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RAC: Breakdown cover reviews

Name: Breakdown cover
Rating: 1.71 (166 reviews)

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1.37

Based on 166 reviews, last reviewed 28th Aug 2025

100% increase in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

46% decrease in 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

13%

79%

Latest highest rating:

5

Excellent service from start to finish. Excellent service from start to finish. Logged my breakdown through the RAC app and was allocated assistance within 5 minutes. The patrol officer; Ma... Read more Reviewed on: 8th June 2025

Latest lowest rating:

1

Disappointing Experience with RAC Breakdown Cover I’ve been very disappointed with RAC Breakdown Cover and want to share my honest experience so others can make an informed decision. First breakdown:... Read more Reviewed on: 28th August 2025

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About this product

RAC breakdown cover is available in three levels – Basic, Standard and Extra.

RAC claim to get to most breakdowns in 60 mins or less and say that patrols fix 4/5 breakdowns on the spot. In the myRAC app you can get savings on fuel and tyres. Options are available for vehicle cover, personal cover and family cover.

RAC breakdown cover reviews help you find out what it’s really like to be a customer. If you’ve used RAC before, you can also leave a review and share your experience.

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RAC Breakdown cover reviews (166)

Disappointing Experience with RAC Breakdown Cover

I’ve been very disappointed with RAC Breakdown Cover and want to share my honest experience so others can make an informed decision. First breakdown: I called RAC for roadside assistance. The patrol arrived, ran a quick check, and only reset the engine management light. He pointed out a few possible faults and then left without fixing the car. I later discovered the real problem myself – a loose fuel filter hose leaking diesel. I tightened the screw, and the car was fine. This made me question what I’m paying for. Second breakdown: About a month later, I contacted RAC for a different car. They refused to help, saying the car wasn’t taxed. I emailed DVLA proof, but still received no assistance. When I complained, the staff were rude and even hung up on me. I was told a manager would call me back, but that never happened. Finally, I decided to cancel. RAC wanted to charge £47 to cancel, despite the poor service. Eventually, after speaking with a manager, they agreed to cancel but will still charge me for another month. Overall, poor roadside assistance, unhelpful customer service, and unfair cancellation charges. I won’t be renewing. Reviewed on: 28th August 2025

Was left stranded in a remote area by the RAC for ov...

Was left stranded in a remote area by the RAC for over 7 hours in the dark with my two children who are both autistic. Paid for a recovery van that could pick the three of us up, but in their infinite wisdom, sent a truck 6 hours later, that could only transport one person. A complete farce, was left with almost no food or water, no duty of care whatsoever. Disgusting treatment, will never use again. Reviewed on: 23rd August 2025

10 days to diagnose an alternator fault!!!!

On 8 August, my campervan broke down on a French motorway. Frustrating? Sure. But what followed was worse. Within 20 minutes I’d called RAC. Within 2 hours we were at a depot. Within minutes I’d worked out the problem myself (alternator not charging the battery). And then… nothing. No diagnostics. No hire car. No onward plan. Just days of chasing calls, broken promises, and being told to “wait until Monday.” We ended up booking our own hotel late at night, paying for taxis, then abandoning the van altogether to fly back — leaving all our belongings locked inside. Ten days later, the van still hadn’t even been moved to a garage. The lesson? When you buy breakdown cover, you’re not buying a tow truck. You’re buying peace of mind. You’re buying someone to take ownership when you can’t. And that’s exactly what we didn’t get. What made me angriest wasn’t the van breaking down. It was the breakdown in service. Don’t tell customers what you can’t do — tell them what you will do. Don’t make them chase you for updates — give them clarity. Don’t hide behind “partners” — take responsibility. A van can be fixed. Trust, once lost, is much harder to repair. Reviewed on: 20th August 2025

** 1/10 Absolute Disgrace Years of Loyalty, Zer...

** 1/10 Absolute Disgrace – Years of Loyalty, Zero Support in My Hour of Need** After being a loyal RAC customer for years, I finally needed their **Premier Rescue cover** when my car broke down on the M5 with my wife and 1-year-old baby—only to be met with incompetence, heartless bureaucracy, and outright lies. The mechanic **guessed** (without diagnosis) that I’d "overfilled the oil," towed my car to a garage that couldn’t inspect it for days, and left me stranded. Despite paying for **full onward travel cover (3 days)**, RAC **deliberately made it impossible**—forcing me to beg for **one-day extensions** before a shockingly rude agent ("Karen") abruptly cut me off, falsely claiming I "caused the damage myself" (my garage STILL hasn’t confirmed the issue!). This left me **car-less for critical trips**—missing work, cancelling my elderly parents’ airport ride, and abandoning weekend plans. Even Enterprise admitted they’ve **"heard this story before"** with RAC screwing over customers. The final insult? RAC **lied to Enterprise**, saying I "admitted fault" to dodge their obligations, then left me bouncing between departments like a ping-pong ball. For a company that boasts "rescue," they **abandoned my family in crisis**, ignored their own policy, and showed **zero humanity**. Never again—**avoid RAC like the plague**. Reviewed on: 15th August 2025

