Top Ten Tips for Vehicle Recovery Selection

Roger Williams, Director, AA Business Services

1: Does the cover fit your fleet?

There are a variety of breakdown cover types available and not all of these may be suitable for your fleet. Vehicle weight, length and height can all be a factor, particularly when European cover is required, and some cover is tailored to a specific type of vehicle, such as minibuses, motorcycles and HGVs. It is vital to find a breakdown cover provider who can respond quickly with appropriate resources in the event of an incident.

2: What are your vehicles used for?

If you’re running a fleet of specialist vehicles such as courier vehicles, ambulances, ice cream vans or taxis, look out for cover that has been specially developed to meet your requirements.

3: Basic cover v. comprehensive?

Depending on your company policy, you may be looking to cover your fleet as cost effectively as possible or conversely you may be under pressure to arrange the cover with all the bells and whistles! The right cover for your vehicles will depend greatly on a number of factors: how far from base are they travelling? Where are they garaged – on one site or at the drivers’ homes overnight? Will they be travelling outside the UK? Removing services you don’t need can help to keep costs down without leaving your drivers or vehicles stranded when they need assistance.

4: How can you tell whether the breakdown cover will live up to the hype?

With a plethora of breakdown cover options available, it can be difficult to assess how good the cover actually is – customer service, speed of roadside response and roadside fix rate are all areas that will make the difference between an excellent, satisfactory or disappointing service. There are independent and objective measures of breakdown cover quality – whether via consumer agencies (such as Which?), industry and supplier awards, comparison websites or social media recommendations. It is worth checking a variety of sources before making your final choice.

5: Do you qualify for any special deals?

Most breakdown cover providers have arrangements with selected trade organisations and business associations, offering preferential rates on breakdown cover as a benefit of membership. If your company is a member of a trade association, check with them whether they have such a scheme in place – or consider becoming a member. In some instances the breakdown cover savings can actually offset the cost of the membership.

6: Could you benefit from ‘whole fleet’ offers?

Some breakdown cover policies will allow you to add optional extras such as European cover or parts and labour cover to your whole fleet at a low ‘per vehicle’ cost. This is a cost-effective way of managing additional cover where you may not know in advance which vehicles may require these services.

7: Do you have a rapidly changing fleet?

If you think you may regularly need to add or replace vehicles during the course of your breakdown cover period, it’s worth checking with breakdown providers whether they apply any restrictions to amendments that can be made, or whether there is a charge for vehicle substitutions. You may also want to consider setting up a Direct Debit authority to facilitate easier and more convenient payment of pro-rata fees during the term of cover.

 8: Consider buying online.

Breakdown cover providers often offer special introductory deals to online buyers – and unlike buying over the phone, you can select and pay for your cover online 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

9: Check the small print!

Unless you are purchasing your breakdown cover on a ‘pay-for-use’ basis, it will be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the same way as any other insurance policy. This is good news for business customers as you will benefit from statutory protection if something goes wrong. This includes a 14 day ‘cooling off period’ if you change your mind after purchasing cover, a commitment to provision of full terms and conditions of cover, and strict rules around response to complaints. Remember to keep all of your policy documentation in a safe place in case of any queries.

10: What about the future?

As technology brings new developments to the breakdown cover marketplace, look out for additional services either as part of the breakdown package or as a bolt-on. Smartphone apps, GPS live-time tracking, telematics, online account management and in-cab entertainment for recovery vehicles could all become an integral part of the breakdown cover offering in the coming years. Check when purchasing if you can benefit from any of these enhancements, either now or in the near future.

For more information and advice please visit the AA website.

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