Breakdown insurance cover is essential for your car. You realize its importance only when you are stuck on the road after a breakdown. If your car breaks down far away from home on a holiday, you may not find an open garage or a mechanic to fix your car. Breakdown cover insurance gives you the assurance that your car will be attended to no matter what. However, if you do not follow a few precautions while buying the cover for your car, even your breakdown insurance cover can let you down at the time of need. Check for the following precautions and break down cover options before you decide in favour of any policy:
It should also cover the driver along with the car: The breakdown cover policy should also cover the fact that whoever is driving the car should get the benefit of the policy. This type of policy is particularly useful when someone close to you drives the car. He or she will get the same benefit as you would in case of a breakdown and your car is repaired and attended to whenever the need arises.
It should save your time: Car breakdowns may happen at any time of the day. Therefore, you must make sure that your insurer will provide you relief 24×7. Some providers may promise to reach the spot of breakdown within an hour whereas others may demand only 30 minutes to reach you. Consider this before buying a policy.
Pay on use policy: Some insurers provide a pay on use policy. In such cases, you need to pay a minimum fee for subscription and you pay further only when your car breaks down. This saves a lot of unnecessary payment.
Roadside rescue breakdown cover: This type of cover is especially useful when your car breaks down beyond a certain distance from your house. The insurer provides for immediate roadside relief to you and gets your car repaired on the spot for minor faults, which can be fixed within stipulated number of minutes; you will not need to pay for the labour charge. If your car needs towing to the garage, the insurer will arrange for it within a specified radius.
Recovery plus breakdown cover: This type of Breakdown cover insurance gives you the choice of getting a hired car in case of a breakdown. You can either continue your journey in the hired car or get back home. Alternatively, this type of policy provides for expenses for the completion of your journey or return home. If the incident happens beyond certain miles from your house, this policy may offer the option of putting you in a hotel while the car is repaired.
Many insurance providers offer to include breakdown insurance cover within the car insurance policy. This may save you a lot of paper work and cost. Most of them offer additional discounts for insuring the second or third car kept in the same address; check it. Following the above tips will help to choose the right breakdown cover insurance for your car.