RAC are commonly known as breakdown cover providers, however they also offer car insurance. But with so many car insurance brands on the market, does RAC offer value for money? To compare RAC to other popular car insurance brands, click the blue "Get Quotes" button below. It takes just 2 minutes to see how much you can save with RAC, Hastings, Admiral and others.

In This Review

• RAC Car Insurance: Overall Review
• Customer Reviews and Ratings
• Cost Comparison and Discounts
• Cancellation fees, phone numbers and policy documents
• FAQs

RAC Car Insurance Overall Review

There are many good features included in RAC comprehensive car insurance policies. According to their website, standard features include windscreen repair or replacement, cover for belongings, a courtesy car, replacement locks, 60 days of EU cover, etc.

Those looking for extra cover can choose their "Plus" policy, which is top-rated for features and also includes an uninsured driver promise (to protect your NCD if you're not at fault), child seat cover and transport home after an accident in GB if your car is not drivable.

There are a few missing features to be aware of, however. For instance, while a courtesy car can be offered on their "Plus" plans while your car is being fixed by an approved repairer as the result of a claim, they won't provide a courtesy car if your car is written off or stolen.

RAC car insurance might very well find you a cheap car insurance quote since they work with a panel of insurers, but they don't work with all of the big UK car insurers so it can be worth comparing prices before you sign up.

RAC offers the following types of car insurance:

RAC Features

Here is a high-level summary of RAC car insurance cover for policies bought direct from the RAC website—remember, these are always subject to conditions and exclusions. There may be variation in the smaller details because RAC works with a panel of insurers, each of which may have their own nuances.

RAC Direct Car Insurance Coverage Features	Comprehensive Car Insurance Plus	Standard Comprehensive Car Insurance	Third-Party, Fire and Theft Car Insurance
60 days EU cover (same cover)
Uninsured driver promise
Vandalism promise
Courtesy car as standard (subject to availability and eligibility)
Repairs guaranteed (3 years, approved garage)
Personal accident cover	£10,000	£5,000
Medical Expenses	Up to £250	Up to £100
Personal belongings	Up to £250	Up to £150
Transport home after an accident	Anywhere in Great Britain
Child seat cover
Window Glass Cover
Emergency Treatment
Replacement locks
Cover for Accessories
Sound and Sat-nav equipment	Unlimited (£1000 if self-fitted)	Unlimited (£500 if self-fitted)	Unlimited (£500 if self-fitted)
New car benefit

RAC Telematics

RAC offers a telematics plan for young or new drivers who want to pay a lower premium—because the cost of car insurance for young drivers is notoriously high.

Driver Score

Driver Scores are between 1 and 100 and take into account a number of factors but most importantly: braking, acceleration and speeding. You'll also need to be aware of "Red Alerts" and "Black Alerts" because they can spell trouble for your coverage.

If you get three Red Alerts (which are based on your driving score), a policy may be cancelled and trigger a £125 cancellation fee—if so, RAC will send you 7 days notice of the cancellation.

Black events are triggered by excess speed. Just one black event can mean your insurance will be cancelled. Here's when a black event is triggered:

Drivers taking out an RAC telematics policy should be aware that extreme or consistently bad driving behaviour may result in cancellation of your policy—this can include, for instance, being caught speeding.

RAC Car Insurance Customer Service Reviews, Complaints and Ratings

RAC Insurance has mixed reviews, but we'd like to point out that lots of their negative reviews are related to cancellation charges—RAC cancellation fees are quite similar to the average cancellation fees you'll pay with most brokers.

RAC Insurance Trustpilot

RAC Insurance is only rated 1.5 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot, but only a couple dozen people have left reviews and they've all been to complain. It's good to read through the complaints, but you can't really compare their Trustpilot rating to that of other companies who have a system in place to get reviews from thousands of customers after purchase (because those reviews are largely positive). RAC Breakdown Cover is rated with 3.9 out of 5 stars by over 96,000 customers (this has fallen from 4.1 stars a couple of years ago).

"Price so ridiculous it has to be an error. I was initially given a quote of £373 for car insurance. Then as I clicked on the next page of the RAC car insurance website, the price jumped upto £5164 !!! Despite none of my details changing and I opted to pay annually rather than monthly. I contacted a RAC customer service agent to inform them of the computer glitch and they couldn’t see why this was a computer error and thought it was reasonable. The RAC staff could not be anymore unhelpful..."

"Ridiculous fees if you want to cancel."

Again, RAC cancellation fees are exactly the average rate in the UK, as we discuss here. So it's a bit unfair to give RAC a bad rating for an industry practice, in our opinion.

