What is Breakdown Cover?
Breakdown Cover is a type of insurance policy that covers the costs of roadside assistance and recovery if your car breaks down.
For example, if you blow a tyre or run out of fuel while on the road, Breakdown Cover will provide roadside assistance or arrange recovery if the vehicle can’t be fixed at the roadside. Depending on your level of cover, it could also cover other costs, too, like temporary accommodation or providing a hire car to help you continue your journey.
We offer Breakdown Cover, provided by the RAC, as an optional extra which you can add to your Swinton Car Insurance policy.
Already have Breakdown Cover through us? Your cover may be provided by AXA, please refer to your policy documents for full details of your cover.
Do I need breakdown cover?
There’s no legal requirement to have Breakdown Cover for your car. However, breakdowns are common and can prove costly if you find yourself having to pay outright for roadside assistance.
At Swinton, we provide peace of mind by covering towaway charges ahead of time. That’s one less thing to worry about if you do break down, so you can focus on what’s most important: getting home safely.
Why consider Swinton for your breakdown cover?
There are plenty of reasons to consider Swinton for your Car Breakdown Cover:
- High roadside repair rate – 4 out of 5 cars fixed on the spot, with repairs done in just 30 minutes on average
- Breakdown Cover provided by the RAC – The RAC have been looking after members for over 125 years
- 24-hour emergency helpline - Get help whenever you need it on our 24-hour helpline, available 365 days a year.
- Access to myRAC app – Register your breakdown quicker and easier using the myRAC app
Statistics quoted are based on data gathered between October 2023 – October 2024.
Getting a quote through Swinton Insurance
You can add Breakdown Cover as an optional extra with any of our Car Insurance policies
What types of Breakdown Cover are there?
At Swinton, you can choose from four different types of breakdown cover:
Roadside Assistance
Roadside Assistance offers peace of mind if you break down more than ¼ mile from home, the RAC will attend. If your car can’t be repaired at the roadside, you, your passengers, and your vehicle can be taken to a destination of your choice, within 20 miles of your location.
If your car is recovered to a garage, you can be reimbursed for you and any passengers to continue your journey to a single destination within 20 miles.
Roadside Assistance & Recovery
With Roadside Assistance & Recovery, the RAC will attend if you break down more than ¼ mile from home. If your car can’t be repaired at the roadside, you, your passengers, and your vehicle can be taken to a single destination of your choice, anywhere in the UK.
At Home
At Home cover offers the same benefits as Roadside Assistance & Recovery, plus the advantage of onward travel options should your vehicle be unable to be fixed on the same day following a breakdown. This levels also covers you if your car breaks down within ¼ mile of or at your home address.
European Breakdown Cover
Our European policies come with all of the above benefits plus cover in Europe for trips of up to 90 days.
Cover is restricted to Roadside Assistance for the first 24 hours. Breakdown cover is only available as an additional cover option with our Vehicle Insurance and cannot be purchased as a standalone policy.
1. Warn others
As soon as you realise there is a problem, put your hazard lights on as a warning to others. If you have a warning triangle, and it’s safe to put one out, place it at least 50 yards behind your car to tell others there’s a breakdown ahead.
2. Move to safety
Depending on where you break down, and what the problem is, moving your car to the side of the road might not be easy. If you can, get your car out of the path of other vehicles to avoid causing any accidents.
3. Leave your vehicle
If you’ve broken down at the side of the road, you and any passengers should leave your vehicle and wait for help a good distance away from it. If you’re travelling with a pet, the Highway Code states that you must leave your animals in the vehicle or keep them under proper control on the verge with a short lead and harness.
4. Wear reflective clothing
Keep some items of reflective clothing in your car for emergencies. Wearing reflective clothing makes you more visible to drivers, especially at night, greatly reducing the risk of an accident while you’re out of your vehicle.
5. Contact us
To ensure your breakdown is registered in the correct place, please refer to your policy documents to check who your breakdown provider is.
If your Breakdown Cover is provided by the RAC:
Bikes broken down in the UK: Call 0330 013 2072
If you are in the EU and have opted for EU cover:
Calling from Europe: +33 472 43 52 55
Calling from a French landline (freephone): 0800 290 112
Calling from the Republic of Ireland (freephone) 1 800 535 005
Or, register your claim digitally with the myRAC app.
If your Breakdown Cover is provided by AXA:
Bikes broken down in the UK: Call 0333 035 9367
If you are in the EU and have opted for EU cover: Call +44 (0) 1737 815 032
To request assistance in the UK online visit:
1. Try to exit the motorway
If you are able to, try to drive to the next junction or the nearest service station.
