With car breakdown cover, do you get what you pay for? The lowdown on the best rescue service policies

• e-mail

Vehicle breakdown cover can seem like an unnecessary luxury – until your car breaks down on a cold winter’s night and you are left stranded on a motorway hard shoulder.

At this time of year the number of breakdown call-outs rises dramatically as temperatures plummet, putting additional strain on both car batteries and engines.

If you break down on a motorway you face a £250 bill to be towed off – ten times the annual price of the cheapest breakdown cover. And that is before any additional repair bills.

Blast from the past: John Hesp’s bank provides cover for his DeLorean

Traditionally, the AA and RAC have been the car rescue services to turn to as they have their own fleet of rescue vehicles and trained mechanics.

Yet other companies – the most well known being Green Flag – offer breakdown cover, typically by getting local garages to provide roadside help.

A number of insurance providers have also started to offer cover for basic towing and garage repair. Providers include QDOS, NCI Insurance, RescueMyCar and Britannia Rescue.

Some motorists might have breakdown cover through existing insurance policies or as part of a bank account that throws in a few extras.

Before signing up for breakdown cover it is important to work out what kind of plan you want.

Matt Oliver, a spokesman for comparison website Gocompare, says: ‘Having a good breakdown policy can turn a motoring nightmare into a minor inconvenience. Never assume the cheapest policy – or for that matter the most expensive – is going to be best.’

He adds: ‘While larger providers offer the reassurance of a big brand they tend to charge higher premiums. Smaller players are good at no-frills services – and keep costs down by outsourcing work to local mechanics.’

For example, the AA is one of the most expensive providers – demanding £155 a year for its comprehensive service. But this includes unlimited recoveries from home or when out travelling as well as taking you to a chosen destination.

In contrast, QDOS charges £23.99 a year and will tow you home if your car breaks down – but only once. Other providers – such as 2 Gether and Start Rescue – limit rescues to six a year. After that you are on your own unless you are willing to pay extra for more comprehensive cover.

Even deals from individual providers vary. For example, Britannia Rescue, which is owned by mutual insurer LV=, charges just £29 to take you up to ten miles to a garage if you break down away from home.

But if you also want cover from home and be towed anywhere and given a hire car or put up in a hotel when things go wrong – right across Europe – it costs £130. This is for a single vehicle but if you want cover for you driving any car it is an extra £45.

Gavin Hill-Smith, a spokesman for the AA, says: ‘A vehicle recovery service that tows a car home or to a local garage may be useful. But for every ten call-outs we attend, eight can be dealt with there and then at the side of the road – saving drivers a lot of hassle. And remember, once you have been towed to a garage you will be stung with an extra repair bill.’

John Hesp, 62, from Bridlington, East Yorkshire, insures his classic 1980s DeLorean car using LV=, but has not taken out its breakdown cover because he already has cover from Yorkshire Bank. The model was made famous by the sci-fi movie Back To The Future, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

John pays £13.50 a month for the Yorkshire Bank ‘Signature’ packaged current account. This includes a breakdown recovery service for the vehicles he drives – as well as travel and gadgets insurance.

He says: ‘The DeLorean had a reputation for poor electrics during the brief time it was manufactured – with owners complaining about sometimes being locked inside. But it remains a classic and I have looked after it by having the electrics modified. Since then, it has never let me down.’

The AA says that more than half of all call-outs are to do with battery faults and that motorists can often save themselves from breakdown misery by taking a few precautionary measures.

These include making sure everything is turned off when parking and not turning on lights until you have started the car. It might also be worth changing the battery if it is more than five years old.