Haggle for cheaper breakdown cover

When was the last time you went into a shop and instead of looking at the price tag for an item or service and just paying up, you asked for a lower price?

The art of ‘haggling’ where a negotiation takes place between buyer and seller to arrive at a mutually acceptable price is a skill which has been allowed to wane. There are many reasons. Some of us don’t have the time to argue and many of us are too embarrassed or just fear having our offer rejected. Internet shopping also gives us little or no chance to ask for a discount. Have you ever tried to talk to a human being at Amazon, for example?

Yet, while there is plenty of encouragement to find the cheapest deals, the prices are set by the sellers. How much of a better deal could you get if you just asked for a lower price?

This is particularly pertinent to the charging for car breakdown cover. In a previous newsletter, we talked about new legislation to stop insurers from funding massive first year discounts on car and home insurance from existing customers paying premiums which escalate every year. The new law did not include breakdown cover where the evidence of existing customers subsidising premiums for new customers is very clear.

The majority of car owners have private breakdown cover. Currently you can pay a minimum of £95.00 for vehicle recovery and any amount from £180 for motorway roadside assistance and recovery. We all know that having private breakdown cover provides peace of mind, but are you aware of whether your current provider is increasing your premium while enticing new customers with a much lower price for exactly the same cover?

When you receive your next renewal letter and are unhappy with the cost, pick up the phone and either ask why your premium is so high, or say that you are looking at alternative quotes from competitor providers.

In many cases, your existing provider will offera new lower quote which could save you a considerable amount of money. If everyone queried their renewal quotes, premiums would tumble across the board. Until the law catches up and includes breakdown cover along with the car and home insurance to stop the exploitation of existing customers, it is up to us to haggle!

Published: 31 August 2021