Best European breakdown cover 2026
We rank the best overseas roadside assistance for the summer holiday season
The summer holiday season means an armada of British cars will be heading across the English Channel as their owners explore the sights, sounds and tastes of Europe.
But while a holiday is fun, it’s less enjoyable if you break down hundreds of miles from home with a potential language barrier to overcome. That’s why you need overseas breakdown cover.
There are a number of providers, from the household names that we all know, to lesser-known insurers who use intermediaries on the continent to help.
However, all of the packages they offer are different. This means you need to pick the one that suits you before committing to a provider. For our test, we’ve looked at 10 companies offering European breakdown cover, but which one is best suited to your needs?
How we tested
In order to reach our verdict, we got stuck into the small print. It’s all very well heading over to Europe having ticked the “breakdown cover” box off your pre-holiday checklist, but you also need to know it covers all the things you need.
We based our test on getting a quote for a 2018 Citroen C3 Aircross – the type of car that might typically be taken abroad by a young family and is outside of the scope of the manufacturer’s warranty. We based it on a 14-night holiday, venturing into what is known by most providers as European ‘Zone 2’, which covers Spain and Italy in addition to more northern parts of the continent.
Used - available now
2024 Dacia
Sandero Stepway
35,055 milesManualPetrol-lpg1.0L
Cash £9,495As well as price, we also looked at the service offered, restrictions on vehicle age and whether emergency costs such as hire cars, accommodation and onward travel were included, as well as if the car would be recovered back to the UK.
Voyager Insurance European Breakdown Cover
- Quote: around £69.45
- Recovery included: Yes
- Max vehicle age: None
- Onward travel/hire car: Yes/yes
- Rating: 5.0 stars
- Contact: voyagertravelinsurance.co.uk
It isn’t the cheapest, but Voyager’s insurance cover is a superb package – there’s no age restriction on your car, it includes recovery from Europe, up to £1,000 in hire car fees and up to £450 per passenger in hotel costs if the vehicle is being repaired locally. Lost key cover is also included.
Not only that, but if you’re a regular traveller, you can also upgrade to an annual policy for less than some of the big names are asking for a two-week holiday.
Eversure European Breakdown Cover
- Quote: around £36.49
- Recovery included: Yes (or onward travel)
- Max vehicle age: 15yrs
- Onward travel/hire car: Yes/yes
- Rating: 4.5 stars
- Contact: eversure.com
Despite being one of the cheapest policies here, the Eversure package is fairly comprehensive. You must choose between onward travel or recovery – it doesn’t factor in both – but the policy will get your car to a garage or back to the UK, if you make your own way home.
The policy will provide you with a hire car while yours is fixed, as well as alternative accommodation if you can’t reach your final destination or are delayed by the repairs.
Euro Breakdown
- Quote: around £46.99–£110.99
- Recovery included: Yes (depending on level of cover)
- Max vehicle age: 10yrs
- Onward travel/hire car: Yes/yes
- Rating: 4.0 stars
- Contact: eurobreakdown.com
We like the fact that Euro Breakdown offers tiered Bronze, Silver and Gold levels of cover, with all but Bronze including recovery of your car back to the UK. The policy document is transparent and while the Gold looks expensive compared with some rivals here, it also includes up to £1,000 of garage labour if your car is being repaired, yet it undercuts the three most expensive and less comprehensive policies here. The £71.99 Silver cover is the sweet spot for us.
Driver Guardian
- Quote: around £128.11
- Recovery included: Yes
- Max vehicle age: Quote based on vehicle age
- Onward travel/hire car: Yes/yes
- Rating: 4.0 stars
- Contact: driverguardian.co.uk
The seemingly high price of the Driver Guardian package disguises the fact that this could work out as a very good deal for you if you travel regularly. That’s because it’s an annual membership fee and it covers your car in the UK as well as Europe. So it is a full year’s UK roadside assistance package that will also cover you for up to 31 days in Europe. That European cover includes recovery, as well as emergency accommodation and onward travel.
