I thought I'd share this with you...

I've never bothered with breakdown and recovery insurance in the past but now with a grown-up car and a Kit car I thought it made sense to sign up. This was brought home to me last weekend when my clutch cable snapped 30 miles from home. Thanks to MK-Ninja for coming to the rescue...

I've done a bit of trawling of the web and found that Gem Recovery will provide all the cover I need.

http://www.gemrecovery.co.uk/index.asp

I had one concern over the policy exclusions which say's you're not covered if you aren't carrying a spare but after a brief email exchange they confirmed they would cover me for both cars and if I suffer a puncture in the MK Indy then they will get me (and the car) to a garage where I can get the tyre replaced. I bought some of that Tyre Seal so a regular puncture shouldn't be a problem.

For less than £50.00 I not only get breakdown assistance and a home start facility but also onward transportation to any selected destination in the UK, I'm also covered if I'm driving someone elses car (with their permission).

I've not had the need to call them yet but they get a good write up in the press and are a good sight cheaper than the competition.

I should make the disclaimer that I have absolutely nothing to do with this company.

If anyone wants the email address of the person that authorised cover without a spare wheel then drop me a note (U2).

I bet they dont provide coffee with their rescue service

Good luck with the SVA next week, let us know how it goes ( dont forget to take the plates off), we must go for a run once the weather picks up.

Gordon

No experience with these breakdown recover firms, but, be careful with the "tire repair in a tin" products, you end up with an unbalanced tire full of sticky, gooey foam and many tire shops will refuse to repair them after they've been "sealed".

A plug kit and a bicycle pump might do.

Cheers, Ted

Hi

Have they said they'll cover your car for SVA ?

I've been looking for a breakdown service too, but the ones i've tried will only cover cars with a reg number

Adrian

Adrian you need to read one of the earlier posts by MK7, they have given him a reg number without an SVA ( bit of a cockup somewhere) so he is fully road legal.
Being a nice chap he is going for the SVA anyway and has agreed to send them a copy when he gets it.
Some people have all the luck

I was told (pestered) by my insurance co that the Gov are bringing in laws forcing you to have breakdown cover.
If you breakdown the Police will prosecute and give penalty points if you don't have a recovery contract.

Has anyone else heard anything about this or is it just a scam to sell cover?

Terry

sounds like a scam,i you break down o the motorway.plod will get you towed at huge expense

At the moment, the maximum a recovery agent can charge for a Police recovery is £105+vat, this is usualy the minimum as well!

The local CONtractor for police recoveries charged that to take a gallon of petrol to a car on the motorway, about a 7 mile round trip for them. There was an article in the local rag about it but it didn't shame them.

ady8077,

Give em a call and ask if they'll cover the car for SVA, better still, take a look at the policy document on their web site and see if it's excluded.

If it's not excluded then you are covered.

If there's something to suggest that there might be a problem then drop them an email.

If you do plan to sign up with them then you'll probably need to give them a call to let them know about the kit car (unless you have a spare...)

MK7

Hi Mk7

I have spoken to a couple of breakdown services including the one used by Adrian Flux, but they have both said they need a reg number.

Adrian

My policy says they will recover me in any vehicle even if it doesn't belong to me or if I am a passenger as long as it's road legal, which an insured and sva'd car is even though it has no number. Their words, not mine. It uses my van number for the main policy.

I actually called the AA on the way back from second SVA, they had no probs with the fact it had no Reg. Ended up fixing it myself (kinked fuel pipe) so cancelled the call.

One good reason for using the AA is that they usually send out their own people who really try their best to get the car fixed. Cheaper companies tend to use local contractors who only seem to want to tow you to their or your garage.

Hi Again

I did ring the AA but the person on the phone didn't no and said they'd get someone to ring me, but knobody did. Then Bob posted this about his SVA

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=13747

So i never rang them back

When I rang them they only asked for my card number, I never gave them a registration. They fetched me back from Derby with a wheel bearing failed.

How much for AA cover with homestart, roadside assistance and recovery to any destination irrespective of which car you are driving?

The closest I got was around £140 which doesn't compare too favourable with either Gem Recovery or MK-Ninja (which includes free coffee... and a Free pre SVA check)

The breakdown cover from Adrian Flux sounds ok £40 on top of you insurance for the same as AA £140

Shame they wont cover SVA

Adrian

my girlfirend is covered by GEM for breakdown - one thing to be aware of is that you must pay for the recovery at the time and claim it back from them after. However, they did get someone sent out pretty quickly when her car overheated on the m69 last week.

quote:

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Originally posted by andkilde
No experience with these breakdown recover firms, but, be careful with the "tire repair in a tin" products, you end up with an unbalanced tire full of sticky, gooey foam and many tire shops will refuse to repair them after they've been "sealed".

A plug kit and a bicycle pump might do.

Cheers, Ted

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Not an expert on this but, if it does what it says on the tin, then there's never any need to get the tyre repaired...

The blurb says that it will seal all leagally repairable holes up to 6mm diameter (which is pretty big) for the natural life of the tyre.