Finder Breakdown Cover Customer Satisfaction Awards 2023

Welcome to the Finder Breakdown Cover Customer Satisfaction Awards 2023

We’ve once again asked customers of some of the UK’s biggest car breakdown services about their experience and whether they’d recommend the service to a friend or family member.

This is our third year of polling customers about breakdown services. You can see our winner below as well as a full table of the results and an explanation of how we came up with them.

The winners

The winner and highly commended spots are based on both overall satisfaction scores (star ratings) and recommendation scores (the percentage of customers who said they’d recommend the brand to a friend). Overall satisfaction is the primary metric. More on this below.

Breakdown Cover Customer Satisfaction Winner

The AA

A group of motoring enthusiasts founded the AA in 1905, and it was involved in creating the UK’s first road signs. Last year, it was highly commended, but it has come back fighting to take the top spot for 2023, with an impressive 88% of respondents saying they’d recommend the service to their friends. Many customers in our survey praised the reliability and speed of the service. Views on the price were more mixed.

Read our review of The AA breakdown cover

Breakdown Cover Customer Satisfaction Highly Commended

Start Rescue

Start Rescue also gained 5 out of 5 stars for overall satisfaction, with 81% of respondents saying they’d recommend the service – just behind The AA. The brand, which has been near the top of our table for 3 years running, prides itself on its affordable cover. And customers in our survey agreed, with many citing low prices and great service.

Read our review of Start Rescue cover

Our 2023 breakdown cover customer satisfaction league table

Overall satisfaction	Customers who’d recommend	Issuer	Review
★★★★★	88%		The AA is known for its 24-hour recovery service. Our survey respondents reported quick response times and knowledgeable staff. An impressive 88% of customers would recommend the brand.	Read review
★★★★★	81%		Start Rescue has been featured near the top of our table for 3 years running. Customers are particularly happy with the value for money – great service for low prices. Its policies cover cars, including classic cars, vans and motorcycles.	Read review
★★★★★	90%		Admiral offers 3 levels of breakdown cover, all of which include unlimited UK roadside callouts. Its European cover is comprehensive. Customers in our survey praised its good, fast service.	Read review
★★★★★	84%		Green Flag offers 5 levels of cover to choose from, plus personal and multi-car policies. A popular option is Recovery Plus, which includes roadside assistance, cover at home and onward travel. 84% of customers in our survey would recommend Green Flag’s breakdown cover to a friend.	Read review
★★★★★	83%		The RAC was created in 1897 by motoring enthusiasts. These days, customers value the good, reliable service.	Read review
★★★★★	80%		Rescuemycar.com is a relatively new company – it was launched in 2000 to offer customers an alternative to the bigger players. It offers 4 levels of cover including European. In our survey, customers commented on the low prices for good service.	Read review
★★★★★	79%		As an over-50s specialist, Saga provides policies for drivers 50 and older. There are 5 levels to choose from, with the Premier level including European and holiday departure cover as standard. Customers called the service reliable and convenient.	Read review
★★★★★	79%		QDOS is another specialist breakdown provider and has been around since 2007. There are 4 cover levels on offer, plus an EU policy. All levels include a message relay service and medical transfer for the driver if they fall ill.	Read review
★★★★★	72%		Aviva is the biggest general insurance provider in the UK and offers a long list of products. For breakdown cover, there are 4 levels to choose from. This starts from the basic rescue deal to the “Rescue, Recovery, At Home & Onward Travel”.	Read review
★★★★★	69%		GEM Motoring Assist was created as a road safety association in 1932. It offers 2 levels of cover.	Read review
★★★★★	56%		AXA has 4 levels of cover to choose from including Europe, and you can buy a policy as either a standalone policy or as an add-on to an AXA car insurance policy.	Read review
★★★★★	59%		Emergency Assist offers 3 levels of breakdown cover. All levels include unlimited callouts.
★★★★★	45%		Britannia Rescue is provided in partnership with LV= and there are 5 levels of cover. The cheapest policy, Roadside Assist, starts at £30 per year.	Read review

Customer satisfaction ratings methodology

In December 2022, we ran a customer satisfaction survey on breakdown service providers. 1,733 people replied and told us their thoughts on their provider.

The survey asked respondents how satisfied they were with their current provider (on a scale from 1 to 5) and also whether they’d recommend the brand to a friend. We turned the results into star ratings and shortlisted the top-performing brands for our awards. When there was a draw, we used the recommendation score (the percentage of customers who said they would recommend the brand to a friend) as a tie-breaker.

Full details of our star ratings for this sector are on the insurance ratings methodology page.

Written by

Liz Edwards

Editor-in-chief

Liz Edwards has been a consumer writer and editor for more than 20 years. She led award-winning teams at the campaigning publisher Which?, and has covered a range of consumer rights and personal finance topics including pensions, credit, banking and insurance. Liz has appeared frequently in national media such as The Sun, Metro, HuffPost and The Independent. She loves to cut through waffle to give consumers the real lowdown. And she loves puns. See full bio

Liz's expertise

Liz has written 106 Finder guides across topics including:

• Consumer rights and protection
• Saving money
• Buy now, pay later
• Insurance
• Consumer trends