The “best” bank accounts differ for one consumer to the next, so what is best for you may not be best for someone else. Packaged bank accounts give you extra benefits in return for a monthly fee. Those benefits typically include things like travel insurance, breakdown cover, authorised overdraft, mobile phone insurance, and the accumulation of air miles. Packaged accounts usually cost £12 to £25 per month, or £144 to £300 per year.

You have to ask yourself if you need the perks that are included with packaged bank accounts, and if so, if you could get them cheaper elsewhere. For example, if all you need is simple breakdown and roadside assistance cover, you can get a basic policy from AA for around £28 per year, so there wouldn’t be much sense in paying £300 per year for a packaged account. Also, you do not necessarily have to have a packaged bank account to get an arranged overdraft, so be sure to ask at banks you’re considering.

The fact is, you’ll have a hard time beating inflation with your savings rate whether you go with a packaged savings account or not. As of mid-February 2011, the top instant access account is the Post Office Online Savings account, which pays 2.9% AER for 12 months and offers unlimited withdrawals.

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There are so many variations of breakdown cover that you shouldn’t assume that your trailer is covered in your policy. If you have a trailer, be sure to take this into consideration when you compare breakdown cover.

While most of the major roadside assistance policies, like those from AA, Green Flag and RAC, do offer cover for your trailer, it isn’t always standard.

You should also be aware of restrictions on breakdown cover for trailers. Usually there are restrictions on height and weight when it comes to your coverage, and these requirements vary from one provider to another.

Also keep in mind that even if you have UK breakdown cover that includes the trailer you’re towing at the time of the breakdown, you may not be covered if you’re driving in Europe. You will probably have to pay extra to get breakdown cover for your trailer when driving in the EU.

If you plan on towing a trailer, then breakdown cover is more important than ever. Most people pull a trailer when they’re off on holiday, and a breakdown could easily cause you to miss your ferry or your check-in time at a campground. Most breakdown cover providers now advertise response times of 30 to 40 minutes, so be sure your breakdown cover provider is competitive in terms of response time as well as price and cover for your trailer.

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When you compare breakdown cover, you need to look at several aspects of the service provided by the breakdown cover providers you see. You want to compare prices, what’s covered, and what’s not. If you’re worried about starting your car in your own driveway, look for cover for home starts. But, it is also important to know how long it will take for help to arrive, so you should compare response time as well. Response time isn’t as easy to compare as price and coverage, but it can be gathered from various places on the web.

Response time for roadside assistance will depend on many factors like how many calls your breakdown insurer is fielding at the time you call, how remote your location is, and whether there are other mitigating factors, like snowstorms.

Here are the response times for the main UK breakdown cover services:

1. Under 30 minutes is the time strived for by the AA
2. 30 minutes is quoted as the average response time for Green Flag
3. 30 to 40 minutes for RAC, one of the UK firms providing 24/7/365 callouts.
4. Under 40 minutes advertised by RescueMyCar.com
5. Under 40 minutes advertised by GEM Motoring Assist.
6. 39 minutes is the average response time of Total Rescue

As you can see, the response times among the top breakdown cover providers does not differ a lot. Therefore you can compare other important decision points, confident that if you choose a top breakdown cover provider, you’ll have a good response time.

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Levels of service with breakdown cover can vary widely. There are two basic types of breakdown service: automatic service and pay and claim service. With automatic service, you call, and the service sends their patrols to sort out the situation. This is the type of service offered by AA and RAC.

A ‘pay and claim’ service is a type of budget breakdown cover that works like this: when you experience a problem, rather than send their own patrols out, the company uses a local recovery firm. You pay for the repairs, and send in receipts to make a claim to get your money back.

If you have a reliable car, and the discipline to send in receipts to make a claim, then a pay and claim service is a worth consideration. It tends to be cheaper, and call out time is comparable. These companies make money on betting that people won’t bother sending in their receipts for a claim.

If, on the other hand, your car is not reliable, then automatic service is probably best. Check your policy to determine if there is a limit on the number of roadside assistance calls you are allowed in a given time period. Keep in mind that many things are excluded from breakdown cover of either type: parts, excess labour costs, outsize claims, incorrectly-made claims, and transport of livestock, for example.

Know your car’s condition as well as your level of discipline for sending in claims before you compare breakdown cover so that you get the best deal and the best cover for your needs.

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Research company Defaqto recently reported that misfuelling (putting petrol into diesel cars and vice versa) is quite common, with more than 100,000 incidents per year, according to the AA.

Nearly one-quarter of breakdown cover policies exclude misfuelling in their policies, and 14% of policies do not provide cover for drivers who run out of fuel. Defaqto analysed 288 breakdown cover policies and found large variations in the type of cover that motor breakdown policies offer in terms of home service, onward travel, and replacement car coverage, as well as for fueling mishaps.

Putting the wrong fuel into your car can result in a large repair bill and if your breakdown cover doesn’t include misfuelling, you will also have to pay for the car to be towed to a garage. With policies that do cover misfuelling, the coverage is often limited to towing the car.

With fueling problems being quoted as one of the most common problems that the AA deals with, it is very important for people with breakdown cover to determine if they have roadside assistance coverage in the event of misfuelling. Reading the fine print with regard to European breakdown cover is also advised, due to the possibilities of language barriers when refueling on the continent and due to the larger number of Brits choosing to drive to Europe in recent years.

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If you have a dependable car, you may wonder if it’s worth buying breakdown cover. But, suppose you have put off buying breakdown cover or chose not to buy it and then you find yourself broken down. Can you buy breakdown cover from the road and get immediate help? With AA and RAC, the answer is a qualified yes.

If you are not an RAC member, you can call 0800 197 7815** (quote WJ0003) and tell the operator where you are. You can join immediately for the year, but your prices will not be the same as those offered online, and you’ll be assessed an emergency callout fee. For the first 24 hours of your new policy, you’ll be on roadside assistance only. A similar deal is available with AA. For immediate AA coverage, call 0800 88 77 66.

You’ll save the cost of an emergency call-out and generally get a better rate by purchasing breakdown cover ahead of time. Plus, it’s easy to compare breakdown cover costs. Whether you choose an automatic service, such as that offered by AA or RAC, or “pay and claim” service, where you pay for the problem and then send in receipts for reimbursement, should depend on your budget and your car. Automatic service is far more convenient but costs more. But if you have a really reliable car and consider breakdown cover a “worst case” savior, then perhaps pay and claim would be better for you.

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