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Insurance for Car, Van, Bike, House and Contents & Motor Breakdown Cover

Motor Breakdown Cover

Motor Breakdown Cover Insurance Information

Motor Breakdown Cover is often the last thing on our minds, even when we think of car insurance.
Funny how motor breakdown cover is exactly what you wish you'd bought when the car breaks down!

Students never think of it, so maybe a sensible present for your young man or woman who's about to leave home, is Motor Breakdown Cover insurance so if they do run into problems with their car, at least you thought of it....they'll be glad you did, and you'll even get a discount!
So don't wait - because we're going to go through a list of things to think about when you are choosing which Motor Breakdown Cover to buy.
Starting with what you are covered for.......
Motor breakdown cover insures you for call out charges and up to one hours labour charges, at the scene of your breakdown where your vehicle is rendered immobilised within the territorial limits stated in the membership document.

Phew! What does that usually mean in simple english?
Unless it actually says so, your motor breakdown cover isn't valid in France, Belgium, Holland or Spain, so don't just drive your car onto the ferry for a day out, and think you can call the motor breakdown guy out; because unless you've definitely got european motor breakdown cover you are going to have an expensive day out.

Immobilised means just that.....
If you completely trash your car because you did something stupid (like driving way too fast, or doing something equally stupid), and then think you've got this amazing Motor Breakdown Cover that includes every type of event, when you call out the trusty motor breakdown cover mechanic to fix it; you'll find he won't do it for free because that's not what you've paid for, and if it's your Dad's car he can't promise not to tell him!
Getting stuck on the beach after that great barbecue doesn't count either; because Motor Breakdown Cover only covers you for the normal highway, so if you must drive on the beach, try to work out how far in the tide comes because you'll be sorry if you don't..........
By the way, the legal position goes something like this:
If you are stuck in the sand above the highwater level, then at least you might get a local farmer to drag your car out with a tractor - might be a good idea to agree a price with him first.
If on the other hand you're stuck in the sand below the highwater mark then you're in real trouble, because once the tide comes in, your car is just so much scrap, and no insurance policy will cover you unless you can show that you ended up there through no fault of your own; no easy task.
So what do you do?:
It rather depends on where you get stuck - I'll write about it in the blog which you can get to by clicking on this link, or throught the blog link at the top of the page http://www.redbuttondiscount.co.uk/blog/ Summary of Motor Breakdown Cover:
OK, there's a definite limit to what motor breakdown cover insures.
Roadside assistance, roadside repairs, assistance at your home, onward destination service, which is the sort of thing we expect the motor breakdown guy to do for us.
Then motor breakdown cover insures any driver, cars, vans, and motorcycles up to 3.5 tonnes, and any caravan or trailer attached to your vehicle at the time of breakdown (up to a maximum 25feet), so no, it won't insure just any vehicle, you need to talk to the Motor Breakdown Cover insurers first if you are in any doubt at all.
The motor breakdown cover gives you up to 1 hours roadside assistance, and up to 6 call outs in any one year, so you should make sure your car is well maintained.
That's the point really, motor breakdown cover isn't meant to be a replacement for regular maintenance.
The motor breakdown cover guy will come out and do wheel changes when you get a puncture, (as long as you have a serviceable spare tyre and wheel and are able to provide a manufacturers key to remove any locking wheel nuts).
What is definitely not covered under Motor Breakdown Cover: Any claim arising within the first 48 hours from the date of incepton, so no waiting until you actually need motor breakdown cover and deciding to buy it after you've broken down.
labour charges in excess of one hour, because Motor Breakdown Cover, like any insurance is limited to what you paid for it.
Motor Breakdown Cover doesn't insure the cost of any replacement parts or materials used in the repair, because that's what you'd normally pay for yourself anyway. You'd have to pay for toll charges, ferry charges, parking charges or traffic congestion charges during the course of your journey, , storage charges incurred during or after the use of our services, so you can't expect Motor Breakdown Cover to insure you for that either. The motor breakdown cover insures you for no more than 6 call outs a year, and lets face it you'd have to be very unlucky to have that many if you maintain your car.
I know we all do it from time to time if we get distracted but the fact is that letting your car run out of fuel is careless, and losing your keys is just as bad; and although the motor breakdown cover guy that comes out may well be sympathetic and may even try to help, he's not supposed to and you shouldn't expect him to.
If you have any broken glass that's normally covered by your own vehicles car insurance cover so the motor breakdown guy won't deal with that.
And if you get your car , immersed in mud, snow, sand or water the motor breakdown cover definitely can't help you. Actually I once did that, I got stuck in the sand at low tide, and when I rang everybody for help, nobody wanted to know.
Because it wasn't on the road, the motor breakdown cover didn't insure me.
Because it wasn't on the road, the police and fire brigade wouldn't come out.
Because the tide wasn't in, the coastguard wouldn't come out.
I got lucky with the R.N.L.I. because they had a caterpillar tractor with a giant winch that they use to launch the lifeboat - it trundled around at 3mph while the tide slowly came in, and just as the sea was lapping the tyres, finally, the R.N.L.I. launch tractor slowly winched us out of the mud.
You may not be so lucky.
If you get your keys locked in your vehicle, motor breakdown cover won't help.
Territorial limits of Motor Breakdown Cover: The United Kingdom including Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, and nowhere else unless you take out extra motor breakdown cover.
Breakdowns: Motor Breakdown Cover means an electrical or mechanical failure or a road traffic accident or damage caused by vandalism, fire, theft or attempted theft which renders the vehicle immobilised, it does not cover a car that's written off in a car crash.

And to repeat just one thing, don't forget that you can buy motor breakdown cover for you son or daughter - it may be the best present you gave them this year, and it gives you peace of mind if they're travelling, or moving to another city to work or study.
So take a look at FirstCalls Motor Breakdown Cover and do something sensible while you're saving money!




