Breakdown cover. Worth it?

davemercedes

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Do you pay for the upgraded current account?
Oh yes, Yuggy... But it's still just about worth it. Costs have crept up to £13 pcm but the account pays 3% on balances up to £2500 and they provide UK/Euro RAC type cover plus year-round "free" travel insurance - which is free but excess charges apply for age and existing conditions (although I checked this year and our travel cover fees were less than a quote for 2-weeks cover from a broker). They also provide free mobile phone cover that I don't bother with but if I followed our kids and spent a fortune on the latest i-phone/whatever it would be worthwhile.
 

sonic

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In 52 years of motoring I have always managed to get home. But I have Nationwide's Flex Plus, which I have never used.
Their world travel & medical cover is very good. My wife broke her kneecap in Dubai on our way to Vietnam, so we had to return home. Put a £12K claim in paid out except £50 excess. Last November we should have gone to Dubai again this time on a cruise. 10 days before my wife had to have a urgent hip replacement. Claimed cancelled holiday, paid out in full £9K. Very good service.
 

keefysher

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In 52 years of motoring I have always managed to get home. But I have Nationwide's Flex Plus, which I have never used.
Their world travel & medical cover is very good. My wife broke her kneecap in Dubai on our way to Vietnam, so we had to return home. Put a £12K claim in paid out except £50 excess. Last November we should have gone to Dubai again this time on a cruise. 10 days before my wife had to have a urgent hip replacement. Claimed cancelled holiday, paid out in full £9K. Very good service.

Are there age / length of holiday restrictions on that travel insurance?
 

sonic

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Are there age / length of holiday restrictions on that travel insurance?
30 days standard cover, but you can buy an extention.
Up to 69 years, 70 onwards you have to buy an extension. I will have to do that next year, I think its £25 & that's a couple joint account.
 

davemercedes

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30 days standard cover, but you can buy an extention.
Up to 69 years, 70 onwards you have to buy an extension. I will have to do that next year, I think its £25 & that's a couple joint account.

With travel insurance, it's not just the age extension that boosts the cost - you have to declare all existing medical conditions (and the same for SWMBO if you have one). Being both in our mid 70's we have quite a few bits to list - and of course if you don't declare something you could find yourself with a large bill or in the worst case, maybe abandoned somewhere. One thing is not to renew or set up the age/existing conditions extras unless/until you're actually going to be travelling again.

SWMBO and I went on a cruise in May and renewed the cover and took out both extensions - total cost for the two of us was £445.80 (which is less than £4.30 each per week). I just checked and while they don't seem to limit the number of times you use the cover, the maximum break covered is 31 days (although they will quote if you need more). This time before I paid up I rang a couple of companies offering short term e.g.: 2-weeks cover and one of them refused to quote without a detailed medical history and the other one was dearer for two weeks than than Nationwide's price for a year!

But as we've said before, you take out insurance for the accident you hope will never happen... On the second day of our holiday I fell while trying to tie up my shoe laces (no I hadn't had a drop me lud!) and with an enormous bang, I hit the fridge cabinet with my back. I didn't go to the sick bay for about three days thinking it was just bruising but the pain became unbearable so I ended up with various medication and wheelchair trips to the medical centre. I came home with a medical bill for $1549 (£1219) and the claim is in progress. I asked the insurers if it affected future premiums and they said emphatically not. It was actually quite nasty though - back home our GP arranged detailed XRays and I have a fracture low down my back in the ribs area and I'm still taking morphine to relieve the pain and I just have to wait for it to heal.

Sorry Sonic, but like all insurers they come at you from every angle - since 3 January 2019, Nationwide changed the cost of an age upgrade from £50 to £65, as well as lowering the age requirement for the upgrade from 75 to 70 years.
 

sonic

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With travel insurance, it's not just the age extension that boosts the cost - you have to declare all existing medical conditions (and the same for SWMBO if you have one). Being both in our mid 70's we have quite a few bits to list - and of course if you don't declare something you could find yourself with a large bill or in the worst case, maybe abandoned somewhere. One thing is not to renew or set up the age/existing conditions extras unless/until you're actually going to be travelling again.

