The AA have announced that they believe this Wednesday (4th Jan2012) will be the busiest for breakdowns as many people return to work and the school run, as reported in the Scotsman. It is estimated that 3.5k cars will breakdown on this day in Scotland, with small issues such as a flat battery and will run at 60% above normal.
Christmas tends to be a time where cars are left or just not looked after, with the expectation that everything will be OK on its first journey for a while. Although the AA, did expect to to be quieter than last year when the UK suffered record breaking snowfall and low temperatures.
A recommendation was to drive the car before Wednesday to charge up batteries and other issues that may occur on the return to work. With AA breakdown cover, the organisation is prepared for this upturn on call outs, but a bit of pre-thought can save the inconvenience of a breakdown, just as all the festivities have ended. Lets start the new year as we intend to go on, with reliable well looked after cars.
If you have a breakdown cover policy you should check what the process is, should you put the wrong fuel in your car. A recent example was a diesel vehicle partly filled with around £15 worth of petrol, luckily around 1 mile away from home. The phone call to the AA suggested that they preferred to fix the car at the roadside rather than towing to a garage or in this case back home only a mile away.
It was Christmas eve and the person on the phone contacted the local patrolman, who agreed they would tow the car back home, if the owners could wait an hour or so (the owners were back at home as the vehicle was so close). The AA breakdown cover patrolman would ring just before attending the vehicle.
He did and the owners arrived at the car, which was then towed back hone with no extra charge, a good service. But during the phone call and the arrival of the patrolman, the charge to deal with a miss-fuel at the roadside was £160. In short in questioned whether getting the car home was part of the relay service, and it may have been because it was Christmas and the car was so close to home, the in this car the AA helped the driver out.
It maybe that the AA will help all drivers whatever they want to do, but the refuel service was pushed a bit and maybe it would have been easier just to pay the money, than trying to fix the problem on the drive, but there was a question mark of how far the relay service will go for mistakes that are made by the driver and clearly cost the AA to put right.
If you have a breakdown cover policy you should check what the process is, should you put the wrong fuel in your car. A recent example was a diesel vehicle partly filled with around £15 worth of petrol, luckily around 1 mile away from home. The phone call to the AA suggested that they preferred to fix the car at the roadside rather than towing to a garage or in this case back home only a mile away.
It was Christmas eve and the person on the phone contacted the local patrolman, who agreed they would tow the car back home, if the owners could wait an hour or so (the owners were back at home as the vehicle was so close). The AA breakdown cover patrolman would ring just before attending the vehicle.
He did and the owners arrived at the car, which was then towed back hone with no extra charge, a good service. But during the phone call and the arrival of the patrolman, the charge to deal with a miss-fuel at the roadside was £160. In short in questioned whether getting the car home was part of the relay service, and it may have been because it was Christmas and the car was so close to home, the in this car the AA helped the driver out.
It maybe that the AA will help all drivers whatever they want to do, but the refuel service was pushed a bit and maybe it would have been easier just to pay the money, than trying to fix the problem on the drive, but there was a question mark of how far the relay service will go for mistakes that are made by the driver and clearly cost the AA to put right.
It achieved a 80% satisfaction score , deemed as best in the industry.
Steve Dewey from the AA stated that they make substantial investment in training and equipment to deliver the best possible service.
The AA also delivers car make branded breakdown cover, this survey and award included those policies. Awards like this offered from a trusted and recognised source such as “Which”, can give confidence when buying AA breakdown cover, especially as the information came from over 7300 drivers.
We often think of a vehicle breakdown being a permanent thing, with expensive repairs being the norm. The reality is most car breakdowns are avoidable and tend to focus pm the basic parts for the car. The AA have released their figure on top breakdowns over the summer, so you can see where the opportunities are.
The top result relates to tyres, either flat or damaged, then it is the old car battery thing, most likely flat batteries. Starter motors and alternators come next until we start to see something a bit more serious, the clutch.
The final reason on this top 10 breakdown call outs, is the cylinder head gasket, with equated to 7000 call outs during the summer. The AA state that up to half of breakdowns could have been avoided with correct maintenance.
Some advice is also offered in this news item to help you avoid being one of these statistics. Even if you do have an AA breakdown cover policy, there still will be some inconvenience waiting for a dedicated patrol. Most can be repaired by the roadside, but better to be safe than sorry.
The AA have discovered that 12% of drivers would not stop no matter what, although when this information is broken down, only 10% of over 65’s would definitely not stop where 18% of women and 16% of under 25’s wouldn’t.
It is not just about ages, but also where you live with Londoners being the worst when it comes to Samaritan help, where Scotland, North East and Northern Ireland the most likely to stop.
