Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Simon Trapani on September 05, 2023, 07:20:03 pm
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Just went to renew my AA breakdown cover & was told over the phone that they’ve now changed their terms & conditions & I need a commercial policy. He said the terms were always there but within the last month or so they’ve now decided to start enforcing them. Anybody else had this?
I’m sick of the AA trying it in with price every year & making you play the haggle game. Went to the RAC one year when i used to play them off against each other & was told my Vivaro was a commercial vehicle. AA want £262 a year for my two vans just for roadside basic cover. That still leaves me needing cover for my car & my son’s on a family policy.
Just looked on compare the market & coming up for all four vehicles at £115 a year basic cover. Company is called ‘Cover my Breakdown’. I know it’s subbed out locally but what are you guys thoughts?
My current van cover is basically null & void. Asked me if I carried tools to clean windows!🤔Was tempted to tell him i used my tongue ffs! I’m just wondering if i spoke to another advisor whether they’d tell me the same. I am so annoyed. I hate the AA.
Rant over!🫤
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Just checked the terms on the ‘cover my breakdown’ policy & it doesn’t cover commercial vehicles either. I’ll have to do another search.
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I'm with Halifax Ultimate Reward account. I have phone, roadside assistance, holiday insurance, emergency home cover for £17 a month. I have used the roadside assistance while in my van earlier this year. Anyone in your family can use the roadside assistance.
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Just went to renew my AA breakdown cover & was told over the phone that they’ve now changed their terms & conditions & I need a commercial policy. He said the terms were always there but within the last month or so they’ve now decided to start enforcing them. Anybody else had this?
I’m sick of the AA trying it in with price every year & making you play the haggle game. Went to the RAC one year when i used to play them off against each other & was told my Vivaro was a commercial vehicle. AA want £262 a year for my two vans just for roadside basic cover. That still leaves me needing cover for my car & my son’s on a family policy.
Just looked on compare the market & coming up for all four vehicles at £115 a year basic cover. Company is called ‘Cover my Breakdown’. I know it’s subbed out locally but what are you guys thoughts?
My current van cover is basically null & void. Asked me if I carried tools to clean windows!🤔Was tempted to tell him i used my tongue ffs! I’m just wondering if i spoke to another advisor whether they’d tell me the same. I am so annoyed. I hate the AA.
Rant over!🫤
Have a look at green flag they are very good for cars no idea about commercial vehicles though , we don’t bother with breakdown cover on the vans , never had a breakdown, probably will now having said this 😂😂😂
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Start Rescue maybe?
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Yes brilliant!
They just came up on moneysupermarket.
Got me, my employee & my son all in any vehicle, including light commercials for £113 so am now very happy😁
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Breakdown cover is included with my commercial van insurance every year plus courtesy van for 14 days if van off the road due to accident.
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I had an RAC policy a few years ago. I had a breakdown and was told because my van was sign written it wasn't covered. I had to pay £100 recovery fee. The patrol guy told me AA don't do this.
Ive been with AA since but they keep putting prices up.
So now I'm with green flag. It was £95 for the year including personal cover on any vehicle, home start and onwards travel type stuff. All the extras basically. They will cover sole traders with signwriting as the vehicle is a personal one. They only don't allow vehicles belonging to a company. Mine technically does but the log book is in my personal name, the guy on the phone reckoned I ld be alright. Hopefully I won't have to find out.
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I get my van serviced at Ford, it includes 12 months breakdown assistance.
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Yes brilliant!
They just came up on moneysupermarket.
Got me, my employee & my son all in any vehicle, including light commercials for £113 so am now very happy😁
What do they term a light commercial van?
I also had this with the AA and found another road side assist using Google search. They folded half way through the year.
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Not sure exactly Spruce? I’ve just phoned them to double check though & they assure me I’m covered. I can’t do any more so it’s done as far as I’m concerned.
I certainly know my vans weren’t covered with the AA
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We had a ford custom 3 months ago the key got stuck in lock with steering lock on, AA came loaded on back of flat bed and took to garage
No problems
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The guy on the phone at the AA said they only changed the terms & conditions a month or two ago. Then he said they were actually always there but they’ve updated them & were now enforcing it. I said about moving goal posts mid contract. He said it would apply on new contracts. I nearly spoke to someone else there but couldn’t be bothered after he basically chuckled down the phone.
I hate the AA, BT & British Gas. But they’re another story…
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The world has gone mad. It's pick and choose these days. It sounds like the AA are just focusing on small cars which are easy to recover with the roadside assistance vans.
I had to put a 'new' hub onto my son's 2002 Berlingo van a year or so back. As it was a second hand hub, I took the hub down to Kwikfit and asked them to replace the bearing as they have a hydraulic press. They've done it before for me.
"No, we don't repair any commercial vehicles."
"But what if it was a Berlingo Multispace?"
"No, we don't repair any commercial vehicles."
"But you replaced a hub bearing on my Citroën Relay van recently."
"We don't repair any commercial vehicles now."
