Times Money recently ran a piece suggesting that car breakdown cover can be much cheaper for new applicants than it is for people who renew with the same breakdown provider.

Lots of folk simply renew their annual breakdown cover every year with the same provider without realising that it might actually be cheaper to move to a new breakdown cover provider.

The difference in price can be quite substantial according to Times Money; sometimes policies for existing customers can be over half as much more than for new breakdown cover applicants.

It does, however, look like contacting your existing breakdown cover provider might see a reduction in your annual premium. Commenting on the Times article, personal finance website Moneyhighstreet said: “Customers should be more ready to contact their providers. As demonstrated by the Times, some customers who have called and challenged their providers over their renewal premiums have managed to get them reduced.”

An AA spokesperson explained the logic behind their own breakdown cover system for new and exisiting customers: “We do offer first-year introductory discounts to encourage people to join the AA, but new members do not have access to loyalty services such as two additional call-outs per year, free access to our legal helpline, free 24-hour European cover plus additional discounts on a range of products and services.”

Another way to save money can be to buy your breakdown cover online. Savings of over 40 per cent are often offered by providers like the AA and RAC as an incentive to sign up.

This really does highlight the fact that it is always worth shopping around for annual breakdown cover if you want to save yourself a few quid every year. And that’s why we provide breakdown cover comparison charts so that you can see which are the cheapest options at any particular time. Save yourself some money the next time you are due to renew by comparing prices on our Breakdown Cover page.