After breaking down I called the RAC, who turned up in a reasonable time. The mechanic had a look at the car, and after sitting in his van for about 20 minutes on the phone to office, told me that my car couldn't be repaired at the roadside and offered to tow me to my house. He didn't inform me that I had the option to have a rental car while my car was being repaired. When I realised that I had the opportunity to get a rental car, and as this was a Friday and I didn't need my car over the weekend, I decided to call the RAC on Monday morning to arrange for the rental car. I was told that, because I hadn't done this in the first 24 hours, I wasn't eligible to get one anymore. She said that it was in their 'terms and conditions'. She spoke to her manager who told me the same thing. Their terms and conditions is shorthand for ' small print ' and they were totally inflexible, even though I informed them that, surely, the mechanic that came out to my breakdown could have informed me of this '24 hour' rule, and also reminded me that I was, indeed, eligible for a rental car. They, certainly won't be getting any business from me when my policy is due for renewal, or from the 2 other people on my policy. I will, also, be advising my friends and family to do the same. They were totally inflexible and just kept quoting me their 'terms and conditions'