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RAC: Breakdown Cover reviews

Name: Breakdown Cover
Rating: 1.73 (161 reviews)

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1.41

Based on 161 reviews, last reviewed 18th Jul 2025

100% increase in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

25% increase in 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

13%

78%

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

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 fau... Read more Reviewed on: 18th July 2025

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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 RAC breakdown cover reviews come in. You can read and write YOUR RAC 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.

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RAC Breakdown Cover reviews (161)

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

Extremely disappointing experience

Extremely disappointing experience – never again. I booked a service with the RAC and while the mechanic arrived late, he was lovely and seemed to do a great job—except for one critical issue. The next time I drove the car, the window grill flew off mid-drive and hit the windscreen. I had to crawl home and then spent over 4 hours on the phone trying to get help. This turned into an incredibly stressful ordeal. I was left without a car for over a week. Most of the people I spoke to were genuinely kind and really tried to help—but it’s clear that RAC’s internal systems are completely disjointed. I was told the mechanic hadn’t touched the grill (he later admitted he had), I was passed from pillar to post, and responses to emails were delayed by days. In the end, I had to pay a man up the road £50 to secure the grill just to get the car to a proper garage, where it cost me a further £116 to fully fix the issue. RAC have now offered me £50 compensation, which is frankly insulting. I used to think of RAC as a trustworthy, reliable company—but this experience has completely changed my view. I feel very sorry for their staff, who clearly care and try to help, but they’re let down by a disorganised and unresponsive system. I won’t ever be using RAC again. I’m sure when things go smoothly they’re fine—but when something goes wrong, they’re worse than useless. Reviewed on: 8th May 2025

AWFUL CUSTOMER SERVICE!! Avoid AVOID!

Awful Customer Service I installed new front brake disks and brake pads. The disks were warped and they were causing the car to vibrate when braking at high speeds. One of the new brake pads sensors was not installed properly and it fell out. Everytime you phone RAC, the operators will say that they are waiting on managament team. I called so many times and always they keep saying that I will get a call back and I never did. After I left a complaint, they came and checked it, and said that the brakes are fine. The problem is that they only vibrate at high speeds so obviously, them testing it for 5 minutes on a residential area with 20mph speed limit won't prove anything. They charged me a refundable £75 and told me to do the wheel balance and if that does not help, they will give me the money back and get another booking. Well I did it and it changed nothing and guess what when I called to tell them, they keep saying that they are waiting for management team to approve it again and I am getting nowhere. Because I mostly drive the car around the town I can put up with the vibrations, which are not an issue at slow speeds but here I am 6 months later, with the same brakes and no one coming to check them. They completely ignored the online complaints and only called me one time when I was at work and got no follow up emails or messages. So if something goes wrong, don't expect much, their 12 months warranty is useless. Tried to save some money by not losing a day of work to go change the brake disks myself and in the end I lost another day of work, the "refundable" £75 and more money on the useless wheel balance. Date of experience: 25 October 2024 Reviewed on: 2nd May 2025

Is Your Loyalty Costing You? My RAC Wake-Up Call:

Today, I found myself battling the unexpected price hike in the world of breakdown services... For the past year, £15.99 per month covered breakdown for the entire family. Then, today's shock: £62.10 per month – a staggering, unannounced increase of nearly 300% after many years of continuous family membership. A year ago, I'd already fought a similar surge to get back to the "new customer" rate. Enough. I'm done being a victim of corporate tactics that penalise loyalty. The phone call was made, cancellation confirmed, despite the predictable offer to reduce the price. But the trust is gone. Why the annual haggling? Why is my long-term loyalty worth less than a new customer lured in by a deal I can't have? This feels fundamentally wrong. Dear RAC Shareholders: I'm not a child to be subjected to a nearly 300% price hike per month. You aren't doing me a favour. I'm buying a service, and I'll buy it elsewhere, at a fair price. A business model that doesn't seem to value long-term customers is one I can no longer support. This isn't just about money; it's about respect and integrity. I'm choosing to support companies that value relationships. This experience with RAC has reinforced my commitment to finding businesses that operate with fairness at their core. Moving forward, the search for a breakdown provider that understands true customer value begins now. If you're an RAC customer, I urge you to check your bill and question any significant price increases. There are likely better, more transparent options out there! Anyone else experienced loyalty penalties? Any recommendations for fair family cover? Reviewed on: 1st May 2025

Avoid avoid avoid

Trustpilot reviews Review of RAC Breakdown Cover Your review is pending.Read more Lisa Price 15 reviews GB Rated 1 out of 5 stars RAC incompetent and no rescue Reported incident at 4pm Online ETA changing dramatically every hr Rang RAC at 8pm as I was a sole female in an unsafe situation promised I would be the next job and a call back from the allocated RAC mechanic 9pm no call back and eta changed to 12.20 am until 3.20 am Rang RAC again to explain my vulnerability no previous call or escalation was logged so a new escalation was raised and I was told to email customer services re my complaint. ETA stating 12.20 am until 3.20 am still evem though this was different to what the call handler at RAC was saying and still no call back at 10pm Thanks RAC your services are diabolical of course I am happy to he kept waiting all night when I have work the next day and of course I appreciate you leaving me anxious and afraid Update 22.17 rang RAC breakdown again as still not received a call in relation to escalation. Spoke to Philip who is the rudest customer lack of care agent I have ever had the misfortune to speak to. Basically not his problem that my 2 previous escalations had not been logged told me he wasn't a mind reader so couldn't say why the previous call agents hadn't escalated my call and proceeded to hang up on me honestly you couldn't make this up! Reviewed on: 29th April 2025

Not worth the money - don't recommend.

On the 21 January I put my car in to a garage. The problem had been faulty rear windscreen issue that as I pulled in to the garage shut down the car electrically. Short story it didn't start again and I had to get it to another garage for diagnostics. I arranged to take it to a garage around 3/4 mile away for further work. I then called the RAC for a tow. The reception for phones in the area was not good and the request was conducted by text. At first it was going to be around a 2 hour wait with updates for that timing. I waited in the garage with no real facilities for long waits i.e. a toilet. Getting near the 2 hour wait for breakdown recovery the wait time was then extended for up to a 3 hour wait. (5 hours altogether). I couldn't keep waiting that long, I had to get back home, and the moving goal post for RAC attendance was the last straw. I didn't have faith that they wouldn't move it again. I then made local arrangements for the car to be lifted and taken at a cash cost of £40 - it happened in 30 minutes. I then had to make arrangements for a taxi to take me the 10 or so miles or home. This was at a cost of around £25. My RAC membership would have covered all of that. The customer service said I only waited an hour before I cancelled not siting the fact that the time was extended from the 2hrs to 5 hrs. I asked for compensation for the poor service some months afterwards as I contacted RAC for a separate matter and was told I could complain over it. The woman in customer care said no to any recompense. I asked her to escalate and she came back as her own adjudicator and reevaluator and said no. She did not escalate. I was not at all happy with the service provided that day and simply could not wait up to 5 hours for this car's removal. Very disappointing considering that I have RAC cover for a situation like this and they were not readily available to the point where I had to make other personal arrangements. All of the above would have been covered in my policy including a lift back to my home. So in total I was £65 out of pocket. It was a very difficult event for me and the very reason you have breakdown cover. I will not renew my membership after this experience. I simply couldn't go through that again. Reviewed on: 27th April 2025

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