Could anyone advise me as to breakdown cover abroad, i have cover on cars here with my Barclays Account, but i have bought a caravan and i am thinking about taking it to France for about a month. The car i have is a Merc M.L. and although it is reliable it will be 10 years old in 2010. Would The Caravan Club be the best way to Go? Thanks. Regards Tom
Breakdown Cover Abroad
- Thread starter Thomas_374535786
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Thomas have a look at the topic re. ADAC below. This is the cover we have and many other members of this Forum it is so much more reasonable than the Caravan Clubs Green Flag. Like you we have cover in this country through our bank account only with Lloyds. If you have any questions one or another of us can answer it I am sure.
Thomas
We always use Caravan Club Red Pennant. From what I have read about overseas cover for caravanning over the years it has a proven track record of doing what it says it will. The problem with insurance is that what you might need it for covers such a wide spectrum from a simple breakdown that can be fixed at the roadside to full repatriation of the outfit and members of the party. Such insurance is never going to be cheap. If you are replying on breakdown insurance that you have with your car you do need to check the cover you have should something happen to the caravan. You may get all sorts of advice here but all I would say is check, point by point the actual cover offered and the size of outfit it applies to.
David
We always use Caravan Club Red Pennant. From what I have read about overseas cover for caravanning over the years it has a proven track record of doing what it says it will. The problem with insurance is that what you might need it for covers such a wide spectrum from a simple breakdown that can be fixed at the roadside to full repatriation of the outfit and members of the party. Such insurance is never going to be cheap. If you are replying on breakdown insurance that you have with your car you do need to check the cover you have should something happen to the caravan. You may get all sorts of advice here but all I would say is check, point by point the actual cover offered and the size of outfit it applies to.
David
Hi. David, Thanks for the advice, I will try to check out everything, the main thing for me is the car being 10 years old, i do know some insurances have a 10 year limit, so i will enquire when i take it out, Thanks once again. Regards Tom.
I would have to agree with David.Red Pennant is not the cheapest but it's the one you want when the wheel comes off. Or anything else. Nigel
ADAC covers all that Green Flag covers and more such as Air Ambulance in case of Accident or Illness while in your car or anyone elses. Also covers the larger Caravans and Punctures too.
Dianne
Having read through the translation in the other thread and tried to compare with Red Pennant (not Green Flag) I can't see where the ADAC offers as much or more. In quite a few categories it limits the sum payable where the Caravan Club will pay the full amount. Now don't get me wrong its good that we encourage every one to be properly insured rather than none at all. The problem as I see it is that the ADAC is a German organisation, albeit a well known and no doubt very reputable, however it is in the main an organisation for German speakers. I think it has to be acknowledged regardless of how good it is some people will not feel comfortable signing up for something for which they don't have an accurate German translation for. For those that do feel confident in being able to deal in German, fine but I suspect most people would not be happy. Therefore my recommendation would be that people look at either of the Clubs as a first port of call.
David
Having read through the translation in the other thread and tried to compare with Red Pennant (not Green Flag) I can't see where the ADAC offers as much or more. In quite a few categories it limits the sum payable where the Caravan Club will pay the full amount. Now don't get me wrong its good that we encourage every one to be properly insured rather than none at all. The problem as I see it is that the ADAC is a German organisation, albeit a well known and no doubt very reputable, however it is in the main an organisation for German speakers. I think it has to be acknowledged regardless of how good it is some people will not feel comfortable signing up for something for which they don't have an accurate German translation for. For those that do feel confident in being able to deal in German, fine but I suspect most people would not be happy. Therefore my recommendation would be that people look at either of the Clubs as a first port of call.
David
David, We have read through the whole of ADAC Cover and have had lots of contact with them plus, Lutz, has been a great help. If you need help in this country AA is ADAC Partner here. We only now travel to Germany and Austria, the latters Partner being OAMTC, and we go through Belgium just 30 minutes in France when we get off the Tunnel.
When I tried to get Breakdown Cover in the UK the only companies that would cover a twin axle caravan of 8 metres were through the CC and the C&CC. Both prices were sky high thats when ADAC was introduced to me on this Forum by members who used this company for a fee of 98.70 euros. If we did not have such a long van we could easily get cover through Green Flag at a very reasonable price, which in the past years with a single axle caravan, we had to use twice with excellent service. But still had to converse with the German Breakdown companies who did not speak English.
I especially enquired about whether English was spoken when ringing in for Assistance and was told Yes.
When I tried to get Breakdown Cover in the UK the only companies that would cover a twin axle caravan of 8 metres were through the CC and the C&CC. Both prices were sky high thats when ADAC was introduced to me on this Forum by members who used this company for a fee of 98.70 euros. If we did not have such a long van we could easily get cover through Green Flag at a very reasonable price, which in the past years with a single axle caravan, we had to use twice with excellent service. But still had to converse with the German Breakdown companies who did not speak English.