SWMBO and I went on a cruise in May and renewed the cover and took out both extensions - total cost for the two of us was £445.80 (which is less than £4.30 each per week). I just checked and while they don't seem to limit the number of times you use the cover, the maximum break covered is 31 days (although they will quote if you need more). This time before I paid up I rang a couple of companies offering short term e.g.: 2-weeks cover and one of them refused to quote without a detailed medical history and the other one was dearer for two weeks than than Nationwide's price for a year!

But as we've said before, you take out insurance for the accident you hope will never happen... On the second day of our holiday I fell while trying to tie up my shoe laces (no I hadn't had a drop me lud!) and with an enormous bang, I hit the fridge cabinet with my back. I didn't go to the sick bay for about three days thinking it was just bruising but the pain became unbearable so I ended up with various medication and wheelchair trips to the medical centre. I came home with a medical bill for $1549 (£1219) and the claim is in progress. I asked the insurers if it affected future premiums and they said emphatically not. It was actually quite nasty though - back home our GP arranged detailed XRays and I have a fracture low down my back in the ribs area and I'm still taking morphine to relieve the pain and I just have to wait for it to heal.

Sorry Sonic, but like all insurers they come at you from every angle - since 3 January 2019, Nationwide changed the cost of an age upgrade from £50 to £65, as well as lowering the age requirement for the upgrade from 75 to 70 years.
Thanks for the update I couldn't find the letter Nationwide sent me. But they were very good I was 70 in January, & my renewal is in November. They said the increase is at the next renewal, next November.
Once you are 70 insurance companies become very picky, & most will exclude you. So get a decent company before you are 70 & stick with them.
 

Frontstep

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Breakdown Insurance is overpriced and utterly useless till one snowy January night your car stops with a dashboard full of warning lights and a back seat full of elderly relatives, then it seems a relative bargain as the recovery vehicle arrives.

Then my cars cps decided to pack up on a busy roundabout that was bad enough and its a heavy old tub to push.

Twice bitten......
 

daibevan

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28 of the last 30 years it has been a total waste of money. 1 year it was helpful and 1 year it was a godsend. I hate paying for it, but would not be without it.
 

daibevan

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A workmate went to the Pyrenees in his VW camper without cover. He went for a bike ride & his wife went for a drive, ignored the temp gauge and blew the head gasket. By the time they got it home the spend would have bought a nice little runabout.
 

Rob76

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I took my VW camper to Milan for the Italian GP; blew an intercooler in Lucerne on the way down! Managed to limp down to Italy and back with black smoke pouring out the back: It was like a Cheech n Chong Movie!! Had something more important failed - I would have been well and truly fubar'ed......
The wife was NOT impressed that i didnt have breakdown cover....For me - it's worth if if just for peace of mind
 

McDonald

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My daily runaround (2002 Peugeot 206) started running rough this week. AA man was first class. Located the faulty injector precisely and apologised that he doesn't carry the part, it will have to go to a garage. He reckons the part is about £100 and under an hour to fit it. Meanwhile the car will run on 3 pots, so I can drive it to a garage. A really valuable service.
 

davemercedes

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A quick update on my travel claim. I just had an email from Nationwide advising that the claim has been settled. They've paid the claim in full at the currency rate applied on the invoices less just £50 excess. As we've all said, you insure for the fire you never expect to happen and it would be mad to go away or drive any distance without cover.
 

Rob.T

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We have been with the RAC since 2007, (just looked on my card to verify) we used them for the second time last week to transport my Smart to the indie MB garage. A pretty expensive tow really as the first time I used them was to sort my van out which they did at roadside, Vauxhall for you.
 

star

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Its like house insurance, hopefully you won't need it.
 

om613

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Most seem to baulk covering cars over 20 years old.
Who don't?
 

Blobcat

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Most seem to baulk covering cars over 20 years old.
Who don't?
I switch between AA and RAC, with cover in any car and they’ve not had an issue with my 27 year old Land Rover.
 

LostKiwi

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The breakdown cover I have via my bank account uses AA and covers any vehicle I'm in. So far never had an issue with vehicle age and even had two breakdown trucks on one occasion when my Land Rover threw a propshaft whilst towing - one truck took the Landy and the other the trailer.
 


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