The main reason for not stopping is deemed to be personal safety with many drivers believing that most people would now have a mobile phone and would make that necessary phone call. It is interesting how older drivers are more likely to stop, even though they could be the demographic with the greatest chance of being a victim of a con trick.
Of course purchasing an AA breakdown cover policy, is one way to be assured that there will be someone stopping to assist you no matter where you are, that will be a good Samaritan.
OK we admit it no posts for 6 months, so it is time to make it back up with a story for the summer stated by the AA that not having breakdown cover could be deemed as roadside roulette.
Lets start with the figures being quoted here.
The AA claim that last year and average call out fee would be over £172, compared with their roadside assistance policy which could have been bought online for £28. Then when you factor in 12% of drivers will in fact breakdown, they you can see how the comparison to roulette comes in.
There are more distressing figures in that the call out garages would only have fixed 24% of vehicles by the road, compared with the AA’s impressive record of around 80%, which of course saves stress and inconvenience and lets be honest probably contributes to the average 3172 bill.
When you consider that around a third of breakdowns are simple things like batteries or tyres you may have to ask why more call out garages cant fix more by the roadside, maybe that is not their priority. Again the AA called for more maintenance on your vehicle to prevent car breakdowns in the first place.
Only 1% of aa breakdown cover members thought that road conditions had improved, AA President Edmund King said:
We have to keep up the battle against this blight which damages cars and risks road safety, especially for those on two wheels.
"An emergency pothole fund is urgently needed to help cash-strapped local authorities to patch up the roads. However a more coherent maintenance strategy and long term increased funding is required to stop the rot."
When broken down by region Scotland, Yorkshire & Humberside and the North West had worst public opinion on road. 92% of drivers in Scotland said that they thought roads had definitely declined in condition.
Londoner’s were the happiest with their roads however 74% of motorists still said they had noticed deterioration.
Repairs to road however may be a long time coming as figures have shown that a number of councils have reported reductions in their road maintenance budget. Of the 20 councils surveyed 8 have revealed they are cutting funding for repairs.
Recovery firms have also logged a 25% increase in the number of call outs as a result of potholes or damage to highways. Wheel and tyre damage was the most common damage reported.
The poll comes 6 months after a harsh winter with the government pledged £100 million extra funding for road repairs, however estimated have shown that the total cost to repair all of the damage to Britain’s roads would be around £9 billion.
The average motorist will save £300 a year thanks to rewards and offers sent out to members who have aa breakdown cover with the firm.
Membership is automatic when you join the AA for vehicle insurance or breakdown cover and is valid for the entire duration of your policy.
Competitions are also ran regularly and give members the chance to dine at the chef’s table in a Michelin Star restaurant before taking in the view at the City of Manchester Stadium in a Manchester City VIP match package.
It might seem like it’s worth joining just for the perks but primarily you receive second to none breakdown cover at a reasonable price from the firm that has been helping British motorists for well over 100 years.
As of 2010 the AA has over 15 million members and as of 2007 a value of £3.35 billion.Not bad for a group formed by a few London based motoring enthusiasts in 1906.
Car breakdown cover specialists The AA have welcomed new government plans for road safety.
The new strategic framework requires any driver charged with wilfully dangerous and reckless driving to sit a test before being allowed their license back and pay and increased penalty of up to £100.
Reckless driving cost the AA millions of pounds every year in breakdown recovery both for offenders and victims of the crime. Edmund Kind, president of AA insurance and aa breakdown cover said: “It has long been a major concern that uninsured drivers are fined less than the cost of the premium they have not paid.
“The AA welcomes the decision to review fines and fixed penalties for this offence and this should help deter the uninsured drivers who add tens of pounds to every legal driver’s premiums.”
AA offer some of the most comprehensive breakdown cover on the market and attend to over 3.5 million breakdowns a year all fixed within 30 minutes. This works out to a vehicle being fixed once every 12 seconds, whatever the weather.
Which? also recently named the firm the best breakdown cover service on the market thanks in part to the release of an application for mobile phones that using GPS technology allows users to submit their precise location when they have broken down
The AA has always been close to the main concerns of the motorist and in current climes, nothing has effected the motorist as much as the constant rise in fuel prices. A glimpse through the AA press centre and the fuel concerns of the AA dominate the news from last year right into 2011.
The government needs the extra tax on fuel to help deal with the defecate, but combined with higher oil prices, we are at the point where many feel we should not be adding the extra 1p on duty this April.
The December fuel update AA news item , suggests that even then we were spending £8m more per day than a year previous and this was before the VAT rise in January.
Technology gets in the way of everything or makes our lives better depending on your point of view, so it should not be surprising that the new fad of mobile phone Apps would eventually be connect with car breakdown cover. The AA has announced the release of an App for the iPhone that will use the GPS function of the phone to help locate where the motorist is stranded. With one touch of the App the motorist can also contact the AA call centre to speed up response.
