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A breakdown cover is an insurance plan that enables holders to get emergency recovery or repair for their vehicle just in case it malfunctions in a variety of ways. Seeing that there are now more British drivers on the road travelling in longer and farther distances than ever before, it's advantageous for them to always be fully insured in case they need emergency roadside help. The peace of mind you'll get from being covered for car breakdowns is well worth its price, especially if you tend to travel on the road with your car a lot. It's not just limited to cars either—drivers of more vulnerable vehicles like vans and motorbikes (as well as non-motorized transport like trailers and caravans) can also avail of breakdown insurance for their respective modes of transportation. Just keep in mind that none of this is compulsory by law.

Breakdown Covers and Car Insurance

In truth, breakdown covers are, for all intents and purposes, quite similar to car insurance; that is, both involve the driver paying a premium that entitles him to various kinds of assistance should something happen to his transport in the middle of the street or road, whether it's a vehicular accident or a car breakdown. If you're insured and you run into this sort of dilemma, just call a number and either get your car towed to the nearest garage or have a trained mechanic come out and mend your car right on the spot. The benefit of such a plan, optional or not, is readily apparent.

Breakdown Cover Schemes

Here are few types of schemes you can avail of:

• Roadside Rescue: This scheme offers tow assistance to the nearest mechanic or even on-the-spot roadside repairs. You'll need to pay for the extra parts themselves, though. If you use your car mainly for hometown driving, European rescue is an impractical choice, so you should instead choose roadside rescue or other basic schemes.

• Roadside Rescue and Home Rescue: For this scheme, you can get all the requisites of roadside rescue even if your vehicle breaks down within your residence. That's practically anywhere coverage just short of getting a continent-wide scheme.

• Roadside Rescue and Recovery Plus: This scheme features all the benefits you can possibly ask for in roadside and home breakdown assistance plus the extra feature of accommodation cost coverage to the nearest hotel or transport cost coverage via a hired car or taxicab just so you can complete your journey.

• European Rescue: You'll get basic coverage if your car breaks down anywhere within Europe. Some insurers already include this as part of a normal breakdown policy, so you should double-check your plan if you have this in case you want to country-hop all over the continent.

Breakdown Cover Types

The four other types of breakdown cover that you need to remember are European (basically the same type discussed in the scheme section), comprehensive, premium, and basic. These types overlap with the schemes above in the sense that you can get a basic coverage in European rescue or a comprehensive package in roadside rescue and recovery plus. Check with your insurer for more details. In contrast to schemes wherein the place of breakdown is the main point of difference, breakdown cover types rely on the price of the policy and your driving habits more (plus some added benefits to cover every last possible eventuality). As a rule of thumb, frequent travel to a wide range of places require comprehensive to premium covers, while infrequent hometown travel to your workplace only needs a basic package.