Don't be caught without cover if your car gets stuck in the snow

Motorists who brave the freezing conditions without breakdown cover risk a long wait at the roadside if anything goes wrong.

Last week’s big freeze brought travel chaos across the UK, ­providing a stark reminder of just how vital cover is.

However reliable your car might be, don’t think a breakdown won’t happen to you.

Just under half of us who drive have ­experienced a breakdown, while an unlucky one in 100 have broken down over 10 times, according to new research by Co-operative Insurance.

And the AA says the number of breakdowns rises by almost a third during the winter months as snow and ice cause even more ­problems.

Last Monday was their busiest ­November day on record with nearly 25,000 call-outs.

When looking for quotes for cover don’t just stick with the big names as there are now plenty of providers offering comprehensive policies for as little as £30 a year.

Our table above shows some of the cheapest available. They all

include roadside repair, recovery to the nearest garage or any UK destination, ­recovery of up to seven passengers, home start-up, and ­alternative travel and ­accommodation costs.

You can usually add ­another person or vehicle to your policy for an additional cost, but some policies allow you to add a partner for free.

Keep an eye out for special deals at this time of year. Co-operative Insurance is cutting a third of the price of its ­comprehensive cover for customers who take out a policy before the end of January. It now costs £40 ­compared to the usual £59.

Before taking out cover, make sure you don’t already have it with your motor insurance policy. Marks & Spencer’s Premier policy, for example, comes with UK and ­European breakdown cover.

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You may be able to pick up cheap cover if you’ve been storing up points on a shop loyalty card.

For example, if you have £35 in Tesco Clubcard vouchers you can get RAC Roadside Assistance At Home. From December 6, you’ll need £36 in vouchers.

Case Study

'I was stuck after car slid down hill'

Kirsty Pearce, top, knows only too well how important breakdown cover is after she got stuck in the snow last winter.

Kirsty, 27, from Chelmsford, Essex, says: “I drive down to Bath regularly to see my 17-year-old twin sisters. I had to take them to school when there had been heavy snow as my parents live abroad. The car slid down a hill into an embankment and I got completely stuck.”

Fortunately mother-of-two Kirsty â€" who works part-time in Blockbuster â€" has a policy with Green Flag, which she took out as an add-on to her car insurance with Churchill.

“I’ve had the cover for a couple of years, but this was the first time I used it,” she says. “They came out to the car within about an hour, and it took them a further three hours to winch the car back up the hill. My car is really reliable and has never broken down, but what happened to me shows you can still run into trouble.”

Kirsty pays about £80 a year for her policy. There is no limit on the number of call-outs that can be made during the year and she is also covered for long-distance recovery which ensured that she and her car got back to Chelmsford.