subject: Why Take The Risk Of Not Having Breakdown Cover [print this page] The risks involved when it comes to your car breaking down are endless and then of course there's also the huge amount of inconvenience which inevitably goes with it. Unfortunately however, many people seem to live in some sort of a fantasy world, believing their car simply won't ever break down.
After all, most drivers in the UK drive relatively new cars and on top of that, all cars over three years old require a yearly MOT inspection, so surely the vast majority of them are mechanically sound.
According to one UK provider, they receive approximately 65,000 call-outs each year, only to discover that there's actually nothing wrong with the vehicles when they arrive on the scene. If they get this many unnecessary call-outs, how many legitimate call-outs do they get? Contrary to what you may be thinking, breakdown services are called out by distraught motorists hundreds of thousands of times each year.
Fortunately for many drivers, approximately 85% of the vehicles are repaired at the scene, meaning only a small percentage need to be towed away by a recovery vehicle.
So, if technology has advance in such leaps and bounds over the years, then surely there should be a decline in the demand for breakdown cover. This is of course the way many people think, in that because cars cost substantially more nowadays than they did before, they should be more reliable. Well, cars are more reliable nowadays, but if and when they do break down, there's not much the average driver can do unless they have all the necessary equipment.
In the past if your car broke down and you called for help, the roadside assistance team would arrive with a box full of spanners, pliers and a few different screwdrivers. Today it's a completely different ballgame, in that the mechanics that come to your aid will more than likely also have a laptop computer and a few special diagnostic devices. The bottom line is, cars are manufactured very differently nowadays and this has resulted in many motorists becoming reluctant to even take a look in the engine compartment other than to admire all the shiny bits.
Because very few drivers are able to carry out repairs, vehicles are often left unattended on the side of the road when they break down. When you consider that more than one and a half million vehicles are stolen in the UK each year, do you really feel safe leaving your car parked up on the side of the road overnight? Even if it's not stolen, there's a chance it'll be vandalised. That will mean you end up claiming from your insurance company and of course you'll end up losing your 'no claims' bonus or discount as a result. Why even take the chance when you can get such affordable breakdown cover in the UK?
Apart from the obvious risk of theft and vandalism, breaking down in the middle of nowhere can also be extremely dangerous. This is particularly true in the case of single women, especially if their car breaks down late at night or in the early hours of the morning.
Nobody can say for sure whether or not their car will break down, but considering cover is so affordable, it's something every motorist should think about. There are many providers of breakdown cover to choose from and providing you're willing to shop around a little, you'll soon find a deal which meets your needs and one which is within your budget.
