Breakdown Cover Explained: Roadside, Home Start, Recovery and European Cover

Breakdown cover is sold in levels, and the cheapest level covers less than most people assume. Here is what each one does, so you buy the level you would actually need at the side of the road.

The levels

• Roadside assistance: someone comes to you if you break down away from home and tries to fix the car there. If they cannot, you are usually towed a short distance to a garage.
• Home start: the same help if the car will not start at home or nearby. Roadside-only cover often excludes a breakdown within a set distance of your house.
• Recovery (national recovery): if the car cannot be fixed at the roadside, it is taken to a destination of your choice anywhere in the UK, with you and your passengers.
• Onward travel: a hire car, overnight accommodation or travel costs so a breakdown does not strand you.
• European cover: assistance and recovery abroad, usually bought for a trip or added for the year.

Vehicle cover or personal cover

Vehicle cover attaches to one car whoever is driving it. Personal cover attaches to you in any car you are driving or travelling in. A household with two cars and two drivers may be better with personal cover for each driver than vehicle cover on each car; check which you are buying.

What is usually excluded

• A breakdown in the first days after buying the policy.
• Repeated call-outs for the same fault that was not repaired.
• The cost of parts and garage repairs; cover pays for getting you moving or moved, not for the repair itself.
• Vehicles over a certain age, weight or size, and some modified vehicles.
• Breakdowns caused by running out of fuel or the wrong fuel, on some policies.

Do you already have it?

Breakdown cover is sometimes included with a bank account, a car insurance policy, a new car warranty or a lease. Before buying, check whether you already have it and at what level, so you are not paying twice.

At renewal

Check the level still matches how you drive, whether your car's age now falls outside the policy, and the renewal price against a new-customer price. Breakdown policies renew automatically too.

How Wisemium helps

Add your breakdown cover to Wisemium and it keeps the provider, the cost and the renewal date on record and shows it as needing attention as the renewal comes close. When you want quotes, it hands you to an FCA authorised comparison partner. Wisemium does not compare, recommend or arrange cover itself.