Unfortunately, son took it down to another branch of theirs in Redcar for its MOT.
It failed on some rusty brake pipes, CV joint boots were loose, a non-working window screen washer motor and the spare wheel was flat.
They could fix the spare wheel, but couldn't balance it. He has Citroën alloys on it, and they have a solid centre hub. They checked for a blow fuse for the washer bottle, but couldn't do anything else. He phoned around numerous local garages, but no one would do the brake pipes.
Eventually I did everything myself over the next few weekends and took it elsewhere for a new MOT. The tester found that the brake load sensing device to the brakes didn't work as the spring was long since rusted and broken. Kwikfit didn't find that.
I have breakdown cover with my current insurance with Aviva. It's due for replacement in 2 months so we will see.
Daughter in law is with AA. A number of years ago the front exhaust pipe broke and the back piece was hitting the road. She stopped and phoned the AA. They still hadn't arrived after 3 hours. She phoned them regularly for updates but they were busy and would get there as soon as they could. She had the grand kids in the car and it was winter. I told her I would come through and fix it but she said the AA were on their way.
I eventually drove through to Hartlepool and removed the rear exhaust section in 5 minutes. She cancelled the AA. 2 hours later the AA phoned saying they couldn't find the car.
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Most fully comp commercial van insurance companies provide breakdown cover for a reasonable fee.this is what I use.
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Alexander Swan don’t offer it as far as I’m aware & that’s who my vans are with. My car & my son’s car are insured with two different insurers again so that wouldn’t work for me either thanks.
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Alexander Swan don’t offer it as far as I’m aware & that’s who my vans are with. My car & my son’s car are insured with two different insurers again so that wouldn’t work for me either thanks.
Alexander swan is who my vans are with my insurance was renewed last November and they offered breakdown cover policy but I turned it down I have never had it on the vans and didn’t ask any questions about it they are a good broker but guess they would be expensive for this ?..
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I use AA Commercial Cover Fleet Insurance. You can use on cars or vans, so i do 4 in total and it works out at under £100 per vehicle and you get more premium benefits to the service. Every year they up the price, so i phone up kick off and they just knock the price right back down again.
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I have AA Relay as I'm likely to end up fixing it myself anyway.
It was under £150 and there's been nothing said or termed about recovering either of my Rangers.
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Renew my AA policy every year and they never even ask what cars/vans I drive..........covers me and the wife whatever vehicle we are driving although on my van insurance I can't drive another vehicle on a third party basis so I'm basically just covered for the van......best ring them tomorrow though and check on the commercial vehicle aspect.
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I have a number for a recovery service in my wallet. They will quickly pick up and take me to the garage for £100 . I’m never very far from the garage I use so don’t see the point of the extra expense . Used to have free breakdown with my Barclays rewards account but they stopped doing commercial vehicles
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Ive used both the AA & RAC over the years, and find the AA are better at actually TRYING to fix it rather than just tow it away. It just depends on how decent the engineer is on the day. Ive also tried the 'included breakdown cover' with insurances in the past, and find the people they send out are just toe rags with a low loader, that don't even want to bother getting you going, just take it to a garage. I use the AA to more or less tell me what the problem is, then get someone i know to fix it or do it myself.
I wonder if you chose AA personal cover, on a car that will cover you in ANY vehicle may be a way around it?
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Had a 3.5 transit recovered by AA last month. Took 12 hours to get relayed home.
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I had the wheel bearing collapse in my truck in the winter. Took the AA 10 hours to get to me.
Happy times.
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Just renewed my insurance with Alexander Swan and they have an option to include full break down cover with RAC for £80.00 per year, only covers one vehicle but commercial work vans are covered. They insure my car also, when it's up for renewal I'll be cancelling AA and also adding this option to my policy.
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Always had AA cover.
Had a van sunk up to the floorpan whilst driving across a sandbank on a riverbank where I normally park and they informed me they would be 3hours before they could get a flatbed recovery truck to me. I was panicking as the tide was on the turn and within 6 hours it would be floating down the river out to sea if it wasn't recovered in time and the embarassment of watching my van floating away on the local news isn't good publicity ;D Luckily they turned up on time.
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Always had AA cover.
Had a van sunk up to the floorpan whilst driving across a sandbank on a riverbank where I normally park and they informed me they would be 3hours before they could get a flatbed recovery truck to me. I was panicking as the tide was on the turn and within 6 hours it would be floating down the river out to sea if it wasn't recovered in time and the embarassment of watching my van floating away on the local news isn't good publicity ;D Luckily they turned up on time.
I've been a life long member of AA but as they are no longer covering work vans I've gone over to RAC via Alexander Swans option to add to my policy.
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Always had AA cover.
Had a van sunk up to the floorpan whilst driving across a sandbank on a riverbank where I normally park and they informed me they would be 3hours before they could get a flatbed recovery truck to me. I was panicking as the tide was on the turn and within 6 hours it would be floating down the river out to sea if it wasn't recovered in time and the embarassment of watching my van floating away on the local news isn't good publicity ;D Luckily they turned up on time.
