Write a review

AA: Breakdown Cover reviews

Name: Breakdown Cover
Rating: 2.98 (196 reviews)

View other AA products

2.51

Based on 196 reviews, last reviewed 13th Feb 2025

100% increase in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

50% increase in 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

36%

16%

43%

Latest highest rating:

5

I cannot thank AA Roadside Assistance enough for the... I cannot thank AA Roadside Assistance enough for their exceptional service during my recent breakdown. Driving from Devon to London early on a Saturda... Read more Reviewed on: 17th December 2024

Latest lowest rating:

1

Nightmare to cancel Service was good when I needed, however, the price increased a lot and I have an offer for a half price with RAC. Trying to cancel it has been a night... Read more Reviewed on: 13th February 2025

Read all reviews See your review

About this product

Like many drivers, breaking down is not something we want to think about! But when it happens, You'll be thankful that you're with a good breakdown cover provider. That's were our AA breakdown cover reviews come in. You can read and write YOUR AA Breakdown cover reviews. We started Smart Money People to help drivers like you to find the best breakdown cover based on our honest reviews. Together, we can make financial services work better for everyone.

AA Breakdown Cover reviews (196)

Review of the AA, Breakdown Cover:

Unfit for purpose. No regard for their customers.

Last year a major accident left my wife and I stranded in the middle of a motorway in a storm. I've always had the AA's highest level of cover as I drive a lot and worry about this exact situation occurring. I followed the AA Accident Assist advice and as soon as I'd rung the police I rang the AA. Standing on the hard shoulder shivering in the pouring rain, I listened to phone ring for over an hour. The AA never even picked up. They've clearly cut all their phone operators because they've got a fancy app, but when you're on a motorway with no data signal, and it's raining so hard your phone's touchscreen stops working it's useless. This attempt at economy puts the lives of their members at risk. My car was eventually recovered by the highways agency and when it became clear that the AA were never coming, the police took pity on us and dropped us off at the nearest service station, leaving us to find our own way home at 3am. Unfortunately, the atrocious service did not end there. When I rang to complain I was accused of wasting the AA's time and they attempted to coerce me into the not making a complaint. Then another operator told me that I couldn't make a complaint because I tried to gaslight me into thinking that I didn't have the cover that I'd paid for. That took an hour of being bounced around random departments until they finally decided to believe me. Once I'd finally lodged a complaint and waiting the required 8 weeks, I was told that the AA actually had no responsibility to attend my accident, despite having AA Accident Assist cover with all the addons. No one had answered the phone because of the bad weather and all their call handlers were busy. If only there were some way to predict the weather and adjust staffing to compensate? I was told that because the Highways Agency had recovered the car, the AA were under no obligation to do anything, despite having onward travel and hire car as part of my membership. I guess I should have asked the police to leave the M4 closed for a few more hours to give the AA time to arrive? They could also (conveniently) find no record of my phonecalls where I was advised not to make a complaint and where I was accused of having the incorrect cover. I'm sure that was just a coincidence though. I was offered compensation of £150 (a tiny fraction of my annual membership fee) which took another 8 weeks and several emails before they eventually paid. After this ordeal, my trust in the AA has been irrevocably broken. It's clear the company will do anything possible to shirk their responsibilities to their customers and as such I will never use any AA service again, and I will advise everyone else I speak to do the same. The company is not fit for purpose. Reviewed on: 18th March 2024

Read the small print

Awful so far. We broke down at 5:30pm on Saturday, 15 minutes from our rural gite on the way to get food after an eight hour journey. It took 30 minutes for our breakdown call to be answered and we were immediately told that in France nothing is fixed at the breakdown (should have read the policy more carefully) - all they could offer was for the car to be towed to storage to wait until Tuesday when it would be taken to a garage and get us a taxi back to the gite. When we mentioned a hire car we were told that the policy made it clear that it was only if one was available and nothing would be until after the bank holiday weekend (should have read the policy more carefully). When we said could they book us a taxi for after we had managed to get some shopping (as we had no food in and were in the middle of nowehere) they said it would be faster for us to sort that ourselves (was that in the policy???) and they'd reimburse us once we got back to England. So we had to sort ourselves out. Sunday, another 30 minute wait to book a taxi for Monday to get more food. Tuesday - an 80 minute wait to bd told the car wouldn't be looked at till Friday and, as if said in our policy documents, a hire car wasn't guarunteed. Again, the woman said it would be quicker to sort it ourselves. "So what exactly are we paying the AA for then, if we have to do everything ourselves?" She laughed - obviously thought I was joking. I'm not. Three days in France. No car and still no sign of having any transport in the near future. If you're considering AA European Breakdown cover, my advice would be to READ THE SMALL PRINT VERY CAREFULLY and then GO WITH SOMEONE ELSE!!! Reviewed on: 16th August 2022

