Breakdown cover

Our cheapest breakdown cover is our Basic cover for 1 vehicle. But our breakdown cover prices are tailored to you, so you might get a cheaper price based on your personal details.

Plus, if we’re running an offer, you might find an even better price. How much your breakdown cover costs depends on:

Yes, if you get a flat tyre you can use your breakdown cover to get help. We’ll try to temporarily fix your tyre, fit your spare tyre for you, or help you find a replacement tyre.
You can also buy ‘Tyre Replace cover’. This covers you for up to 5 new tyres a year, worth up to £150 each, if yours are punctured or damaged.

Yes, you can. Some car insurance providers allow you to buy breakdown cover as an added extra. You may find that they only offer basic breakdown cover, and you need to pay extra to upgrade. Before you buy breakdown cover, you should check that it’s not already included with your car insurance. RAC Car Insurance and RAC Temporary Car Insurance both include the option to add breakdown cover.

Roadside Assistance is a type of breakdown cover. You might also see it referred to as ‘roadside breakdown cover’. It means that we’ll rescue you if you break down at the roadside, and tow you up to 10 miles if we can’t fix you on the spot.

Other types (or ‘levels’) of cover are also available. These include At Home, which covers you on your driveway (or if you breakdown within a ¼ mile from home). And National Recovery, which covers you for a long-distance tow (instead of just 10 miles).

If you have vehicle breakdown cover (which covers a particular vehicle), you can transfer your cover to another vehicle. You can do this on your myRAC online account, or by calling us on 03301 591 466. There’s no charge for this.

If you have personal breakdown cover (which covers you personally in any car), you can’t transfer your policy to another person.

Breakdown cover is separate from car insurance, so it won’t affect your no claims bonus.

Car insurance doesn’t include breakdown cover as standard. Unless your car insurance offers it as an extra, it’s worth buying a separate breakdown cover policy to make sure you can get help if you break down.

The short answer is yes. Breakdown cover can save you money, time and stress if your car breaks down. You’ll have 24/7 Roadside Assistance if you're stranded on the side of the road and need help.

If you don't have breakdown cover and something goes wrong with your car, getting help can quickly become expensive. You may have to call out an expensive recovery firm who could charge by the hour for their services.

Breakdown cover includes the cost of fixing your car at the roadside (which our patrols can do for 4 out of 5 vehicles). We just have to charge for any replacement parts, fuel and batteries. But if your car needs further repairs at a garage, your breakdown cover won’t include the cost of those.

Unlike insurance, you don’t have to pay excess on most breakdown cover. Your membership covers you for 24/7 access to Roadside Assistance and includes free fitting and labour if you need repairs at the roadside.

If we need to use any replacement parts to fix your car at the roadside, you’ll have to pay for these. But you can help avoid unexpected bills by choosing one of our breakdown cover extras, such as Tyre, Battery or Key Replace.

Onward Travel is available with Complete cover or as an add-on with other cover levels. It helps you stay on the move if your vehicle needs a repair in a garage after a breakdown.

Onward Travel means you can get a hire car for up to 3 days if your car’s in the garage overnight. With Onward Travel Premium, you can also upgrade to a like-for-like car for up to 7 days. With Onward Travel Premium, you can also upgrade to a like-for-like car for up to 7 days. Alternatively, we’ll cover the cost of public transport up to £150 per person, or £500 in total, or pay for a nearby hotel.

RAC Business Breakdown Cover is the best cover if you want to cover more than 3 vehicles. You can cover 1-99 vehicles.

Yes, if the vehicle fits the specifications outlined in the RAC Terms and Conditions.

All RAC Breakdown Cover packages give the same level of Motorbike Breakdown cover as standard.

The motorbike must have an engine capacity of 49cc or above and be within our standard vehicle specifications.

We’ll come with a bike trailer or low loader for recovery if needed. We may need to send a second recovery vehicle for this.

We also cover licenced, taxed and tested quad bikes and trikes as standard.

We provide car breakdown cover for vehicles of any age. We also cover hybrids, electric vehicles, classic cars, motorbikes and vans. Your vehicle must be:

For caravans, campervans and motorhomes, we can offer roadside assistance and recovery with our RAC Arrival product.

Unless you’ve taken out business breakdown cover, we don’t cover vehicles used for business. If you do have a vehicle that is occasionally used for business, you can add ‘occasional business use’ to your personal policy.

Excluded vehicles include:

Your RAC membership also comes with exclusive discounts on car maintenance, travel and leisure. This includes 25% off airport parking, up to 51% off theme park tickets and more. See all your RAC Rewards.

We offer different types of cover for business.

You’ll need Commercial Cover if your vehicle is branded, registered to your home address and is used for business. Such as, you’re a taxi driver or driving instructor. If you use a non-branded vehicle, registered to your home address to travel to multiple locations of work, you’ll need Business Use. This is ideal for roles like a mobile hairdresser, a dog groomer or district nurse/carer.

If your vehicle is registered to a business address or you need to cover multiple commercial vehicles, you’ll need RAC Business Breakdown Cover. You can choose a 12 or 24 month contract for commercial cars, vans, taxis, minibuses and more.

European cover doesn’t come as standard with your UK breakdown cover. Luckily, we also offer the best European breakdown cover on the market². To make sure you’re covered if you travel to Europe, you can:

You’re covered in Ireland, France, Spain, Italy and many other countries in Europe. If you buy European breakdown cover as a standalone policy, you can choose between single-trip cover for a one-off journey – or annual cover for multiple trips during the year.

If you break down and have pets in the car, we’ll come out to help you. If we can’t fix you there and then, you may need a recovery. In this case, assistance animals are allowed in the recovery vehicle.

Other animals will be able to stay in the vehicle that is being recovered. Please bear in mind that this is solely at the owners’ risk.

We recommend that you let us know if you have pets in the vehicle when you call us.

Yes. There isn’t an age limit on the cars we cover.

You can set your roadside and at home cover to start immediately. But you can’t buy breakdown cover if you’ve already broken down. If you’ve broken down without cover, call 0330 159 8743 and we’ll arrange emergency cover for you.

For full information please visit www.rac.co.uk/priceguaranteeterms