If this was not enough, the App will also show AA traffic information, as well as a reminder service for insurance and other motoring key dates. For non members the App can be used to buy AA car breakdown cover, making this a handy download from I Tunes.
Of course the download is free and brings car breakdown cover into the 21st century, where sales are based around the internet, but the call out around the call centre. You can read the full AA iPhone App story at their press centre.
So how can an organisation that is associated with delivering car breakdown cover suddenly be able to fix your home boiler or plumbing. Well that is message the new adverts on TV with John Cleese, aim to give confidence too, of course in his own comic way.
The AA hopes to simplify a complicated market of home emergencies where sometimes there is a lack of trust in the tradesmen involved. The AA has entered the market of home emergency response with simple plans to give assurance with the confidence of the AA behind the service.
Pricing is also an important feature with AA quoting their service is cheaper than it’s main rivals, quoted within the AA launches AA Emergency Response news piece. The news often focuses what is happening on our roads during this cold snap, but there is also many boiler breakdowns and similar in the home too, a market the AA is trying to tap into.
If there service is anything as good as the AA breakdown cover offers, then there is likely to be a huge take up, especially as the support mechanism is already there within their call centres.
The report focuses mainly on salt supplies, something that has not been mentioned much this year, so we have to assume that lessons have been learned. The failing salt supplies affected business and household throughout the country There is recognition that highway authorities worked hard throughout the cold spell, but strategic supplies of salt should be sought.
What is also mentioned is those with car breakdown cover and how the AA dealt with those call outs in areas where the roads had not been salted. It was the busiest time ever and some calls were not attended due to the road conditions.
As we have mentioned earlier we are playing catch up, so lets go back to an important story back in July where the AA took 2 slots in the Which (the magazine) carmaker breakdown assistance survey.
This award is for offering breakdown cover to Jaguar and Honda customers and is based on speed of service and customer care whilst there and got satisfaction scores of 84%. Auto aid did deliver a score of 86% but with a much smaller response and allowing a 15% error rate, it is assume that he AA got top score.
There was a response rate of 4156 for AA members and only 46 from Auto Aid, which is why the AA are claiming top spot. Many car manufacturers offer AA Breakdown cover as part of the package of buying a new car and satisfaction scores like this can make a difference to their sales as well contracts being renewed with the manufacturer.
Trying to keep up to date with the AA news and features has been just too much of us recently and so we are aiming to play catch up for a while whilst the snow slows down the North Of England and Scotland.
As the snow has caught us out again (even though we were warned) here are some winter driving tips from the AA. The guide covers antifreeze, vision, electrics and tyres. To be honest it is all common sense for those who have been driving for some years, but as humans we tend to wait until the snow is on the ground before we think about it.
So as the cold snap intends to stay with us this week, be careful out there and follow the AA’s advice.
AA patrols are coming up with raising funds for Help for Heroes, and they will be taking part in a rally across Europe that hopes to raise around £100,000 for the cause. This would be an eleven day event and The Help for Heroes 4X4 European Rally 2010 (19-29 June) and it would cover 1800 miles across six countries. At the starting point, it will be waived by BBC Radio 2’s Lynn Bowles near Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, before they would be crossing Normandy from Portsmouth. After that the routes take to other significant places like Arnhem, Holland, and Bastogne in Belgium, where from they would be heading towards Alsace, France. Finally, they finish in Bavaria in Germany.
For the purpose of raising funds for charity, there are great peoples like Tony Knott of Sandhurst, Berkshire, Kevin Jones of Wittersham, Kent and John Foster from Shrewsburry, will be giving their hands for any kind of technical issues. Further, carrying on with the cause, they will move to two Land Rovers- one is the Defender 100 and the second one is Discovery that they bought and had done painting in AA colours. After the event of the charity these would be sold. Tony Knott, one who would be helping with any of the issues technically, said “Help for Heroes is a great charity for those special heroes who are serving in the reserves. There are many other people at AA breakdown family and there are much more friends there. The total number of vehicles would be 49 and to keep everyone on road, we all have our own portion of work cut out. We are totally focussed on doing our job with determination and this will help us in raising good fund for the cause.”
There are two more organizations that are supporting AA with the real cause of raising Funds for Heroes, and these are AA’s partners: Land Rover that is supplying vehicles for the organisers and O2, which is helping in providing mobile communication. Tony, Kevin and John have done a step forward action by creating a web page and they are accepting any kind of donations that would be given for the cause. The Help for Heroes 4×4 European rally 2010 website would be soon updated with all the blogs, pictures and events included in it. There are four of the vehicles in the event that would be fitted with tracking function so that they could be easily followed in their progress. One of those vehicles is Tony Knott’s Land Rover, team 45. If you are also eager to follow the event then you can also follow them on Twitter.
