Find out all about The AA's car insurance policies and see what customers think of their service
Defaqto rating: 5/5 stars
Independent financial products reviewer Defaqto has given the AA’s car insurance a 5-star rating for the 11th year running.
This is the highest rating Defaqto offers. Defaqto said AA car insurance was ‘excellent product with a comprehensive range of features and benefits’.
Note: Not all Defaqto five-star rated products have the same covers and terms.
Feefo rating: 4.6/5 stars
AA Car Insurance was awarded the Feefo Gold Trusted Service Award 2020 for delivering ‘exceptional experiences, as rated by real customers’ (Feefo).
AA Car Insurance was awarded Feefo rating of 4.6 out of five based on 8992 verified reviews.
The Automobile Association (AA) was created in June 1905 when four motorists got together to help other drivers avoid speed traps.
Within a month the Motorists' Mutual Association had been renamed The Automobile Association, The AA. Its members helped each other out via teams of cyclists who encouraged each other to drive more safely and avoid punitive penalties.
1912 - The AA was running 950 UK cyclist patrols and by 1914 it had over 80,000 members.
1999 - it was bought by Centrica, the owner of British Gas.
2004 – The AA was sold to private equity firms Permira and CVC which in 2007 merged it with Saga – under the umbrella of Acromas Holdings
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The AA now has over 15 million members and one of the UK's largest motoring organisations. The AA is best known for breakdown cover but it also offers finance, leisure, lifestyle services and car insurance.
AA car insurance was launched in 1967
Since 2015 motorists have taken out a total of five million policies
Insurance features include an uninsured driver promise and new for old cover
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AA members are those who have signed up to the AA’s Roadside Assistance scheme. You can take out car insurance with the AA without having to join the scheme.
There are no discounts for being a member of The AA but AA car insurance customers get a discount on the AA’s breakdown cover, Roadside Assistance.
Customers can pay from £15 a year and will also get discounts on breakdown cover upgrades.
AA Car Insurance also varies the terms of their cover a little, giving members more in some cases. The offer applies to vehicle cover, which means your car is covered in the event of a breakdown, whoever is driving.
The AA offers three types of car insurance:
Fully comprehensive
Third party, fire and theft
Third party only
AA Car Insurance also offers a discounted premium on telematics insurance so having a black box fitted, if you are a younger or a less-experienced driver, could help reduce your AA Car Insurance premium.
AA Car Insurance can provide a quote for short-term car insurance in minutes. It does this through a specialist third party insurer Tempcover which can arrange short-term car insurance.
Short term insurance cover includes:
cover from 1 to 28 days without putting the no-claims bonus at risk.
lending a car to a friend, colleague or relative.
borrowing a car from a friend, colleague or relative
drive-away insurance if you've just bought a car
unaccompanied vehicle demonstrations or use of courtesy cars
You must be between 18 and 75 with a current full UK driving licence held for a minimum of 6 months, European Union licence for a minimum of 12 months or a provisional driving licence.
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No it doesn’t. The AA does offer a discount if you insure more than one car with it, but you will have to take out a different policy for each car.
Got lots of cars parked on your drive?
Find a multi car insurance policy to help reduce your insurance bill.
The AA’s comprehensive car insurance offers a courtesy car as standard, whether your car is repairable, written off or stolen.
Personal Roadside Assistance is also available at a discounted rate, which means you're covered as a driver or passenger in any vehicle. Roadside Assistance breakdown cover will be renewed automatically, unless you request not to.
You get a brand-new car if your car is less than 13 months old when it's stolen or written off. This not something included in every car insurance policy.
New for old cover is available if you have owned the car for less than 13 months from when it was registered as new. The car must still be in production and you must be the first and only registered keeper.
This is an extra which improves on the personal injury cover already included in the AA comprehensive car insurance policy.
It includes the following extra benefits following a car accident:
up to an additional £60,000 on top of any payment provided by your AA Car Insurance policy, or any other personal accident and life insurance cover: up to £40,000 for named drivers
cover for a wider range of injuries including fractures, burns and facial scarring
up to £750 cover for physiotherapy sessions for injuries, including whiplash
up to £250 cover for stress or trauma counselling.
