Breakdown cover - it’s yet another expense that pushes the already heavy cost burden of running a car higher still. Yet it is also something that millions of motorists conclude they cannot do without.

Why? Because the cost of breaking down and having to pay for emergency rescue and repair straight out of your own pocket without cover is considerably steeper. It’s that simple.

But that’s not to say that people shouldn’t be careful about how they spend their money on breakdown cover. Let’s face it, every penny we can save on motoring is a bonus. We also want to make sure we are paying for a service that will actually meet our needs if and when we call on it.

So if you are shopping around for breakdown cover, here are some things to consider to make sure you get the right service for you at the best possible value.

Location, location, location

No, we’ve not just veered off into a property blog. It might seem strange, but location is a key thing to think about when choosing breakdown cover - meaning, where your car is most likely to fail on you.

According to Which?, the most common location for a breakdown service to attend is a motorists’ own home, accounting for 37% of all call outs. And yet the most basic roadside assistance policies do not cover home start. So if there is a one in three chance of your car being on your own driveway when you have to call out a mechanic, are you getting good value from taking out the cheapest available option?

You get what you pay for - but do you need it?

Paying less for basic roadside assistance may well turn out to be a false economy if you wake up one morning and your car won’t start. Things get even worse if you break down a long way from home. With roadside assistance only, the average cost of a call out more than 100 miles from home is nearly double that of getting your car started on your own driveway.

This takes into account the fact that, with the most basic plans, you will only be towed to a local garage, and if your vehicle can’t be fixed immediately, you then have to factor in overnight accommodation or getting a train or bus home.

More comprehensive ‘national recovery’ policies will include the option of towing you home, towing you to your onward destination or even paying for accommodation or for a hire car while your vehicle is fixed. This is all very attractive, but it comes at a price. If you very rarely drive more than 100 miles from home, are you paying more for benefits you may never need?

In other words, the message is to match your breakdown cover to your motoring habits.

Do your research

Reading customer reviews online is a great way to get an understanding of what a particular service actually provides, rather than just being bombarded with all the marketing spiel on the sales pages. One thing in particular to look out for is response times, as genuine customers will tend to be very complimentary about how quick someone got to them when they broke down, or else very annoyed at how long they were left waiting.

Obviously a fast response is something we all want from a breakdown service, so a straw poll of user reviews can be very helpful in picking out the quickest service.

Save yourself some money

Finally, back to your pocket. There are some good tips for clawing back a bit of value from your breakdown cover aside from trawling through online comparison sites and choosing a lower level of cover.

For one, many providers will offer discounts for paying a full year in advance rather than monthly, so if you have the ready cash this is a good option. It is also worthwhile comparing the price of standalone breakdown services and add-ons to your existing car insurance. Your normal insurance provider may surprise you with a great value add-on offer to your standard policy, but beware - it is not unknown for these add-ons to be more expensive than standalone deals sold by the same company!

Whatever you do, check out all pricing options thoroughly before you commit.

*The information in this blog is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. Please seek a professional for expert advice as we can not be held responsible for any damages or negative consequences upon following this information.

Although iPhones have become more sophisticated, powerful, and easier to use, they are still plagued by battery problems. An iPhone’s processor is much faster compared to other conventional smartphones available in the market and as such, they are power hungry devices. It’s not uncommon to charge an iPhone two or sometimes, three times a day.

But there are certain methods of increasing the battery life of an iPhone; here are 5 tips to follow if you want your iPhone to last throughout the day.

1.    Enable Low Power Mode

The ‘Low Power Mode’ is the main feature of iOS 9, so you will need to upgrade to iOS 9 if you want to avail this handy trick. According to Apple, with this mode turned on, your iPhone’s battery will last up to 3 hours longer. It degrades the performance of the phone by switching off a few visual effects, mail fetch, background app refresh, and automatic updates and downloads, etc.

When turned on, the battery meter becomes yellow. When your phone’s battery reaches 20%, an on-screen prompt appears asking you to activate the function. Of course, you can do it manually as well by going to settings, battery, and then enable ‘Low Power Mode’.

2.    Lower the Brightness

The more brightness you set on the screen of your iPhone, the more power it consumes, draining the battery quickly. Therefore, this is a primary reason why the batteries on most iPhones don’t last long; to avoid this, turn down the brightness by going to settings and then to display and brightness.

Alternatively, you can turn on auto-brightness so that your iPhone will ensure that you don’t use up more of the battery then you should. It utilizes a sensor that will adjust the screen’s brightness automatically relative to the environment’s ambient lighting conditions.

3.    Turn Off Location Services

Location services enable the GPS in your iPhone; this is useful when you are navigating or when you want your friends or family members to know where you are in case of an emergency. On the other hand, keeping this functionality on drains your battery considerably; instead, turn it off when you are not using it.

4.    Switch Off Push Mail

Unless you are on the go or if you are a really busy person, you should turn off the push mail feature. A great battery drainer, it provides you with the ability to receive new emails to your phone’s inbox as soon as they arrive on the mail server. If it is on, it will keep prompting the server for any new mail, regardless of whether your phone is connected to a network or not. Those constant prompts use the phone’s processor and they will drain your battery sooner than you think.

5.    Reduce or Turn Off Background App Refresh

The background app refresh is similar to the push mail feature, but it works with apps. When turned on, it monitors the apps you use the most and keeps checking for new content; whether you are connected to a Wi-Fi/cellular data network or not, it will continue prompting the server for updated information. This drains the battery and as such, you should either turn it off or limit it to only those apps which you use frequently.

In order to do so, go to setting, general, and then you will see a tab labelled ‘Background App Refresh’. Tap it and then select the appropriate option.

*The information in this blog is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. Please seek a professional for expert advice as we can not be held responsible for any damages or negative consequences upon following this information.