RAC badly damaged my caravan

The RAC patrol man attended my breakdown at about 11am on the 15th july and could not fix the problem so they had to recover us and our caravan we were towing to our home address. I was informed this would be a relay recovery using 3 different companies doing a leg of the journey each. It was the last company that caused all the damage. The first company turned up about 4pm put our car on the bed of the lorry and towed the caravan. He took us about 30 miles. They were very professional. The next company arrived about 7pm and did the same, car on lorry bed and towed the caravan, also very professional, he took us about an hour to the last pick up of our recovery home. This was at birchhanger service station. The next company arrived about 9.30pm but his tow bar was unsuitable to tow my caravan. So he wanted to take us and the car home and leave my caravan in the services and he would come back and put it on the bed of the lorry and recover it home. I would not allow this, has im pretty sure my caravan would not have been there when he got back. At this point I spoke to the rac and they got back onto the recovery company they were using and it was decided they would send another vehicle to tow the caravan and our car would go on the bed of the other recovery lorry. The second recovery lorry turned up about 12.30am. He then informed me he did not even have a tow bar fitted. He said he will put the caravan on the bed of the lorry. I did say at this point are you sure you won't damage my caravan putting it onto the bed of the lorry. He said it would be fine. They started to winch the caravan onto the lorry when I heard a scraping from the back of the caravan has it was scraping along the floor. Theybstopped winching and let it back off the lorry and put skids under the back of the caravan and started winching again. It was half way up the lorry when i walked to the front of the caravan and they had bent the jockey wheel to such an extent the caravan was now stuck they had also cracked the cover over the A frame. They now had to jack up the caravan on the tow hitch to get the jockey wheel straight. First recovery driver got his jack out but that did not work so the other driver got his jack from his vehicle that was also broken. They now had to call another recovery vehicle out to bring a jack that worked. They then jacked up the caravan on the tow hitch which they bent. I said that the lorry bed was not long enough for the caravan there was too much overhang. They said it was fine. The third recovery driver then came up to them and said it was illegal towing with that much overhang and he would not do it, the drivers response was it will be ok. The drivers were laughing and joking, not caring that they had caused so much damage. I was very surprised that the RAC uses a company that does not have the correct equipment for the job, does not even have a working jack between 2 recovery vehicles and seems to think it is funny that they have damaged my caravan. We eventually got home at 5.30am on the 16th. After phoning the RAC and putting in a complaint and explaing the situation and that i was going on holiday in 2 weeks so they needed to get the caravan fixed or hire me one. They have not responded I asked them to transport the caravan to the caravan service center to get fixed they never responded so I had to pay to get it recovered to the caravan service center. The damage will be in the region of £1500 plus the expense of getting it taken the the service center and all the sress of it and missing out on our holiday. I am totally disgusted with the way they have handled this situation. I got the rac package through my banks travel pack the bank have also complained to the rac about this, they have also not had a responce. Next step will be the Ombudsman. I thought a national company of the RAC standing would have acted differently and sorted the problem out and apologised for all the trouble and stress the company they used have caused. Reviewed on: 11th August 2025

I recently booked a paid diagnostic service through...

I recently booked a paid diagnostic service through RAC and was left extremely disappointed. The technician arrived but failed to conduct a proper fault diagnosis on my vehicle’s air conditioning issue. Basic checks such as testing the power supply to the compressor, relay function, and electrical faults were completely ignored. Instead, I was told “it could be the compressor” and “if it were my car, I would just replace it.” This vague and dismissive approach is completely unacceptable from a company that claims to offer professional diagnostics. I paid for answers not guesswork. To make matters worse, the mechanic closed the case without identifying the actual fault. I was left exactly where I started: no fix, no clarity, and out of pocket. If I wanted speculation, I could have gone to an untrained garage for half the price. RAC’s service felt like a marketing con more about ticking boxes than actually helping the customer. I will be escalating this to the Motor Ombudsman, and I strongly advise others to seek proper diagnostic specialists instead. Extremely dissatisfied. I expected far better from RAC. Reviewed on: 18th July 2025

Terrible company, don't bother.

Terrible company, pay almost £100 a year for essentially f*** all, had an awful experience with them and they wouldn't give me any compensation and on top of that it's £35 just to cancel the membership. Reviewed on: 11th June 2025

Excellent service from start to finish.

Excellent service from start to finish. Logged my breakdown through the RAC app and was allocated assistance within 5 minutes. The patrol officer; Matt called to advise me that he’d be with me in 20 minutes. He was true to his word and was simply superb; engaging, friendly, knowledgeable and a great ambassador for the RAC with my battery being replaced as part of my cover policy. I made the mistake of changing breakdown provider last year but won’t make that mistake again. The additional charge for key, tyre & battery cover gives me absolute peace of mind and proves that you “get what you pay for”. Great work RAC!!! Reviewed on: 8th June 2025

Waited in two days to get my vehicle recovered to a...

Waited in two days to get my vehicle recovered to a garage, over which I wasn’t given one update unless I called them. Called six times and was given different arrival estimates each time. Two days of work missed and they simply couldn’t have cared a less. Don’t use them - absolutely dreadful. Reviewed on: 28th May 2025

Be aware when thinking about using RAC Service Maint...

Be aware when thinking about using RAC Service Maintenance and Repair...during my recent MOT I had an advisory in relation to binding NSR and OSR brakes. My main dealer quoted £129 including VAT but said it might be cheaper if it didn't take the full hour. MOT & Service World in Horndean quoted £108 including VAT. RAC SMR £222 including VAT...no wonder they keep offering me £40 of a service...that's shocking over double the price of my local garage and almost double that of a main dealer... Reviewed on: 16th May 2025

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