JEC Insurance/Breakdown cover

[tommad]

Hi,

I am thinking of taking out insurance through JEC as my most recent quote from my current provider is massive, plus I also have separate breakdown cover with the AA, which is also extortionate... I am sure the insurance will be fine, but I wondered if anyone had experience of the breakdown cover they provide? The car is (relatively) reliable but I do use it for longer journeys sometimes (with family in car), so want that to be decent as well.

Any thoughts/experience very welcome,

Tom

[ng4xjs]

I thought I might give JEC a go next time but at the moment have a reasonable 3 year fixed deal through Saga (other providers available I'm sure). Like you, slightly different (XJS cover in the order of £350.00). First time I went to insure my X150, quote came back at a whooping £1500.00. I challenged this and got it reduced to £725.00), slightly better .Did previously use the "breakdown cover" provided (at additional cost) but latterly just rely on the cover provided through my Bank. At face value seems okay. Definitely need to have breakdown cover but really only as a means of getting your car home (personal view only). This is especially so when driving abroad in Europe (which we do quite a bit of these days).

Nick

Nick

[tommad]

Thanks Nick, so the breakdown cover you mention was not through the JEC insurance, is that right?

I suppose it was more the actual breakdown cover I was interested in. I have had very variable service from AA and RAC over the years and wondered if anyone had any experience of the breakdown service provided by the JEC insurance.

Thanks again,

Tom

[ng4xjs]

Hi Tom - No. The cover I talk of was a paid add-on which I have now covered off separately. Unfortunately through bitter experience on my wife's car I'm not sure which breakdown/recovery is the one to go for. When we have had the misfortune to need assistance and summoned, it has taken 'fore-ever' for any one to attend and on both occasions not able to frankly be of much help. Perhaps I expect too much and I guess largely due to the complexity of much of what we drive today.

Happy days
Nick

[XJ_Driver]

Hi Tom,

Hopefully I can offer some relevant experience, having broken down in my X350 recently and subsequently the car being recovered under the Club insurance scheme.

I have both my everyday X350 and Series 2 XJ6 insured fully comp / unlimited mileage with Peter James through our Club scheme. The annual premium for both cars being £221.47 - which I consider excellent! And I was further pleasantly surprised, upon receipt of the policy documents, to discover that Motor Breakdown and Accident Accident cover (provided by DAS) is included! This enabled me to cancel the renewal of my previous breakdown policy - saving approx. fifty quid.

Then driving home from work late Thursday evening two weeks ago, the car suddenly lost power and went into limp home mode. I immediately stopped, and contemplated calling the breakdown service included with my Club policy, but decided that due to the dangerous position I was parked in, and the failing light, I would 'limp' the car back to the safety of the office car park, three miles away. By now time was getting on, and having been offered a lift home with a colleague, I left my car at work (the key with security) and resolved to phone DAS in the morning.

It then occurred to me, that in leaving the car, I might have done the wrong thing. Would this still constitute a 'breakdown' with the driver no longer present? I needn't have worried, the people from DAS were very helpful on the phone and initially proposed to despatch a mechanic to try to get the car going. I explained I was no longer with the vehicle, and felt a trip to the garage was inevitable, and so a plan for recovery was put in place.

Now working from home, due having no transport, I received frequent text updates from DAS keeping me apprized as to the anticipated time of recovery. Unfortunately, as the day progressed, these times kept slipping back because they were so busy. I fully accepted this. Since I wasn't broken down at the side of the road I was hardly a priority. But by the time my car was eventually recovered (7.25pm) the repairer they were supposed to be taking it to had long since closed for the weekend. This meant my car was then taken 55 miles to the recovery agent's storage yard in Newport for safe keeping over the weekend. And that resulted in the only setback in this whole episode: having recovered my car to Newport on Friday evening, it was the following Wednesday lunchtime before the agent further relayed it to the repairer - by which time I'd missed my diagnostic appointment slot on Tuesday afternoon...

However, I do believe this delay was in part my own fault: had I called DAS from my car at the actual time of the breakdown I'm sure they'd have responded more quickly, recovering myself and the car to the repairer's premises within a few hours. So, I really have no complaints. I believe the DAS assistance scheme included with the Peter James JEC insurance policy provides good service and is excellent value!

[XJ_Driver]

It's worth mentioning there's no excess to pay with the Club / DAS breakdown assistance scheme either, unlike my previous breakdown membership which charged £25. T&Cs stipulate that to be recovered, the vehicle must not exceed 3500Kg GVW, nor 20 feet in length.