QDOS breakdown
- Quote: around £31.99
- Recovery included: No
- Max vehicle age: 15yrs
- Onward travel/hire car: Yes (or recovery)/yes
- Rating: 3.5 stars
- Contact: qdosbreakdown.co.uk
Kudos to QDOS for being the cheapest here, and if you’re happy with a basic set-up that will get you out of immediate trouble, then it’ll tick that box. It’s important to realise, though, that this policy only offers immediate roadside assistance, plus recovery to a local garage if your car can’t be repaired. After that, you’re on your own – but if you’re happy to arrange your own repairs, accommodation and onward travel, it’s very cheap.
Euro Plus
- Quote: around £83.33/£156.01 annual
- Recovery included: Yes
- Max vehicle age: 15yrs
- Onward travel/hire car: Yes/yes
- Rating: 3.5 stars
- Contact: europluscover.co.uk
The Euro Plus breakdown/recovery package is one of the most comprehensive, because it includes everything you might need – up to £70 a day car hire, £45 per person per night for accommodation, recovery and even cover if you’re towing. The £83.33 fee for a 15-day trip is cheaper than the big names, but can’t match our winner. There’s also annual multi-trip cover, but it’s not as cheap as some.
Green Flag
- Quote: around £56.52
- Recovery included: no
- Max vehicle age: 10yrs
- Onward travel/hire car: Yes/yes
- Rating: 3.0 stars
- Contact: greenflag.com
Of the bigger names, Green Flag offered the most competitive quote, but the package lags behind the AA and RAC and is beaten by more affordable options from less familiar providers. If you’d prefer to stick with a known brand for peace of mind, it’s not uncompetitive. But cover is limited to cars less than 10 years old and while there are repatriation costs covered for you and your passengers, it doesn’t include recovery of your car.
RAC
- Quote: around £95.72/£157.45
- Recovery included: Yes
- Max vehicle age: 12yrs
- Onward travel/hire car: Yes/yes
- Rating: 3.0 stars
- Contact: rac.co.uk
The standout feature of the RAC’s comprehensive policy is that it covers up to £1,000 of labour if your car ends up being repaired by a garage in Europe – but then so does the Euro Breakdown policy, and that’s over £45 cheaper. If you don’t need that, you can have cheaper cover that includes recovery, onward travel, car hire and repatriation, plus £150 toward labour, which will cover a quick fix. But others here offer more for less.
AA
- Quote: around £109.93
- Recovery included: Yes
- Max vehicle age: 15yrs
- Onward travel/hire car: Yes/yes
- Rating: 3.0 stars
- Contact: theaa.com
As a product, the AA package is one of the most competitive here. There’s no arguing with the policy details, because it covers everything including roadside assistance, hire cars, onward travel, accommodation, repatriation and even replacement vehicle cover if yours breaks down before your European trip begins. The downside is cost – it doesn’t offer anything our winner doesn’t.
Start Rescue
- Quote: around £140.19
- Recovery included: Yes
- Max vehicle age: 15yrs
- Onward travel/hire car: Yes/yes
- Rating: 2.0 stars
- Contact: startrescue.co.uk
We were disappointed with the quote we received from Start Rescue. When we went on the home page, it said comprehensive European cover was available from £77.60, yet when we put our details in, the price almost doubled, despite the car being less than 10 years old. The cover on offer is decent, covering all of the major items, but we found the pricing misleading and almost all of the other policies here work out cheaper.
Verdict
We found a huge variation between the cover on offer and some that aren’t in the top three might suit your needs better. It appears, though, that lesser-known brands offer the best cover for the money.
Our favourite is the Voyager Insurance Breakdown Cover. The price is highly competitive and the insurance on offer comprehensive. Eversure is best for those on a budget, while Euro Breakdown offers the flexibility of three tiers of cover.
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