I've been a life long member of AA but as they are no longer covering work vans I've gone over to RAC via Alexander Swans option to add to my policy.
Mine automatically renewed two weeks ago with AA and I'm covered with work van
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Always had AA cover.
Had a van sunk up to the floorpan whilst driving across a sandbank on a riverbank where I normally park and they informed me they would be 3hours before they could get a flatbed recovery truck to me. I was panicking as the tide was on the turn and within 6 hours it would be floating down the river out to sea if it wasn't recovered in time and the embarassment of watching my van floating away on the local news isn't good publicity ;D Luckily they turned up on time.
I've been a life long member of AA but as they are no longer covering work vans I've gone over to RAC via Alexander Swans option to add to my policy.
Mine automatically renewed two weeks ago with AA and I'm covered with work van
Are you sure? My renewal email came through with doc saying t&c changed. When I read the 20 page document they no longer cover work vehicles unless you get a commercial policy! I rang and queried it and they gave a bull answer that it always excluded work vehicles but they didn't enforce it until renewal!
Double check the small print!
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Always had AA cover.
Had a van sunk up to the floorpan whilst driving across a sandbank on a riverbank where I normally park and they informed me they would be 3hours before they could get a flatbed recovery truck to me. I was panicking as the tide was on the turn and within 6 hours it would be floating down the river out to sea if it wasn't recovered in time and the embarassment of watching my van floating away on the local news isn't good publicity ;D Luckily they turned up on time.
I've been a life long member of AA but as they are no longer covering work vans I've gone over to RAC via Alexander Swans option to add to my policy.
Mine automatically renewed two weeks ago with AA and I'm covered with work van
Are you sure? My renewal email came through with doc saying t&c changed. When I read the 20 page document they no longer cover work vehicles unless you get a commercial policy! I rang and queried it and they gave a bull answer that it always excluded work vehicles but they didn't enforce it until renewal!
Double check the small print!
Mine is covered
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Always had AA cover.
Had a van sunk up to the floorpan whilst driving across a sandbank on a riverbank where I normally park and they informed me they would be 3hours before they could get a flatbed recovery truck to me. I was panicking as the tide was on the turn and within 6 hours it would be floating down the river out to sea if it wasn't recovered in time and the embarassment of watching my van floating away on the local news isn't good publicity ;D Luckily they turned up on time.
I've been a life long member of AA but as they are no longer covering work vans I've gone over to RAC via Alexander Swans option to add to my policy.
Mine automatically renewed two weeks ago with AA and I'm covered with work van
Are you sure? My renewal email came through with doc saying t&c changed. When I read the 20 page document they no longer cover work vehicles unless you get a commercial policy! I rang and queried it and they gave a bull answer that it always excluded work vehicles but they didn't enforce it until renewal!
Double check the small print!
Ford commercial have a contract with the AA. If you get your van serviced at a Ford Centre, 12 months breakdown cover with the AA is included.
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Likewise the last AA renewal stated no commercial vehicles - now with the RAC
when you got stuck did they charge you?
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Just carry on as usual. The AA accepted your van details knowing full well you're a self employed window cleaner. If you need to call them out, just tell them you were visiting a friend. What can they do?
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RAC don't or didn't cover commercial vehicles under their standard policy's. I found out a couple of years ago when I had to pay extra to get a van towed.
So I switched back to the AA as I knew they did. If they have now changed their rules then I don't believe either do now unless RAC have changed theirs lol
Either way I'm with green flag now as they do
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I called them out before Christmas for a flat battery on a Custom Limited which is still under warranty, AA driver followed me to Ford dealership & fitted new battery but told me they'll no longer come out for a work van, I phoned AA next day and they confirmed. Was expensive anyway something like £300 a year, full cover with RAC now through Alexander Swan for £80 per year 8)
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I think that’s what we have done
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just spoke to them, if you use your van for pleasure then you are still covered, if you use your van for work carry tools or equipment then they now class it a as commercial policy and they will not cover you unless you have business cover
cost of two vans £180
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Just carry on as usual. The AA accepted your van details knowing full well you're a self employed window cleaner. If you need to call them out, just tell them you were visiting a friend. What can they do?
🤔Leave you there maybe?
While you’re at it, don’t mention your water tank to your insurance company either🤣
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Commercial vehicles need commercial cover, or am I missing something?
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They never asked me what vehicles.....just any vehicle me or the wife are in is covered.
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They never asked me what vehicles.....just any vehicle me or the wife are in is covered.
As long as the vehicles are not excluded by t&c. Check your t's and c's!
For example I bet they would only cover vehicles under 3.5ton and 6.4m!
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I pay someting like 35 ayear for homestart etc with a rac but they charge 40 for each call out, I thought great deal until last year had to call out twice althouh one of them they towed me to garage so syill not a bad deal, first time in 20 years i had to call them out