National Breakdown Opiniones 

A complaint has been started following our car breakdown in France on 18 August and ongoing issues trying to resolve this. Our experience has been terrible and very stressful. Every phone call or communication contradicts something they have previously told us. They have not been transparent with their information regarding our claim. Our car is still currently in France and we have now sorted out getting it home ourselves as if we wait for our complaint it could be 8 more weeks and each day charges are accruing which we have never been made aware of. This has had major financial implications to us due to the lack of transparency and communication and there is no guarantee any of that will be reimbursed on completion of complaint. I would advise anyone to avoid this company.

Awful handling of our still ongoing breakdown in France.

I reported the problem on Monday (24th) morning and National have been unable to find a garage that can even assess my vehicle until Monday 31st. This appears to be beyond a reasonable timeframe. Further, despite requests for some flexibility around hire car amount allowances, they will not provide any further assistance.

We are a family of 5 with a significant amount of luggage, due to move to different accommodation in another part of France on 30th Aug (before a garage can even look at the car) and return to the UK on 6th Sept.

The wording of the policy clearly assumes that the hire car etc. limits apply to cases where they have been able to recover to a garage that can take the car within a couple of days. They have failed to do this but are unwilling to provide flexibility to us.

I found a good hire car offer for £700 that would have provided us with a car from 26th Aug through to 5th Sep but National refused to authorise this, despite the fact that this would be beneficial for all sides, as we could rescue our holiday as well as have a means of transporting me back to the garage (several hundred kms away from our next accommodation) assuming they can fix it next week.

All they could say was I could make a case for claiming it after our holiday and they would consider it, but without any approval of this in advance this obviously leaves us in danger of being significantly out of pocket. Further the transport cost of getting me back from the next accommodation to the garage would be several hundred pounds, of which National are only willing to contribute £100 despite it being their inability to find a garage to take our car before our transfer date.

You are not fulfilling your obligation to find a suitable garage within a reasonable time frame. You are equally unwilling to provide suitable alternatives for our situation.

To make matters worse, National stated that we need to take up the terms with Eversure and gave me a number that reverted back to the same National breakdown team! When I did manage to find a number for Eversure and speak to them, they advised that only National can vary their terms, as Eversure are just the broker. The customer service is dire.

The FCA will be my next step, having already made a formal complaint to National.

Avoid these guys like the plague. Utterly terrible service. I had to use these guys twice on holiday in Europe, on an issue my local garage should have resolved. Now I have spent hours trying to get any idea what’s happening. They seem to put blame on the Europe centre.
Honestly, it’s the worst service I have ever had. Utterly hopeless.
On both breakdowns I waited well in excess of 7hours for someone to come out.
They give unclear advice, deflect and offer very poor service. If you want to spend stressful hours on the phone, emailing etc, this is the bunch for you.
My advice is to use someone else. Avoid Avoid Avoid. I can’t rate these clowns lowly enough.

A dangerously unreliable service – our situation could have been fatal

Review:
I want to warn future customers about my experience with National Breakdown, because it could easily have ended in tragedy. While travelling in France, my electric car ran out of charge in over 40°C heat. My phone battery was almost gone, and I explained clearly that my husband (who has a pacemaker), my dog, and I were in immediate danger.

Despite this, the call handler spent more than 20 minutes asking unnecessary questions, causing my phone battery to drain even further. He then refused to provide any assistance unless I sent a copy of my ferry booking, which has nothing to do with an emergency breakdown.

This refusal to help left us stranded in extreme heat with no power, no shade, and almost no way to call for help. My dog was already showing signs of heat distress, and my husband’s medical condition made the situation even more critical. National Breakdown offered no support at all.

In the end, it was a passing stranger who stopped and saved us. Without that person, the outcome could have been catastrophic. My dog could have died, and both my husband and I were at serious risk.

National Breakdown’s response to my complaint did not acknowledge any fault, despite the clear danger their inaction caused. I am sharing this to warn others: in a real emergency, you may find yourself completely abandoned. Please think very carefully before relying on this company for breakdown cover.

Our BMW X1 broke down in Spain on the highway from Vitoria Gasteiz to Bilbao. Called National Breakdown who sent a taxi and recovery vehicle quickly to bring us to the nearest BMW garage. They saved our family as the motorway traffic was incredibly dangerous and fast moving and the temperatures were above 30C. We missed our ferry back to the U.K. and had to stay another 5 days in Spain until the next ferry departure. National breakdown covered our hotel costs during this time. I cannot speak highly enough of the excellent service l received from National Breakdown while in Spain and also the speed with which they settled our accommodation claim when we got back to the UK. Without assistance from National Breakdown, we would have been stranded in a life threatening situation.

