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Sometimes it can seem that insurance terms are purposefully dense and difficult to understand. We couldn’t agree more. That’s why we’ve put together the CBC Breakdown Cover Explained Guide to try to draw back the veil on breakdown cover.
In this article, we cover everything you could possibly want to know about puncture cover.
Puncture cover is generally a standard breakdown cover benefit that affords you protection should you suffer a puncture. It’s important to know that all CBC policies come with puncture cover.
One of the most common reasons that people experience breakdowns, aside from flat batteries is due to tyre punctures. Whilst not technically a breakdown, puncture cover certainly has its place as one of the most useful benefits to a breakdown policy.
With puncture cover, you’ll be offered assistance should your tyre deflate and your car cannot be driven without the wheel or tyre replacing. This is normally due to damage to the tyre wall or from any hole in any of your tyres caused by miscellaneous objects such as nails, stones or blades of any kind.
It’s impossible to predict what you may accidentally drive over on the road, so there’s nothing you can’t call for assistance about when it comes to punctures.
Whilst the majority of punctures are spotted before you even begin driving, if you are out and about and notice you’ve got a puncture then you should stop driving as soon as possible and when it’s safe to do so. Driving with a puncture can damage your wheel even further and risks your alloy cutting into the tyre – not to mention the reduced control you have over your steering.
Simply pull over by the side of the road (avoiding any heavy breaking) and phone the number for your assistance provider (located on your certificate of insurance or policy wording) and they’ll handle the rest.
If you’ve stopped with a puncture on a motorway or dual carriageway then due to safety issues, you’ll most likely be recovered to a safer location before a breakdown agent will replace your wheel or reinflate the tyre.
It’s really important that you have a couple of things in your car at all times, in case you do get a puncture.
The most important thing to make sure you keep in your car is a locking wheel nut key, (if your vehicle is fitted with this security device). Without this, the recovery agent will not be able to correctly remove your wheel to replace or repair the tyre.
Most cars come with a spare wheel/ (if yours doesn’t we’ll get to that!) It’s vital that you keep the spare wheel and tyre in a good condition, because if it’s not deemed safe and roadworthy, the recovery agent won’t legally be allowed to fit it to your car and you may have to pay any additional costs to recover your vehicle.
So if you’ve already had a puncture replacement, and your old, punctured tyre is sat in place of your spare tyre, get that sorted and replaced as soon as possible, because if you have another puncture you might be in a spot of trouble!
If your car was not supplied with a spare wheel/tyre when new, then your recovery agent will attempt to repair the tyre using foam kit and compressor supplied with your car, these must be kept in your vehicle at all times. This type of repair is only temporary so that you can safely drive to the nearest tyre fitters where you can have a tyre properly repaired or a new tyre fitted. If the damage to the tyre is beyond repair, or cannot have a temporary fix at the roadside, the recovery agent will then recovery your car to nearest tyre fitters for the tyre to be replaced.
Cars have the equipment for people to do this themselves and if it’s safe and you feel comfortable enough to do so, you absolutely can change the wheel yourself or reinflate the tyre using the foam kit and compressor provided.
You’ll need your locking wheel nut and the carjack kit that comes as standard with most cars (this is usually found inside the spare wheel hold) – you should always refer to the vehicles owners handbook for details as where to place the jack and how to safely raise your car so you can remove the wheel.
Do not attempt to replace your tyre on any national speed limit road, dual carriageway or motorway. You should always phone for assistance in this instance to avoid unnecessary accidents.
Want to learn more about breakdown cover and the different types of policy benefits you could be entitled to? We’ve put together a load of pages to help educate our customers and people looking for great breakdown cover, but who may not understand the ins and outs of insurance, take a look at some of our other “Breakdown Cover Explained” pages:
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Still not satisfied? Head to our contact us page, type in your query and our customer service team will be in touch.