England fans may feel down at the prospect of coming home this early in the tournament however at least they can look forward to safer roads: According to the AA, there are up to 8 times more road deaths in South Africa than the UK.
Despite the South Africa Government investing well over £300 million in their road network, they still couldn’t substantially improve their safety rating. The South African also have different driving rules and regulations. Although they do drive on the left hand side of road like ourselves.
The AA also commented upon the effects of sporting England flags on your car. They state that a flag can increase fuel consumption by up to 6 miles per gallon. That is an extra 1 litre when travelling at 70mph for an hour. We presume the aa breakdown cover is still valid if you have any issues with your car and flags.
Drivers should always be extra careful when driving abroad and keep in the mind the different rules, customs and regulations of each country they travel through. If you need advice on travelling abroad, consult the foreign and commonwealth office:
The AA not only offer breakdown cover and insurance services, but also members benefits which could mean saving money on other services and products.
Here are some benefits starting with 20% off airport parking with Holiday Extras, then you can get up to 60% off car windscreens that are not claimed through car insurance and 5% off certain hotels throughout the UK, you can even get savings on your next bottle of wine supplied by Virgin wine.
The AA have also started a loyalty scheme for those who have have had AA breakdown cover or insurance for over a year, unfortunately you have to login to see what benefits you can get. So unless you have already got AA membership, you will not know what benefits you would get by joining, not sure if this is good marketing.
In a world where breakdown cover is so so competitive, extra member benefits may help covert some more sales.
At first we got the news that the AA were going to strike over the Bank Holiday weekend, then there was a message that not all members would be supporting the strike, so it would be “business as usual”. Earlier this week, messages are delivered stating that the AA would be still delivering a reduced service over the weekend, but today we heard the good news; the strike by AA Patrolmen is off.
The Independent Democratic Union who represent the AA patrolmen have agreed to call off the strike whilst they re-ballot their members on new proposals. This is good news for the motorists who have decided to get away this Bank Holiday weekend, now knowing that their AA policies for breakdown cover can be fully enforced.
The May Bank holiday is traditionally a busy time for motorists, although the weather doe not look as good as most would like. It is also a busy time for retail parks and DIY stores, so the roads are still likely to be busy this weekend.
According to twitter and other sources there appears to be a 2 days strike planed for the 2nd and 3rd of May by a small amount of AA patrolmen. The information available suggests the main reason for the strike is regarding the pension scheme and in recent ballots run by the independent democratic union, most AA patrolmen opted not to strike.
Andrew Strong, CEO of the AA has raised a statement suggesting that the strike will not affect its members and a contingency plan is in place, with normal AA breakdown cover options in place. Andrew goes on to say, he does not believe there is a dispute between AA patrolmen and the company and have agreed to out in 40% more funds than before.
One of the main mistakes consumers make when choosing breakdown cover is to always go for the cheapest option, without thinking about their real requirements and the risks involved. In short, if you breakdown the AA will attend as normal, but if the fault cannot be fixed at the roadside, they will assist you and you car to the nearest garage.
There are other options, by upgrading to a breakdown recovery policy, of which the AA calls “Relay”, so if your vehicle can not be fixed, they will transport the vehicle and a certain amount of passengers back home, or anywhere you want the car to go within the UK mainland. So you could for example asked to be taken to where you were driving to, where you can get your vehicle fixed in your time at a place you choose.
The Relay option is sold with “Roadside” and at the time of writing the price quoted is around £69 for both which includes an online 44% off and together this package is called “Rescue”. It is true that most cars are fixed by the roadside, but if you drive away form home a lot, or have inherent issues with your car that may not be fixed, or you just want piece of mind, then you may find the Rescue package matches your requirements.
What a show of respect to the soldiers fighting in Afghanistan as 10,000 bike riders rode through Wootton Bassett to show respect and appreciation of the work they are doing out there. The AA was there to give support to the riders should there have been any mechanical problems with bikes. This all happened on Mothers Day and was fully subscribed, just showing how much support our troops have from us all.
The campaign was arranged by afghanheros.org and got national press coverage, it certainly was a sight to see, even if it was just on TV.
It is shocking how quick time goes by, so when this AA TV advert appeared lately I found it hard to believe it was from the eighties, it really only seemed a few years ago. It is “I know a man that can” campaign and mixes humour with real like emergencies that the AA breakdown cover service could help you with then and now, although the Giraffe thing is a bit of a tall order. Watch the eighties way of selling AA breakdown cover and you may seen the “very nice man at the end”.
It is hard to imaging that the AA has been around for 105 years, although back then it was called the Automobile Association. When you look back through British history there are not many companies that have stood the test of time as well as this. Of course it is not the same organisation as back them (arguably) with finance and travel (not just motoring travel) also part of the business services offered by the AA.
