The AA left me stranded!!

[scott808]

On Tuesday I crashed me car while in Scotland (I live on the south coast of england) One of the front tires was damaged. The rim on it was pushed into the tire. I have AA cover "option 200" which was meant to cover me so that I can be towed to a garage, or home if necessary. So I phoned the AA and told them that the wheel was damaged and that I didn't want to drive home on it, and that I didn't have a spare wheel with me. After putting me on hold, and wasting the credit on my phone they told me that they couldn't, wouldn't, do anything as I didn't have a spare!

 

I was then left to find and drive to a garage in Scotland where I could buy a new wheel! I found a ford garage at 5pm, but they didn't have any in stock. I was then left with the choice of spending the night in my car, in the snow! Or, I could drive home on the damaged wheel. I choose to drive home, which took over 13 hours instead of the eight which it had taken on the way up, as I had to drive slowly all the way back.

 

I now believe that they should have offered me a tow to a garage, or home. And if that is true, I must have been lied to and left to drive a car which they new to be possibly unsafe!

 

Do you think there is anything else that I should do, other than cancel me policy with them, and demand my money back?

[Sidewinder]

It seems a little harsh, but did you tell them that you needed their services due to an accident? The AA T&Cs Clause 1n state that:-

 

"in the event that You require vehicle recovery following an accident, the AA can, if You require, provide this for You but will not be responsible for meeting the costs involved. If the AA does agree to provide recovery in these circumstances You will be responsible for, and required to pay, the AA's charges for this service (including, but not limited to, any charges relating to any specialist equipment used). In the event that, following an accident, You require one of the additional services available under Relay Plus (and You have the relevant cover), the AA can arrange this for You but will not be responsible for any costs involved. You will, therefore, be required to pay on request any applicable charges"

 

Also in the General Terms is a clause which states:-

 

"AA service and/or cover does not include the following:

 

any additional charges resulting from Your failure to carry a legal and serviceable spare wheel(s) or tyre(s), except where this is not provided as manufacturers standard equipment"

 

It would seem therefore that by not having a spare wheel they are not obliged to provide cover, especially as this was caused by a road accident. They should however have offered assistance in sourcing a new wheel at your cost, or they could have (if requested) recovered your car and taken you home at your own cost.

[scott808]

Are right, yes I did tell them it was an RTA, so I suppose it was my thought.

 

cheers

scott

[Sidewinder]

A bit of a pain for you, but at least you got home safely.....if a little late!

[kabukiman]

To not have a spare is also illeagal, probably they can argue you shouldn't be driving the car in the first place.

[patdavies]

To not have a spare is also illeagal,

 

Nonsense.

 

There is no requirement whatsoever to have a spare wheel. Many supercars do not; many cars with LPG conversions do not (as the LPG tank fills the spare wheel well).

 

I do not carry a spare wheel and I can assure you I am not breaking any law by not doing so.

[scott808]

They replied by letter a couple of days ago. They told me that they stopped doing recover for RTA's several years ago, as they claimed that it is normally covered under people insurance. They also said that they could have done it, but that they would have charged for doing so.

 

I think part of the reason that I got so annoyed with them was that they didn't offer anything up... I Had to try to get details of garages from them, and the only one that they gave me details for wasn't any good. They also didn't tell me that they could tow my car to a garage.

[omicron]

That's strange, I saw them attending to an old lady who'd introduced her car to a brick wall earlier today.

[scott808]

I wonder how much it cost her if they charged..?

[gbjadyy]

AA wil attend and RTA if required but full cost is to the meber which is revoverable from the car insurance!!!, very easy principle to understand really, they stopped the membership service entiltment around 3 yrs ago along with no cover for caravans either, remember the AA are no longer a public service they are a privatised company and so make money like any other business, so the way they see it why should they keep paying to recovery 1000's RTA's each year when these cars have insurance to cover such costs

[scott808]

I know mine didn't though. And I doubt the price of membership was reduced by very much when they did, or even maybe not at all. Anyway I know now.

[gbjadyy]

did you tell the AA your insurance would nt cover you??????

i most cases the AA willstill allow recovery if the vehicle is not going to become subject to an insurance claim !!!

they class it as courtasy service

it does not always work but its worth trying

 

similar principles on the motorway these days aswell

 

if your not a member of a breakdown service you can sometimes be lucky enough to get help as a courtasy service because of the risk factor in being stuck on the hard shoulder!!!!

 

must admit though the AA sytem is not good these days, when you phone them the person at the other end reads questions of a pc screen and dependent on your answer will determine the next question.

its a crap system because if you give an answer that is not on there screen they dont know what to do next and thats when you usually get the old "just one moment please i will just ask a manager" routine

 

they are told to adhere to thes questions and the pc decides on the outcome

[wools]

sorry but it is illegal to drive on a motorway without a spare when fitted as standerd.most super cars carry a sealent for punctures

[jonni2bad]

Thread title changed - please be aware of the potential for libel.

[patdavies]

sorry but it is illegal to drive on a motorway without a spare when fitted as standerd.most super cars carry a sealent for punctures

 

As I believe this to be untrue, could you please provide a reference for this.

 

I have a LPG converted 4x4 and the spare wheel well is now full of LPG tank. I do not carry a spare wheel, ever.

[fire fox]

According to vosa it is not neccesary to carry a spare wheel and tyre but if you do it must be legal. you will find most HGV vechicles do not carry spare wheels and tyres due to weight saving.

[bazak1]

the vosa website states that for mot's they will advise you if no spare wheel is fitted but it's not part of the test. the test is there to confirm your vehicle is safe and legal, and if it was illegal to not have a spare, then your vehicle wouldnt pass the test.

i also think that it's not illegal not to have a spare tyre, but it's illegal to have an unroadworthy one.

[gbjadyy]

its not illegal to have an unroadworthy spare but you cant actually fit it to the car as doing so would then make the car illegal

 

spare does not come into the mot although you may sometimes find that an mot tester might "advise condition" but thats upto the individual tester.

 

if you suffer a puncture and call out a breakdown service they are NOT to fit a spare that is unroadworthy and the only solution is to have the car recovered