Saved me

Saved me when my tyre burst and I want that £1000 baby Reviewed on: 13th August 2022

Good price and excellent service

Plus lots of member benefits and discounts Reviewed on: 12th August 2022

AA Membership

Not cheap, but value for money particularly with accounting for extras. Is needed and when required has proved valuable already. Reviewed on: 12th August 2022

Excellent car breakdown insurance

I have had AA car insurance for many years and have found them fair in pricing, swift in response when I've needed them, & very good customer service. Their very helpful assistants helped me by negotiated my subs when my income dropped & I am very grateful to them. Reviewed on: 9th August 2022

Fraudsters running a duping business

Agree to the random add-ons they suggest when you try to take out an insurance, and then they would find millions of ways to pick out random words from their fine-print to reject your claims or deny support. Worst of all, they will try to paint you as a fraud suggesting various ways you could be submitting false claims! As if customers can inflict self-harm and go through a tragedy on purpose to claim a small part of their losses! Stay away from such a company - when you run a business which you yourself cannot trust, no wonder you cannot trust your customers either! Reviewed on: 2nd August 2022

Shit service attitude opperator

Misdiagnosis by their engineer. Even recommended and gave us a number for an immobiliser specialist. £75 later after immobiliser specialist attended ti be told its not an immobiliser fault. Tried calling them out again and to advise them of their whoopee.... haha tough shit basically....!!! Reviewed on: 28th July 2022

Negligent, non-responsive and time wasting company

If I could give the AA 0 stars I would. Last night my family's car broke down in the middle of a busy junction in central London, blocking a main road behind traffic lights. We had four people including a disabled person who couldn't walk in the vehicle and despite numerous calls, texts, and attempts to reach the AA on every social media platform they have it took them 10 hours to reach us and offer us any kind of support. I'm absolutely shocked and outraged at the negligence of the AA last night - what I thought was a reliable company failed to come to our aid and kept us in an incredibly dangerous situation, ignoring all of our messages and leaving us on hold for hours. If you have any option to NOT use the AA I recommend turning elsewhere for support. Two of the four passengers have AA memberships, and yet they still charged us a high fee when they eventually came to pick up the car at 4am. Reviewed on: 19th March 2022

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY

Do not use the AA. I am appalled at the service they gave me I have now had 2 very VERY bad experiences with them. Yesterday I broke down on the motorway and it took them 8 hours to come and look at my car. I am a 22 year old women and I was by myself in the dark at night and apparently I was ‘priority’ however, they wouldn’t look at my car on the motorway so I had to be pulled off before they would even see me. They told me they would be there for 4pm they did not sort the problem out until gone midnight. Once they finally came they charged me an EXTRA £450 to get my car home as they only cover 50 miles free … WHAT ARE WE EVEN PAYING FOR IN THE MEMBERSHIP?! DO NOT USE THEM! I will be writing a bad review on every site possible and will be leaving them straight away. I will steer everyone away from the AA that is thinking of joining. Reviewed on: 26th February 2022

AA are criminals

broken on the 8/2/22 in Essex road London, patrol was threatening , intimidating, did not fix the car, did not make the car safe, left me in a vulnerable situation. even when i had audi assist for three years. when complaint AA staff Joanne, Felicity, B Rai, Seema in complaints Manchester very aggressive, threatening behaviour, taken money and are refusing to give me my money back. stay away from this from this company. They want a proof that i can buy, drive and have the right to live and drive the car in the UK. AA are not immigration, not the police. AA questioned me about my education, even though I am Senior Bank Manager. AA are CRIMINALs. Reviewed on: 25th February 2022

Do you have a different AA product?

Share your experiences with products to help others make smarter financial decisions and learn more about different products available. Write a review

Are you a business? Get insights, reply to reviews, invite customers and understand their needs

Alternative products

Car Insurance
from Endsleigh 4.61 from 563 reviews
Car Insurance
from NatWest 4.00 from 5 reviews
Car Insurance
from Legal and General 4.84 from 5 reviews

There's still more to see!

AA has a range of products available. Check the ratings of each product to find the right one for you. View all products

Join Smart Money People

Keep up to date on ratings of your favourite businesses. Find out about our awards and write new reviews with ease

Create an account

News, guides and insight from our team

View resource hub