It has had to adapt to the changing motoring trends, at the same time offering the AA breakdown cover service many have come to trust generation to generation. Its latest adventure is moving into home breakdown cover. No this is not a home car breakdown cover service, but a service for domestic emergencies, such as burst pipes or broken boilers.
The cover is less than £10 a month for existing AA members and a bit more for no members, and will cover you up to a certain value should things go wrong in the home. The AA have the infrastructure to take calls and get the right people to your home asap, but will people take this service out, or wait until things go wrong in the home?
Probably the same as car breakdown cover, get burnt once and that is it, a policy every year for a lifetime.
The AA have put together a new item claiming that winter motoring adds around 3p per litre to already high fuel prices. Using more electrics, having to warm up the oil before it becomes efficient and using the heater are key reasons why it will use 3% more fuel than normal. The initial start up period is the worst with the AA claiming that your car could be using 40% more fuel initially when leaving your drive as it deals with your car being cold.
Other fuel consuming actions are demisting the windows, especially bad on small cars and of course getting stuck in the winter traffic jams that disappear in the summer months as people find alternative transport. As your car gets further from home and warms up consumption figures improve, depending on how long heated windows and heaters stay on.
Although not mentioned in this report, good car care can cut down on initial fuel costs, by ensure you car is tuned correctly and has the right anti freeze in. After all the AA is the largest breakdown cover organisation in the UK. And if you want to use the AA breakdown cover service, rather than ensuring your car is prepared for the winter months, then some consideration and planning should be made.
Figures show that on average, premiums have risen around 18% compared to the same time last year. Reasons for this appears to be the increase in claims for small perosonal injury claims and an increase in insurance fraud with is claimed to be costing the insurance industry £2billion a year. The AA British Insurance index has been around since 1994 another service added to compliment its original AA Breakdown Cover services.
There is a hope that the first quarter of 2010 will be static as this a busy time for renewals especillay as new March registrations has insurance comapnies competing for business, but last year saw a rise in this period for the first time.
It is atonishing that at a time where the AA is pushing the boundaries and attending more breakdowns in its history, that we just did not write a word about it during December and January. So here we are on the last day to January playing catch up. It is ironic that the snow came again today, but not at the levels we say just befor Christmas right through to January. On teh 20th January the AA announced it had rescued a half million motorists since the hard weather struck on the 17th of December. Can you believe that breakdown calls were comming in at 1000 an hour, truly amazing. There is a sober message here. Imaging not having AA breakdown cover when your found yourself caught out in these freezing conditions, to buying a simple roadside assistance policy for less than £30.
We could argue we know the snow was comming, but lets be honest we did not think it would last this long or be his severe. A bit like breakdown cover really, you know there may be a time you may need it, but when and for how long, it is impossible to predict. So by iinvesting abit now, you can be safe later. it is a shame the councils did not do the same with their grit levels.
Collecting AA memorabilia is quite popular for many motoring enthusiasts who want to remember the golden age of motoring. What people are not aware of is that the AA themselves gave a collection of around 30 vehicle representing the history of the AA and its breakdown cover background even though the AA was originally formed in 1905 to combat the police speeding fines. Believe it or not, it was not until 7 years later that The AA used motorised vehicles, before this it had all been pedal power.
Some of these vehicles are in museums but some are maintained by volunteers of the AA and driven to shows around the country. Key times in the AA’s history are 1912, with introduction of motcycles, 1949 the arrival of four wheels, or Land Rovers to be exact, then vans as we know now from 1962.
We just couldn’t imagine the AA breakdown cover service operation without modern vans now, to get us within the hour. Of course the AA has loads of specialist vehicles to support the current service, but will these vehicles be deemed as part of history in say 50 years time?
We have all heard of the wonderful work the resuce and emergency teams have done in Cumbria but what hasn’t been mentioned much is the support the AA have offeref during this difficult time. The AA put in place 4 flood bursting Land Rovers as part of its Sort’s team (Specialist Operations Response team) its aim to rescue drivers within the flood areas.
These specialist Land Rovers work alongside the normal breakdown cover vans helping drivers in areas where normaly recovery vans would not be able to drive. These Land Rovers are equiped with all the right gear for such weather conditions or work within an RNLI enviroment and 2 trainied engineers.
This is not your normal breakdown cover stuff, but you can read the SORT Team in Cumbria story here
The AA have done a survey suggesting that 97% of pupils learning to drive though they should know that their instructor was also going though training to be a driving instructor.
The AA is not putting pressure on the Government to inform consumers that they are being taught by a trainee driving instructor, so they can make an informed decision that the instructor is right for them. To make this issue worse, 10 years ago the department of transport found that the pass rate for students being taught by a trainee instructor was 25% down on the fully qualified ones.
