It’s easy to forget just how vital your car is until it leaves you stranded on the side of the road! Unfortunately, while it might seem like such a problem will never happen to you, eventually everyone has to deal with a vehicle that either won’t start up or breaks down mid journey. Even the newest and most well made cars are likely to have a problem at some point in their life, which is why breakdown insurance and breakdown cover for cars, motorbikes or just about any other type of vehicle are crucial to making sure you can get back on the road as quickly and as cheaply as possible in the event of a breakdown problem.

So, if breakdown is so important what company can offer the best breakdown cover? There are a number of different companies that can provide you with cover, and there are also comparison sites that exist to compare these companies and help you make choice. Nobody can tell you exactly what company or package to use, because a lot depends on how much you want to spend and what you need to get covered in the first place. For most drivers, the basic packages of most companies should provide a good balance between cover and price, although for drivers that rely heavily on their cars for work or who travel to another country in Europe using their own car, a more expensive package could still provide good value for money. Things like European breakdown cover and homestart services which will fix your car even if it doesn’t start on your own driveway cost more than basic motorway recovery help.

One of the most popular new forms of breakdown cover is called Pay and Claim. Using this system, you don’t pay a breakdown provider that has its own fleet but instead pay a company who arrange a local company to come out and help. This can be a useful and easy way to pay, but unfortunately you have to pay for the pickup and repair costs and then invoice the insurance provider with the amount afterwards, so it’s not great for people who don’t have a good amount of cash or who want to remove all risk when choosing a breakdown policy.

Standard automatic services charge a flat fee and remain the most common form of breakdown insurance although it is more expensive than Pay and Claim. Trusted big name suppliers like the AA and Green Flag use this form of payment. You can also choose to ensure yourself or the car. Which one you choose is all about how many cars you are likely to be driving. For example, if you insure your car anyone that’s insured to drive it will be covered, while if you insure yourself any car that you are insured to drive will be covered. So if you have one car that used by multiple people, insuring the car will make more sense.