RAC Reviews.co.uk

On Reviews.co.uk, RAC gets a score of 2.3 out of 5 stars by over 1,100 customers. A large proportion of negative reviews relate to cancellation charges or rates going up after a change, while positive reviews centered around good prices and good customer service experiences. Here is a sample of the positive reviews:

"I've had a really good experience with the RAC. I had an accident that wasn't my fault. They were very helpful and professional on the phone, arranged a courtesy car the same day and had arranged the collection of my car which was a write off within a few days. I also had a follow up call the next day to check everything was okay. I would happily recommend!"

"Saved over £400 pounds, how do they do it?"

"Great price for car insurance will use them again."

And here is a sample of negative reviews of RAC from Reviews.co.uk:

"When changing to a new car The RAC were very poor. Tried to charge us double the rate found on comparison sites or a very large charge to leave - no interest in keeping us as a customer at all - would not in anyway recommend them."

"Found my renewal was doubled in price after one claim ( my fault). When I tried to find out the details of the claim made by the other party was told they could not give me details. Brokers they used (zenith). Never contacted me to advise me a claim had been made and despite promises made by the RAC. neither they or the brokers bothered to send me any further claim details which I needed for my new insurance company. Would not recommend them to anyone wanting car insurance. Very poor communication and no interest in trying to help."

"Ok (for doing nothing at all) till I needed to cancel the policy. £55 fee for that is scammer price! Just taking the opportunity to rip people off. Wouldn’t insure with them again and would advise others not to either."

"My son tapped a car at a roundabout and apparently that cost £1500 to repair... went to cancel his car insurance to then be told he has to finish paying the remaining 4 payments or the balance will be sent to a creditor."

"Took renewal, we are 7 days in. Car insured no longer able to drive. Call for quote for a car 10 years newer and cost more than DOUBLES for monthly premium. Call to cancel and charged £25 for the pleasure."

"They have charged £25 for cancelling the policy although the new policy has not even started!!"

We should point out that many of the negative reviews are related to standard car insurance practices, and should not necessarily be a knock to RAC in particular. For example, it is not unusual that if you cancel your car insurance after having made a claim, you have to pay the remaining monthly payments for the year (or, if you've paid upfront, you won't get a refund) and that you'll pay a cancellation fee. RAC's £55 cancellation fee is exactly on-par with the average car insurance cancellation fee in the UK. Also, newer cars can cost significantly more to insure than an older car of the same make and model, because they would cost more to repair or replace in case of damage or theft.

RAC Car Insurance Quote Comparison

As a broker, RAC Insurance will survey their panel of insurers to find you the best quote that they can. Since their panel doesn't include every insurer, you may be able to find a cheaper quote elsewhere, however.

Prices for car insurance can vary significantly from day to day and company to company, and depend on factors like your age, driving experience, postcode, car, etc. The quickest way to compare RAC Insurance to the market is by using a comparison site like our partner QuoteZone—they can supply quotes from RAC Insurance and over 100 other insurance brands to save you time and money.

RAC Car Insurance Discounts

There are a few ways to save on a car insurance which apply to nearly every company, such as maintaining a good driving record, building your no claims discount and paying in full at the start of each policy year (to avoid paying an APR on the premium that you're essentially borrowing).

In addition, an easy way to get a cheaper car insurance quote is to buy your policy around three weeks in advance—that's typically the best time to buy a car insurance policy. After this time, rates usually climb.

Another tip to get a lower premium is reassessing where you park your car at night. If you have access to a garage there's a lower chance of theft. For other tips, see our research on how to get a car insurance discount.

It's always a good idea to compare the market also, especially when it comes time for renewal, to make sure you're getting a good deal. RAC Insurance is part of the comparison panel provided by our car insurance partner QuoteZone, a comparison website that works with over 100 brands in the UK car insurance market. Using QuoteZone, you should be able to get a quote from RAC Insurance as well as competitors to compare prices and see which companies offer the best deals in your post code and for your car.

Admin and Cancellation Fees

Below are the RAC car insurance cancellation fees. Remember that, as with all insurance policies, you also pay for time on cover—although if you've made a total loss claim then all outstanding payments are due and no refund will be given.

Important RAC Car Insurance Phone Numbers

RAC customer service and help contact numbers are summarised in the table below, and you can find additional information on renewals, changes and new quotes here. Claims lines are open 24/7 to assist policyholders as quickly as possible.

Policy Documents

To find out more about what's covered by an RAC car insurance policy, read their coverage page.

FAQs

Other Car Insurance Reviews

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