A pink badge is what distinguished if your driving instructor is themselves being taught, however the study showed that only 6% of those who took the poll knew this. It is understood that only 30% of trainees pass the final instructors exam.
With a huge growth in driving instructor training schools to match the apparent demand in new drivers, the AA President Edmund King has sent a letter to Minister Paul Clark to raise these concerns.
Not many people know you can apply for an international driving permit through the AA. This permit cannot be used in the UK and should not be used in ceratin countries instead of a UK driving licence and should be there to support your licence only.
You will need to check the different rules of each country to determine if an internatoinal permit is right for you and their own rules on the subject and be aware you can’t apply for an International driving permit if you have a provisional licence unless you have certain proof you have passed your test.
There are 2 covention IDPs from 1926 and 1949, you should understand which countries accept which version of which IDP.
You can find out more at the AA International Driving Permit Page.
Many members and non members are often unaware of the extra services the AA can offer as well as the traditional breakdown cover service everyones relates to. One such service is called AA Fuel Assist and is aimed at a driver or business who has filled theie vehicle with the wrong fuel type of which we know can do damage to the vehicle and eventualy stop running.
This service started in 2007 with an estimated 150,000 drivers using the wrong fuel in their vehicle and such disposing of 7.5 million litres of fuel dwon the drain. The AA extra service is not just about retreiving the fuel and cleansing the engine and tank in question, but recycling the fuel in a way that means the fuel can be reused for other purposes.
The service is not just open to AA breakdown cover memebrs but to the general public also. The AA recomend not to start the car when you have misfueled and to contact the AA Fuel Assist Service as soon as possible. the costs is around £150, but a lot cheaper than replacing the engine.
In 2008 the AA asked from 11,000 to nearly 17,500 people certain questions about safety and now want to create a saety manifesto based on answers of the questionaires.
The questions related to speed cameras, do we need tighter regulation and what the 3 E’s stand for, education, engineering and enforement.
Surprisingly most people were in some sort of supprt of speed cameras. If you inlcude the very acceptable and quite acceptable answers to speed camers you end up with 70% of the vote, somthing many of us are surprised to see. Over 11,000 people were asked these questions.
Nearly 14,000 people expressed an opinion about tighter regulations of which nearly 60% were in favour, for tighter regulations to reduce road deaths.
When it came to the 3 E’s most suggested tha engineering was the solution to safer driving where other suggested that extra driving training should be given to those with minor motoring offenses.
It is right that safety should be on the agenda as well as selling breakdown cover, so the manifesto should be valueable to everyone and show what the people of the UK want, not just the government’s opinion.
So what has the AA and the old trusty bicycle got to do with other? Have they started to offer breakdown cover for our 2 wheeled friends? No the answer is the AA have been chosen to patrol the UK’s biggest cycling race called the Tour of Britain.
This is not the first time that the AA has been chosen to give AA breakdown cover to the official vehicles along the route for the whole 8 days from the 12th September to the 19th; in fact this is their 5th year. The AA patrol vehicles will be in front of the procession ready for any unplanned breakdowns, in order that full support can always be given to the cycle teams by the Tour of Britain support crew.
Over a million people will see the Tour of Britain and the AA support, so this is a great marketing opportunity as well as the largest breakdown cover provider being associated with the largest cycle race in Britain.
Yes it is all over the national press, even in Spain where it was seen first. Buy AA breakdown cover from £35 and get a £20 voucher to spend in Boots. It seems as if it is aimed at the holiday maker, so in reality is probably too late.
This is not a bad offer if you had intended buying the products that Boots sell and makes your basic roadside policy the equivalent of £15 a year, from the largest breakdown cover organisation in the UK. But it seems it is only available using the phone number on the Press advert.
Go online and the roadside offer is £30 or the equivalent of 36.5% off the AA regular price throughout. There was a time difference of viewing the offers, so it os possible the Boots offer is now finished, but even so seems a short offer.
They have awarded the AA the best breakdown cover provider within the August edition of the “Which” magazine. It was awarded after a comprehensive survey of over 13000 drivers who had broken down, giving a final score of 86%. This is the third year in a row that the AA breakdown cover has been awarded the best buy from the respected magazine.
The questions included things like how polite were the staff at the call centre when you needed to ring in, how quick the response was and courtesy and knowledge. As the largest provider in the UK, this is something that normally would diminish as the company got bigger, but obviously their customers did not think so.
The score suggests that the AA have the best chance of a member recommending their service to a friend or colleague. Well done to the AA
As a parent you can’t think of anything worse than your child being involved in a car accident and not being protected. At times like these the cost of the seat becomes immaterial to the safety of your child. So when Britax and Mothercare started a scheme to encourage child seats to be check the AA thought this was a good idea and is fully backing the concept. The manager of Manchester Untied is also behind the scheme which worked alongside “child safety week” last week.
