Roadside cover is usually the cheapest roadside assistance product available. It’s a form of breakdown cover that gives you the basic features in order to cover the costs of emergency callouts if you breakdown while driving somewhere in the UK. This will allow us to send out a professional to either fix the problem, or recommend recovery to a garage for more complex problems which can’t be fixed at the roadside. To view our other cover types take a look at our comparison guide.

First of all, be safe. Get out of your vehicle as safely as possible and switch your hazard lights on. Once you’re in a safe place, please call our 24 hour roadside assistance helpline on 0330 678 7144 and they will be able to talk you through the next steps. For more information, check out our FAQ's page.

If your car breaks down due to a double puncture or serious damage to your wheel, then you can use roadside assistance to call out someone to help get you back on the road. You can typically change a flat tyre yourself if you have the tools handy (keeping them in the boot can be useful for emergencies), and it can save you using one of your callouts if you have an annual limit.

We aim to attend every breakdown within an hour. Britannia Rescue will let you know if the breakdown professional is delayed, so you’re aware of roughly when roadside assistance will arrive.

Our Roadside Cover has a limit of six callouts a year which you won’t be charged for. Any callouts made after exceeding the limit will not be covered and will need to be paid for separately. If you’re concerned that you might need to make more than six roadside callouts in a year, there are no limits on callouts with our UK Breakdown Cover or our European Breakdown Cover.

Normally, Roadside Cover only applies to the insured vehicle specified by your policy. But you can take out personal cover, which lets you use your roadside assistance in the UK no matter the vehicle you’re driving, for just £28 a year extra on Roadside Cover (or £47 a year for UK Breakdown and European Breakdown Cover - Personal Cover only applies in the UK). This can be particularly useful if you have more than one vehicle you regularly drive.