I especially enquired about whether English was spoken when ringing in for Assistance and was told Yes.
Few reasonably well educated Germans don't speak enough English to get by. At work, it was customary to hold meetings in English as soon as there was at least one English-speaking participant, even if totally outnumbered by the Germans present.
I find it hard to believe Dianne that you found no one who could speak English ,a lot of Germans speak excellent English ,probabely better than a lot of English ,i worked in Germany for 3 years and got on very well not knowing any German language at all ,but as time went by i began to pick words up gradually ,you will be supprised how many words are the same ,which were brought to England by the Saxons
Dianne
It is all very well for us, as well seasoned travellers, to seek alternative and cheaper ways to cover our insurance needs. The problem is that many people that come on here seeking advice are newcomers to travelling in Europe. What they seek is reassurance and I would suggest that cost is secondary issue to that of the provision of a policy that they can relate to and understand the benefits. Therefore my advice would be to stick with the likes of the CC and CC&C. OK when they are more experienced and more familiar by all means point them in the direction of the likes of the ADAC.
David
It is all very well for us, as well seasoned travellers, to seek alternative and cheaper ways to cover our insurance needs. The problem is that many people that come on here seeking advice are newcomers to travelling in Europe. What they seek is reassurance and I would suggest that cost is secondary issue to that of the provision of a policy that they can relate to and understand the benefits. Therefore my advice would be to stick with the likes of the CC and CC&C. OK when they are more experienced and more familiar by all means point them in the direction of the likes of the ADAC.
David
Lutz said:-
"Few reasonably well educated Germans don't speak enough English to get by. At work, it was customary to hold meetings in English as soon as there was at least one English-speaking participant, even if totally outnumbered by the Germans present."
Lutz, having travelled quite extensively in your country I have often found what you say to be the case. I would go a bit further and suggest, from my own experience, that English is reasonably widely spoken in Germany. We have often been surprised in supermarkets where we have been helped to decide because an assistant has heard us speaking in English and has kindly offered help. I was very surprised when I was in the HBH in Berlin that all the annoucements were in German and English! My real issue is as explained in reply to Dianne's post above that we are often dealing with newcomers to visiting Germany and, at least, initially they may wish to follow a more traditional route for insurance until their confidence is at a point where they can think more independantly.
David
"Few reasonably well educated Germans don't speak enough English to get by. At work, it was customary to hold meetings in English as soon as there was at least one English-speaking participant, even if totally outnumbered by the Germans present."
Lutz, having travelled quite extensively in your country I have often found what you say to be the case. I would go a bit further and suggest, from my own experience, that English is reasonably widely spoken in Germany. We have often been surprised in supermarkets where we have been helped to decide because an assistant has heard us speaking in English and has kindly offered help. I was very surprised when I was in the HBH in Berlin that all the annoucements were in German and English! My real issue is as explained in reply to Dianne's post above that we are often dealing with newcomers to visiting Germany and, at least, initially they may wish to follow a more traditional route for insurance until their confidence is at a point where they can think more independantly.
David
Joby, I did not say that we could not find anyone who spoke English. When we were assisted 3 years ago with Green Flag the breakdown truck driver did not speak any English but it was not a problem both my husband and I know enough German to get by and we had no problems at all. We have not found, in 30 years of visting Germany and Austria any problems with anyone not speaking English or us making ourselves understood.
What I meant at the end of my last post is, I enquired to ADAC whether the people manning the telephones when you ring for assistance spoke English which they assured me they do. I did
not make this very clear that, the last sentence, was related to ADAC for the benefit of someone else who was enquiring about joining ADAC, and not when we did break down and called Green Flag.
What I meant at the end of my last post is, I enquired to ADAC whether the people manning the telephones when you ring for assistance spoke English which they assured me they do. I did
not make this very clear that, the last sentence, was related to ADAC for the benefit of someone else who was enquiring about joining ADAC, and not when we did break down and called Green Flag.
Last year when we headed off to St Jean De Monts, I looked into breakdown cover for our outfit - for 2 weeks.
The AA (who we are members of) said they couldnt help as the length of our van would put the flatback recovery unit 1ft 6 longer than a standard artic... and the ferry co's wont allow the recovery configuration on board
So we tried red pennant - forget that they wanted
The AA (who we are members of) said they couldnt help as the length of our van would put the flatback recovery unit 1ft 6 longer than a standard artic... and the ferry co's wont allow the recovery configuration on board
So we tried red pennant - forget that they wanted
Off their web site.
What you may not have picked up on is that we were trying to arrange cover DAYS before departure - which may have had a swaying factor in costs...
But top marks to our car ins co all the same
What you may not have picked up on is that we were trying to arrange cover DAYS before departure - which may have had a swaying factor in costs...
But top marks to our car ins co all the same
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