If not, you need to get your car onto the hard shoulder: park it as far to the left as you can, and turn your wheels towards the grass verge in case it rolls.
If you’re on a smart motorway, try to drive to the next emergency refuge area (ERA), which is basically a lay-by at the side of the road for you to safely pull into. ERAs are found no further than 1.6 miles apart, and they’re marked by a blue sign featuring an orange SOS phone symbol.
If you find yourself unable to get to the hard shoulder, keep your seatbelt on and switch your hazard lights on immediately. Don’t leave your vehicle until you’re absolutely clear it is safe to do so.
2. Put your hazard lights on (and sidelights if it’s dark)
Leave your hazard lights flashing as a warning to others. If you’ve broken down at night, put your sidelights (or ‘parking lights’) on as well — do as much as you can to make your vehicle as visible as possible to other drivers. Never attempt to put a warning triangle out on the hard shoulder.
3. Exit the vehicle safely
Make sure all passengers exit the car through a left-side door, moving far away from the vehicle and traffic, and put on any reflective clothing you have. Once you’ve left your vehicle, wait behind the barrier and move up the embankment if you can.
Never attempt to fix your car if you break down on a motorway.
4. Call for help
Call for help using the emergency phone on your side of the carriageway. You’ll notice arrows which will guide you to the nearest emergency phone, located at approximately one-mile intervals along the hard shoulder.
If you can, try to pull over close to an emergency phone so that you don’t have to walk far along the hard shoulder to find one. If you do have to walk to a phone, keep as far away from the carriageway as possible.
To ensure your breakdown is registered in the correct place, please refer to your policy documents to check who your breakdown provider is.
If your Breakdown Cover is provided by the RAC:
Bikes broken down in the UK: Call 0330 013 2072
If you are in the EU and have opted for EU cover:
Calling from Europe: +33 472 43 52 55
Calling from a French landline (freephone): 0800 290 112
Calling from the Republic of Ireland (freephone) 1 800 535 005
Or, register your claim digitally with the myRAC app.
If your Breakdown Cover is provided by AXA:
Bikes broken down in the UK: Call 0333 035 9367
If you are in the EU and have opted for EU cover: Call +44 (0) 1737 815 032
To request assistance in the UK online visit:
Be prepared
When it comes to embarking on a journey of any length, the best thing to do is to prepare for the unexpected beforehand. Pack some bottles of water, wireless chargers, non-perishable foods and blankets to store in your car for easy access in emergencies.
Car Breakdown Cover FAQs
When you choose Swinton Breakdown Cover, there’s no limit to the number of UK call outs you can make a year, but please note that call outs for a repeated fault will not be covered. We want you to feel safe in the knowledge that you’ll always be looked after, no matter how often you need it.
When you break down without cover, you’ll need to call a local garage and pay a call out charge out of your own pocket. Charges are often calculated with a standard fee with additional payments for each mile your vehicle needs to be towed. You may incur repair fees on top of that. All in all, it could cost you hundreds of pounds once everything is done.
Some Breakdown Cover policies won’t include an option for vehicles that break down at home, meaning you’ll need to pay for it to be towed to a garage. However, through Swinton At Home and European Breakdown Cover, you’re covered even if your car breaks down on your driveway.
This depends on your level of breakdown cover. With our European Breakdown Cover you can protect yourself on trips of up to 90 days within Europe. Overall claims limit of £2,500 per claim and 3 claims per policy year, limited to 1 claim per trip.
Cover is restricted to Roadside Assistance for the first 24 hours of your policy being active, regardless of cover level.
Yes — we will attempt to repair your car at the roadside. However, sometimes a vehicle can’t be repaired on the road. In these cases, we’ll cover the towing costs to get your car to a nearby garage to get the problem resolved there.
Helpful guides for car owners
Make a claim
If your Breakdown Cover is provided by the RAC:
Vehicles broken down in the UK, call 0330 013 2072
If you are in the EU and have opted for EU cover call +33 472 43 52 55
Calling from a French landline (freephone) 0800 290 112
Calling from the Republic of Ireland (freephone) 1 800 535 005
Or, register your claim digitally with the myRAC app.
If your Breakdown Cover is provided by AXA:
Vehicles broken down in the UK, call 0333 035 9367
If you are in the EU and have opted for EU cover, call +44 (0) 1737 815 032
To request assistance in the UK online visit: rescue.swinton.co.uk