A Cautionary Tale - Don't Drive in the Sand because if you get stuck, your Car Breakdown guy can't help you

Out with my wife, driving my works short wheelbase landrover in the Isle of Mann, I saw a for sale sign on a boat in the harbour.
The tide was out, and I could see light tyre tracks in the hard sand where other people had been, so I felt fairly safe driving down the slipway and up to the boat - an old yellow catamaran that I reckoned I could just about afford to buy.

As I turned away from the boat I drove in a wide circle instead of going straight back on my tracks like the locals do. I realised too late that I'd left the hard sandy strip and had driven into something much softer.

It's hard to describe the feeling of rising panic when you feel the car slow down and settle in something deep and gooey, in a place that you shouldn't be, and in a car that doesn't belong to you.

But, this was a Landrover equiped with a winch, so reaching into the back, I got my wellies, put them on and stepped out, instantly sinking up to my shins in sticky muddy silt. The words Oh s***! s***! s***! seemed to just about sum it up.
Later, I would learn that we had driven into an area in the harbour called "McDonald's Hole", so named after an entreprenuer who'd started to dig out a deepwater Marina, only to find the holes filling up with mud as soon as the tide came in, apparently it ruined him then, and I had the horrible feeling it was about to ruin me as well.

Still, the Landrover had a 3 ton winch so I confidently hooked it up to the nearest mooring chain and started winding it up.
No chance, it wouldn't budge!

I tried simply driving it out, although I'd already tried that before.
No chance there either!

I tried everything to get that car to move. I drove it forwards and backwards, with the winch, without the winch, in 4 wheel drive, 2 wheel drive, sticking stuff under the wheels, but nothing would shift it.

I thought it was time to use my motor breakdown cover and phoned the breakdown recovery service - "I'm sorry sir, you aren't on the public highway so we can't help you".

I phoned the fire brigade - "Sorry sir, you aren't on the land so there's nothing we can do, perhaps you could try the coastguard..."

I phoned the coastguard - "You say the tide is out sir? Well then I'm afraid there is nothing we can do until the tide comes in..."
I was stunned, "But then my car will be under 20 feet of water!".
"Yes, I see that sir, but unless you are actually in or on the water it's nothing to do with us. Perhaps the Police could suggest something?"

I phoned the Police - "The best advice we can give you sir, is too leave the car before the tide comes in, because if your car is stuck as badly as you say, it's probably there to stay."

This was serious - none of the services would come and pull me out, the insurance wouldn't pay for the car if the tide came in, and it would take years to pay my employer back. To make matters worse, a growing crowd lined the promenade railings shouting helpful and not so helpful suggestions, we'd become a source of entertainment.....



I was thinking about the unpleasant and final conversation I was probably about to have with my boss, when man appeared in front of me- I hadn't noticed him wading through the mud.  Smartly dressed in uniform wellies he introduced himself as the Launch Marshal for the R.N.L.I.

We shook hands while he explained that they had a Caterpillar Tractor with a 32 ton winch that was normally used for launching and recovering the lifeboat.
This was great news, and I felt better right away!...I looked around for it and couldn't see anything - seeing me do that he said cheerily, " Oh no it only does 2 or 3 mph so it won't be here for a bit".
I stared at the tide that was slowly coming in....I willed it to go back, and started quietly praying the tractor would get here before the tide did.

His next question wasn't so cheery. - "Can I confirm that you agree to us attempting to pull your car out, and that you accept the winch might pull bits of the car off or even the whole front of the car off?"   Of course I agreed, I mean after all, what did I have to lose now.

Time goes excrutiatingly slowly in situations like these, and much sooner than it felt, I heard the clanking tracks and the rumbling diesel as it crawled it's way around the harbour to get to me. Anyone who knows Peel Harbour knows that it's quite a long way round from the Lifeboat Station.

Although it seemed to take forever, my confidence grew as my odd looking saviour clanked and rumbled it's way closer and finally started down the slipway, I smiled at my wife, who was sitting in the car, and she smiled back triumphantly because she had refused to leave the car.
Then the tractor stopped halfway down the slipway.......stopped?....Why?....What's wrong?

The Launch Marshal came back, "Sorry Sir, my Launch Officer won't bring the tractor across the sand and mud in case he gets grit in the tracks."

I promised I'd jetwash it everyday until every speck of sand or grit was gone, but it didn't work, the driver wasn't going to bring his superclean and beautifully polished launch tractor across the mud. The Launch Marshall went away.

I felt beaten; the tide was slowly coming in and it was only a few metres away. It seemed hopeless.

A few minutes later, the Launch Marshal came back smiling, the driver WAS prepared to try and winch me out.....so they began unwinding a large hook and thick steel cable and carried it towards us.
They attached it to the front bumper as the water got to the wheels, and told me to start driving as soon as I saw the winch cable go tight.

It was all over in a couple of seconds, the cable went tight, I started turning all four wheels, and the car lurched and popped out like a cork from a bottle to the sound of cheering from what was now a very large crowd; within 30 seconds we were dragged to the slipway and safety.

I spent weeks jetwashing the car after that and bought every newspaper in the village where I worked, hoping that no one who knew me would ever find out.
The embarrasment would have been unbearable.

That taught me a lesson - don't do stupid stuff and expect people to come and bail you out - I was very lucky, you might not be.

Choosing Motor Breakdown Cover

On this page you'll find Red Button Discounts for the best online insurance deals in Motor Breakdown Cover, Motor Insurance Car, Motorbike Insurance, Van insurance, and Home Insurance.

And after you've read through all of the info on Motor Breakdown Cover that we've given you, why not go to the best deal of all, because FirstCall can beat any Motor Breakdown Cover quote

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