going somewhere else. This could be useful for people who travel long distances for work or those who want to make sure a holiday is not disrupted.

Another additional element is “home start”, which covers breakdowns at your home, or within the exclusion zone (such as the quarter-mile mentioned above) in cheaper policies. This could be helpful if your battery fails.

Choosing an “onward travel” addition means that if your car needs repairs, then the insurer will provide you with a replacement vehicle, public transport or overnight accommodation if necessary.

Kara Gammell of comparison website MoneySuperMarket, says drivers should focus on the level of cover that they need when comparing policies and only buy the features they need.

“Basic roadside assistance is usually the cheapest option, while national recovery, onward travel and at‑home start add extra protection, but can also add to the cost, so it’s important to tailor your policy, rather than assuming you need every add‑on,” she says.

For example, if you were to get a basic personal policy with RAC Essentials, it would cost £29.99 a year. Make that national cover and it rises to £40. Add home start and it is £49.99. And with onward travel as well, the bill comes to £51.99.

Choose person or car

Breakdown cover is offered in two ways: either for the vehicle or the person named on the policy.

Choosing to take out vehicle cover means it is that car, van or motorbike which will be covered, whoever is driving it. The RAC recommends this for a family car driven by a few people.

If you take out personal cover, you will be covered, no matter what vehicle you are in, as the driver or passenger.

Therefore, if you are a passenger in someone else’s car that does not have cover, you will be able to call for help.

The downside is that if you are not in a car when it breaks down, it will not be covered unless the other person has cover.

Typically, personal cover will be more expensive. In the case of RAC Essentials, a basic policy, with vehicle cover, will cost £25.98 a year – about £4 less.

With family breakdown cover, a number of people who live at the same address can be covered for any vehicle they are driving, or are in, under one policy.

Trips abroad

If you are driving to a European country on holiday, you can get breakdown cover for your trip. This can avoid the potential of having to deal with garages and recovery companies in a foreign language if something does go wrong.

European cover is available for single trips, or as an annual policy, which will cover an unlimited number of trips. If you make several journeys over the year, then the annual policy may be better value.

You should buy your policy before you travel (sometimes the insurer will specify that you need to buy it a minimum number of days before you go or can use it).

The levels of cover will differ between policies – such as how much the provider will pay for repairs, or a replacement vehicle – so compare the details carefully.

Check existing policies

Before buying a policy, check you do not already have the cover you want.

Some packaged bank accounts come with cover. For example, Nationwide’s FlexPlus current account (£18 a month) comes with UK and European breakdown cover from the AA. NatWest’s Reward Platinum account (£22 a month) has UK car breakdown cover, and the Premier Reward Black account (£36 a month) offers UK and European cover.

Although most car insurance policies do not include breakdown cover, some do. NFU Mutual includes Mutual Assist on all its polices. This includes roadside help, local recovery if more than a quarter of a mile from home, and a small hire car for 48 hours. More comprehensive cover costs more.

Many car manufacturers offer cover for a limited period when you buy a new car. Ford offers one year of UK and European assistance with new sales. Audi offers three years, as does BMW.

If you do have cover already, you should look at the details and ensure it covers everything you need it to.

Shop around and haggle!

A survey by consumer group Which? found the four most highly rated providers to be Aviva, Axa Assistance, Autonational Rescue and Start Rescue. These results come from a combination of customer satisfaction and waiting times for matters to be dealt with.

Tom Banks of comparison site GoCompare says the independent Defaqto rating on a breakdown cover policy is the industry benchmark of its quality.

He also recommends looking at the average response times for providers. For example, the AA says that it usually gets to people in less than an hour, and gets them back on the road within 30 minutes of arrival.

If you are renewing your cover, never accept the automatic renewal price as there are likely to be better deals out there. Martin Lewis’s MoneySavingExpert site says breakdown cover providers are among the easiest to haggle with.

It advises that you call your provider towards the end of your existing cover period to ask for a better deal as you are paying too much or there are better offers elsewhere. Telling a provider that you are leaving may prompt a better deal as they are usually eager to retain customers. There may be a better deal available from another provider, so use comparison sites to see what else is on offer.

Know what to expect

Seeing a recovery vehicle can be a huge relief when you have broken down, but your journey home may take some time and involve several trucks, and a broken-up trip.

This is because UK law limits the time that truck drivers can spend on the road to 10 hours a day, which may mean your initial driver cannot take you all the way.

Also, many companies operate networks of recovery vehicles within certain geographical regions – such as the north-east or Wales – and only within those boundaries.

Therefore, if you switch from one network to another, you will have to move to another breakdown vehicle.