Leave well alone
Leave well alone . Worse company I have dealt with. Took european breakdown cover out as I was touring Spain and France. Fan belt snapped on motorway In Spain, foned for recovery. Would not even discuss the matter until I payed access. After paying I was told I would get a call back. After 6 hours in 42 degree heat and numerous calls to them. I was informed that my camper would not be recovered that day so I would have to stay in a hotel. The only hotel they said was available was over 70k away and I would have to find my own way there. The cost of the hotel was 270 euro per night. Then to be told that I would be better off finding my own. So my wife checked and found an hotel just 3 miles down the road for 69 euro. Next morning walked around the nearest town looking for a Garage the could help. Fortunately we found a great garage that agreed to help. This was 8.30 am. Breakdown cover called at 12.30 to say my van was going to be picked up the next day an taken nearly 80k as there was no garages any closer that could help. So I broke down on Fri, they foned me on Saturday, the camper was going to be picked up Sunday,taken 80 k to be fixed on monday. If I left it to them my van would have been left on the side of the road forover 2 days. Doing it myself I had it all done in 24 hours. Luckily it was only fan belt and I got it off motorway. Realising I was out there with no breakdown cover we cut our tour short and headed back to france to be closer to ferry.

broke down in madrid , after calling national breakdown found out as i had not purchased a return ticket in the uk i was not covered, so policy not worth the paper its written on . called to cancel policy 6mths old and told no refunds given , please be aware when taking out a breakdown policy with them

Excellent communication, supportive staff throughout. Following my breakdown in France they dealt with the recovery quickly and efficiently. Their European support team were excellent with regular updates throughout a complex repair. Claim was quickly and pleasantly dealt with once I returned to the UK.

My car broke down in central France in November 2025 and to date 21 January 2026 almost 8 weeks later the car is still not working. National Breakdown chose a garage for the repairs but to date the repairs have not been completed?? What a joke

Quick telephone response; the mechanic arrived within 45 minutes - a really helpful; polite and experienced guy. Josh diagnosed the problem immediately, got my car battery charged up and advised me what to do next. Great service.

Tony came out to look at my mum’s car and was absolutely amazing. He was incredibly kind and patient, and really helped ease her anxiety just by the way he spoke and explained things. He took the time to clearly explain to me what needed to be done with the car, without any pressure at all. He was fully present, caring, and professional throughout. Such a genuinely nice man — we couldn’t have asked for better service.

Do don't use this company! Used this company when holiday with my disabled wife and child. Car brokedown, and from then everything went down hill. When you speak to customer they honestly don't care. I wasted hours on the phone. We had to leave the car in France to be repaired. When I came to collect, the car wasn't fixed, so I called again to get car brought home (as per contract), they dragged their feet for another week and a half, then told me it would take 6-8 weeks to get the car back. Leaving me without a car for almost 2.5 months. Things only move slightly faster after I raised a complaint.

Bought a personal cover as I have two cars and didnt want two separate policies. However when I make my first claim as I broke down in one of my vehicles they say I cannot claim as the vehicle is over 16 years old! Never told me this when I took out the policy! Happy to take my money but then make it impossible to use the service due to small print! Lesson Learned!

Avoid!! I paid £175 for roadside assistance and they outsourced to a local service. When I was dropped off they refused to pay the local service till I paid them a further £46. The local service got £100 so I basically paid £121 (£221 total) for them to outsource the job. Scam!

I have never heard of this company before, I got an email to say " thank you for your review" someone had used my email to leave a review for this company which said:
"Repair attended quickly, he was very helpful and friendly"!!!!! Clearly someone is trying various email addresses to leave good reviews but it wasn't me for sure!

I’m surprised to see their low rating.
I have a mobility scooter which is insured through Mark Bates insurance.
Today I was out with my dog when my steering column broke. I rang Mark Bates and they too were brilliant, and said that they’d send someone out to collect me. It was absolutely freezing today, about 1 degree. ( Thank God I was dressed appropriately and so was my dog!) anyway, I thought it would be some time, at least an hour before abuse they were coming from Oldbury and I was in Bournville. I seem to ‘collect people,’ other dog walkers walking past stopped to chat, (8 dogs and owners at one point! Cups of tea were offered by people I don’t know, and suddenly, after twenty minutes, Luke and his break down truck appeared! He was so good, got the scooter on it in no time, and delivered it home. So, Luke and his truck deserve 5*’s, they were great!

Waste of money I broke down after 35 min wait on the phone got to talk in India the line was impossible to understand. All they would say is we can recover you to local garage of your choice ?? .I was 200 miles away from home not idea about any local garages in the highlands. Open your door and give the money to a poor person be lot better use than National Breakdown

this company should be ashamed of its self my driver broke down in dumfries the kid macanic and i mean kid told me the radiator had blown even though it was still full of coolent i was forced to pay £1700 to have it recovered back to warrington only to find out that the kid had given me totally the wrong info and all it was,,was a temp control sensor that could of been fixed in 10 mins by a proper machanic once my policy ends we will be leaving national breakdown and they are a disgrace to the system
and listening to there info about we care for our customers you left my driver by the side of a carrageway for 16 hours and didnt care there is a lot better out there and i will be looking for a new one

Everything wrong,told 3 days for cover,unfortunetly had to call on day 4 only to be told not covered as bank holiday policy cancelled by them as told broke t and cs even their fault,when I made complaint the women on the phone shouted at me and called me stupid,I asked her not to shout at me as they didn't tell us all the info at the time,she said Im not shouting your stupid,i have told them im going to head office,they then called back after I hung up.I did not answer as very upset.

Breakdown in a3 near Portsmouth, I called them and the lady was so rude after all the questions she said they couldn't help me Because my car slowly moving I explained to her my coolant was leaking water it was empty, and giving smoke. She said they were unable to help I told them I was with my 3-year disabled kid and 1 and half years, it's a proper scam