£60 payment for spending between six and 24 hours in hospital, then for every day thereafter (£40 for named drivers)
AA Car Insurance allows you to keep your no claim discount and pay no excess if an uninsured driver hits your car and it isn't your fault.
The AA also operates an uninsured driver promise to all customers who have a comprehensive car insurance policy. This means that if you have a non-fault accident with an uninsured driver, you won't have to pay the excess and you won't lose any no claims bonus.
Cover includes legal assistance to seek the recovery of uninsured losses from the party at fault, such as:
car insurance policy excess
alternative transport costs
loss of earnings
compensation for a personal injury
Cover is provided where it is more likely than not your claim will be successful.
24/7 legal helpline for advice on legal matters
following a car accident, 2 hours tuition with an AA driving instructor to help regain your confidence
a range of motoring related online legal documents, like making a formal complaint to a garage about poor quality workmanship
This cover includes £50,000 in legal assistance to reclaim:
car insurance policy excess.
alternative transport costs.
loss of earnings.
compensation for injuries received in an accident
This allows you to claim back your excess on one insurance claim during the 12 months of your car insurance policy and is available on comprehensive, third party and third-party fire and theft cover,
accidental damage
malicious damage
theft or attempted theft
fire
You can even claim back your policy excess on a claim where you're at fault or the other party involved cannot be identified.
AA Car Insurance customers can take out a separate cover known as Keycare Cover.
In the event of your vehicle keys being lost or stolen the AA will pay £300 towards the cost of replacing the locks
AA Insure Keycare Cover also includes cover of up to £2,000 towards replacement keys and locks
It also includes three days hire of a vehicle if your car is unusable
There’s no excess to pay and you can avoid claiming on your car insurance so your No Claims Bonus is not affected
if you want cheaper AA Roadside Assistance
if you prefer to go with a trusted brand
options to add on additional personal injury cover
new for old cover might appeal if you have just bought a new car
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AA Car Insurance’s comprehensive policy does allow you to drive other vehicles with third-party cover, unless it's specifically excluded.
If this is excluded, you will be told this when you get a quote. If you already have car insurance with the AA, check your policy certificate before driving another car.
When you get a car insurance quote online you can add these optional extras such as Motor Legal Assistance and Excess Protection.
AA Car Insurance provides the same cover as would you get in the UK in any EU country for up to 90 days in a year. So as a comprehensive policyholder, you have comprehensive cover when you drive within the EU.
Depending on your insurer and for an additional premium, you may be able to extend the 90-day period and be insured in countries outside the EU.
The AA launched a free breakdown service for NHS workers during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
Within two weeks of lockdown (April 2020) the insurer offered to help NHS staff who break down on their way to or from work will be able to call for help, whether or not they are an AA member. A dedicated hotline was set up.
Simon Breakwell, AA chief executive officer, said: “We all recognise that everyone across the NHS is doing an absolutely vital job and we want to help them. The last thing they need to worry about right now is a breakdown, so we’re pleased to be able to help them with free recovery to and from work for as long as the current crisis continues.
“The idea came from numerous suggestions from our people indicating that the NHS are there for us, so we want to be there for them.”
The AA said Covid-19 lockdown driving insurance rumours are ‘urban myth’.
The AA President joined forces with the Association of British Insurers to reassure drivers that their car insurance was still valid if they used their car for non-essential drips during the Covid-19 lockdown in mid 2020.
AA President Edmund King told the Daily Express that allegations that policies could be axed for using a vehicle during the lockdown were unfounded.
Speaking to The Express, he added: “I did see some of these stories about whether your insurance may be invalidated if it's non-essential. I think that is an urban myth. Insurance companies I’ve spoken to have basically said if you have valid insurance and you're on the road and it's your car, you should be covered.
“Obviously if you're doing silly things, speeding and reckless driving and stuff like that it could affect your insurance. But if it's a regular journey you should still be covered.”
The Financial Ombudsman Service received 48 complaints about The AA motor insurance in the first half of 2020. To put that in context, 67 firms had 10 or more complaints each and those totalled 4,550 complaints. Nearly 200 firms had fewer than 10 each, sharing just 479 complaints between them.
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