Compare UK breakdown cover

How to read the table

Cover basis tells you whether the policy is attached to a registration number (vehicle cover) or to a named person who is covered in any car they are driving or travelling in (personal cover). Personal cover costs more but can replace two or three vehicle policies in one household.

Network is the difference between the AA and RAC, who run their own liveried patrols, and almost everyone else, who dispatch an independent local recovery operator. In practice the big two also use contractors at busy times, and contractors are often the nearest garage anyway. It matters most in remote areas and for electric vehicles, where specialist flatbeds are needed.

Pay and reclaim means you call any garage, pay them, and claim the cost back up to a limit. It is cheaper and suits people who are confident organising their own help.

Our shortlist by situation

• Lowest cost, roadside only: Green Flag or Breakdown Direct.
• Two or more cars, one driver: personal cover from GEM, or a personal policy from the AA or RAC.
• Electric car: RAC or AA — both have invested in EV-capable patrols and mobile charging. See our EV breakdown guide.
• Regular trips to France or Spain: an annual European policy; compare on the European cover page.
• Motorbike: not every provider covers bikes. Use the motorbike comparison.

Cheap breakdown cover: where the real savings are

The cheapest breakdown cover on any comparison table is usually a roadside-only vehicle policy from an online brand, and for a newer car driven locally it is often all you need. The bigger saving for most households is structural: refusing the renewal price, buying one personal policy instead of two vehicle policies, and not paying for onward travel you will never claim. Our guide to cheap breakdown cover goes through nine ways to pay less without losing cover.

Comparison sites such as Compare the Market, MoneySuperMarket and GoCompare run quote-based tables for breakdown cover; their results are driven by the quotes providers choose to feed them and by commission. This page is the feature-based alternative: it tells you what differs between providers so that you know what you are comparing when you get to a quote form.

Things no comparison table shows you

Call-out limits. Many cheaper policies cap you at five or six call-outs a year, and some exclude a second call-out for the same fault within 28 days.

Vehicle age and weight. Budget policies often exclude vehicles over 10 or 16 years old, or over 3.5 tonnes. Classic cars, large motorhomes and heavy vans need specialist cover.

The 24-hour rule. Nearly every policy has a waiting period after purchase — usually 24 hours, sometimes longer for home start — to stop people buying cover from the hard shoulder.

Who the underwriter is. Supermarket and insurer-branded cover is serviced by a handful of assistance companies. Two different brands can be the same van with a different sticker, at two different prices.