The AA understand through research that August is the month where most serious accidents involving children occur, probably during school holidays as they have trips away using the car, so the timing was to coincide with this in preparation of any long journeys, not that it is any less important any other time. And with the recession there is an expectation that more people will holiday at home this year, suing their car to get them to the holiday destination. It is possibly that children will be in cars for long distances and on fast roads without their child seat being firmly fastened.
It is not just AA breakdown cover these guys offer during the holiday period, but support on safety issue as well. You can read more about the support the AA is offering the Free Child seat check scheme directly from the news section on the AA’s website.
The arm is stretched out to get you views on motoring so the AA have created the AA Populus panel, which gives you the option to vote on certain aspects of driving such as , road pricing, road congestion and emission issues.
In order to give you view you must first join, but this is not like the AA Forums where you see comments straight away. The results or opinions are added up then printed on the AA website as a vote in percentage terms. This polling is not about AA Breakdown cover or any of its own services but about other issues that effect motorists and driving and so can be used to communicate these problems or concerns to the Government with real people behind them.
The lasts poll is about Hitchhikers and how three quarters would not pick one up. This could be concerning because obviously one quarter would. Do you think that is a dangerous statistic or a sad one based on today’s worry on safety?
The AA have reported on a test done in Europe on the safety of 4×4 car hire test within 60 outlets in Europe. The results were pretty awful with what is claimed is a 70% chance of be offered a vehicle that so not safe to drive in the condition the vehicles was designed for. It is claimed that only 8 of the 60 outlets could be described as offering a good for customer service covering countries such as Malta, Turkey and Spain.
The report goes on to describe the different faults found on the vehicles that you would normally be hired for adventurous excursions. If the condition of the vehicles was not bad enough, insurance polices to cover the hire vehicle were just as bad with unexpected costs adding to the confusion.
Excess and credit card charges also added to rental costs adds to the misery that many face on holiday, based on the AA Euotest results had not improved much since the previous 2005 test.
Purchasing you hire agreement here in the UK on the internet can help with at least the agreements being presented in English of which many documents abroad were presented in their native language. You can read the AA’s finding direct at their website by following this AA Eurotest Car Hire survey link.
The patrolman of the year was announced a few weeks ago in the name of Stewart Topp who has been with the AA for 13 years now. His reward is to get the chance of being the public face of the AA for the next year. He has seen a lot of changes over the least 13 years and was the first AA motorcycle patrol rider to use the new Vextric Electric Bike that is used in city centres.
Another award goes to the Recovery Patrol of the year Ken Deeley from Sheffield, who has been with the AA for 3 years now, he also will get the chance to represent the AA over the next 12 months.
We say well done to the guys and good luck with your new roles representing the largest breakdown cover organisation over the year.
There have been mixed views about the recent scrappage scheme introduced by the chancellor within the Budget this week. However the AA has published their Deals For New Wheels press release supporting the scheme, that will not only induce new car sales but may also help the environment also, with newer cars replacing older cars.
The basis of the scheme is that the Government and manufacturer will give you £2000 off a new car, if you trade in a car over the age of 10 year old of which you have owned for at least 12 months. The criticism has come from used car dealerships and other car selling factors such as car lease firms. It is clearly aimed at the new car buyer, ignoring those who would normally buy every 2 or 3 years and only focusing on those with very old cars, whom you would assume would not normally buy a new car.
It has been popular in Germany and other countries, so it is hard to be negative about certain aspects of the scheme. The AA publishes that 10 million cars may be eligible for the scheme, but this is thwarted by the fact that only £300m has been put aside for this and only for 12 months, not longer as other countries have done, this equates to only 300,000 cars, way short of estimates.
There is criticism that a fuel levy has been applied to pay for the scheme and many believe the increased VAT levy’s would have paid for itself anyway. There is a more detailed facts about the Budget, which you can read form the official AA press release.
As well as offering car insurance, breakdown cover and other financial services, the AA has a driving school which over the years has helped many of thousands to pass their driving test over the years. Their principles are in line with road safety and to find ways of improving your driving as well as just getting trough that test.
With a brand as big as the AA their can be no substitute for quality, so they make sure they only employ ADI approved driving instructors and currently have deals from £10.50 per hour for the first 2 hours(to get you in the swing of things).
The driving instructors are self employed but work under the rules of the The AA’s branding ensuring quality instructions at all times. These AA driving instructors are in pretty much every location around the UK, but to get in touch with these you would first ring the free phone number 0800 980 1834.
If you have a loved one or family member you would like to help with the expense, say for a birthday or Christmas present, you can buy AA driving lesson gift vouchers, to help them on their way.
