Finder Breakdown Cover Customer Satisfaction Awards 2021

Following on from the success of our 2020 customer satisfaction awards, we once again asked customers of some of the UK’s biggest insurance companies about their experience and whether they would recommend their insurer to a friend or family member.

This year we added a new category – breakdown cover. You can see our winners below, plus a full table of the results and an explanation on how we came up with them.

The winners are based on both overall satisfaction scores (that is, star ratings) and recommendation scores (the percentage of customers who said they’d recommend the brand to a friend). More on this below.

Our breakdown cover winners

The AA was established in 1905 by a group of motoring enthusiasts and was involved in originating road signs in the UK. To this day, it’s known mostly as a road assistance provider, so it’s no wonder that it’s the first winner in our breakdown cover category. Customers in our survey praised the quick response time, professional service and handy app on offer from the company.

Read our review of The AA breakdown cover

We have a two-way tie for our highly commended breakdown insurance award. Start Rescue is not a household name, but according to its customers, the company provides good value for money with a great service at highly competitive prices. There are five levels of cover to choose from and the company also offers policies for vans, motorcycles and classic cars.

Read our review of Start Rescue Breakdown cover

The RAC was established in 1897 as the Royal Automobile Club to provide roadside help for its customers. These days, it offers a number of specialist breakdown policies for a variety of needs, including blue badge users, family and multi-car, business and motorbikes. Customers in our survey love the good, reliable service on offer and the helpful staff.

Read our review of RAC Breakdown cover

Our 2021 breakdown cover customer satisfaction league table

We asked policyholders to rate their satisfaction with their breakdown cover company, and whether they’d recommend it to a friend. We’ve shown both for each brand in the table below. Our independent survey of 884 insurance customers was carried out in December 2020.

Overall satisfaction	Customers who’d recommend	Issuer	Review
★★★★★	83%		The AA is known fist and foremost as a breakdown cover provider, so it’s not surprising it landed the top spot in this category. Our survey respondents reported quick response times and great value for money.	View deals
★★★★★	82%		The first in our joint highly commended companies is not as well known, but, according to customers, Start Rescue provides excellent value for money with the two levels of cover it offers and a great service.	View deals
★★★★★	80%		Like our winner The AA, RAC is also synonymous with roadside assistance, as it was created in 1897 for this purpose. These days, customers value the good, reliable service on offer and the helpful staff.	View deals
★★★★★	76%		Admiral offers three levels of breakdown cover, all of which include unlimited callouts, 24 hour rescue and misfueling assist. Customers in our survey praised the quick service and helpful staff.	View deals
★★★★★	76%		Rescuemycar is a relatively new company – it was launched in 2000 to offer customers an alternative to the bigger brands. In our survey, customers commented on the competitive prices and quick service.	View deals
★★★★★	70%		Like The AA and RAC, GEM Motoring Assist was created as a road safety association, in 1932. It offers two levels of cover and customers said the service was reliable and prompt.	View deals
★★★★★	67%		Britannia rescue is provided in partnership with LV= and offers three levels of cover, plus a separate personal breakdown policy. Customers in our survey reported a quick service at competitive prices.	View deals
★★★★★	65%		Emergency assist offers three levels of breakdown cover to choose from, with prices starting at £24 per year. Customers we surveyed said they’ve had a good level of service from the company, including when broken down abroad.	View deals
★★★★★	72%		Green flag was founded in 1971 and offers five levels of cover to choose from, plus personal and multi-car policies. Customers complemented the company’s quality of service, competitive prices and ease of use.	View deals
★★★★★	69%		Aviva is the biggest general insurance provider in the UK and offers a long list of products. For breakdown cover, there are four levels to choose from and customers refer to the company as reliable, honest and reasonable.	View deals
★★★★★	64%		AXA has four levels of cover to choose from, and a handy e-Rescue tool for quick assistance in an emergency. Customers surveyed reported a good service for the price and quick callout times.	View deals
★★★★★	63%		As an over-50s specialist, Saga provides policies for drivers 50 and older. There are five levels to choose from, with the premier level including European and holiday departure cover as standard.	View deals
★★★★★	61%		Better known as a high street supermarket, ASDA Money provides three basic levels of cover – Roadside, UK and European. The word good came up a lot in our survey – both about the product and service.	View deals
★★★★★	58%		LV= offers three levels of breakdown cover, with both annual and short term policies available. Customers in our survey said the company was prompt and efficient.	View deals
★★★★★	57%		QDOS is another specialist breakdown provider and has been around since 2007. There are four 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.	View deals

Customer satisfaction ratings methodology

In December 2020, we ran a customer satisfaction survey on insurance providers. 884 people replied and told us their thoughts on their insurance provider in each of five categories (car, travel, pet, home and life).

The survey asked respondents how satisfied they were with their current insurance company (on a scale from one to five) and also whether they would recommend the brand to a friend or not. 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 (that is, 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.