Driving instruction can go beyond learning to drive, there are more advanced courses aimed at the corporate market. If an employee has an accident whilst driving a company car for work purposes, the company in concerned may be liable. Corporate training overcomes this short fall in learning and ensures your employees have the skills for the road, reducing the risk to your company.
Many see the AA just as a provider of breakdown insurance, but behind the website there are many other ways they go out to help the motorist, either for pleasure driving or for business needs
The AA have been involved in motoring safety for over a decade now, but this also expands over into maintenance of your vehicle and giving advice and tips on how to do small jobs on you car. Obviously the big jobs you may leave to the professional or even call out your friendly AA Breakdown Cover man, depending on what policy you have. But often, there things that can go wrong, that with a bit of knowledge and experience, you can do yourself quicker than wait for someone to assist you.
Take for example changing a wheel, maybe because you have a flat tyre, the AA has not only advice on this subject but a few years ago released some AA Patrol videos to show you what to do. For some changing a wheel can be something they have done many times, but it doesn’t hurt to see professional do things to keep you safe. Here is the video.
An effective way of explaining to its customers just how much area the breakdown cover vans operate and how, the AA can get you no matter where you are on the UK mainland is effectively shown in the Land End to John O Groats TV advert.
It shows a Google earth type map looking down on the UK at Lands End first and quickly shows an AA breakdown cover van at eths scene of a 4×4. The view then pans upwards looking down on a motorist having problems at the other end of the UK at John O Goats.
It does get the message out with of course their free phone number and price always at the bottom of the screen.
Here is the advert
The AA is offering a very competitive deal on the basic roadside package. The basic package is called roadside and offers the minimum level of cover but this still covers the whole of mainland UK and every hour of every day.
The current AA online price is £29 a year, which is cheaper that what is being advertised on TV and the national press. Obviously if you ring or decide to buy from one of these salesmen outside of large supermarkets or motorway services, you will probably buy at the higher price.
Clearly the best deal is online at the moment and must compete head on with Green and Flag and the RAC.
Another piece of history here; this time from the eighties. What was once the TV advert to get you on the phone and to buy your breakdown insurance (before the internet), they try to convince you that the AA is the right motoring club for you. They show you a fleet of Morris Ital vans, (which in hindsight probably needed more maintenance than their customers cars), rushing out to help their fellow members.
They then dressed in something resembling an army uniform with the berry cap to give the impression of the military organisation that goes into running the AA. It was a bit of fun then and even more now as you wonder if any employee would wear that uniform now.
Nicely finished off with a shake of a hand, give the impression of quality customer service. Whatever happened to adverts like this? It may old fashioned, but it did show what the AA did, offer a breakdown insurance service to the public. Better than the singing patrolmen.
Here is the eighties video, enjoy!!
We all can remember the huge increase in fuel prices last year that may have contributed to the way we buy and choose the vehicles wed drive. However there is confusion over fuel prices as they don’t seem to match the price of oil. Even though the price of oil had dropped to under$50 a barrel, we are still paying fuel prices as if it were just under $70 a barrel.
The AA are championing this point and commenting on the new rise of 5% at the pumps and how we need a transparent way to price our fuel for the benefit of the consumer or the business owner who has to budget for it.
Offering breakdown insurance is just part of what the AA offers to motorists this fuel issue being a point. Motoring clubs across Europe have written to the EU competition commissioner, (one presumes the AA are part of this) complaining of the lack of transparency.
Supermarkets normally seen of the first to price cut fuel are criticised as they tend to increase their fuel prices just as quick, annoying members of the public, just wanting prices to be more static.
You can read about the full fuel story direct from the AA press area here.
That is the message from the AA in relation to the lack of salt available and being scattered across the UK roads during this excessive winter period. The AA has concerns that the roads are just too dangerous to drive in these conditions and with limited salt reserves available, the argument is about road safety.
It is claimed the government is trying to improve the logistics of salt reserves, in better words where stocks are high and have had less snowfall against those areas that are clearly running out.
The AA insists that more roads should be gritted now in order to reduce insurance claims and the potential loss of life or danger to drivers and pedestrians. This became national news yesterday, broadcast especially from the ITV.
Well that is what the TV crew implied when they told us they had been on the road with the AA helping stricken motorists through the heavy change in weather. Of course we wanted to believe them, but so little was shown of the AA breakdown cover man, except him turning up and being greeted by a man who then shook his hand. A brief 3 seconds we saw a jack underneath the car and the recovery van and the driver then drove away.
It is a credit to the AA breakdown cover guys who work in these types of weather; they know it will be much busier in time, the police calls went up from 2 or 3 per night for accidents to 40 a night, so we have to assume that the AA recovery call outs will increase at the same level.
It is a shame that more time was not spent with the service, although it could have been seen as a marketing ploy rather than real news. In the meantime the AA advises of hypothermia and why you should always carry warm clothes when driving in these conditions.
