Hello all - can anybody shed light on the issue of breakdown cover. My husband has automatic breakdown cover with his bank - but we're not sure that this will cover us should we have a problem when we are towing. Would our caravan insurance provide breakdown cover (actually, will look into that) or should we pay to have say the Caravan Club breakdown cover for the year? Thoughts please ...
Breakdown cover - advice please
- Thread starter soldlisa04
- Start date
- Aug 23, 2009
- 3,167
- 4
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Had lots of problems on the rally field a few years ago for a couple that were using the bank account basic cover. Got towed to site but no onward cover or get home. The car was very poorly!! We towed them at the end of that week to the next rally as it was only the other side of town (15mins) while with us they arranged their Mayday cover and that's how they got home. AA wanted just under 400 pounds to take them home.
I would stick with Mayday, who have always been excellent when we've needed them and not bother with the bank's 'free' cover
I would stick with Mayday, who have always been excellent when we've needed them and not bother with the bank's 'free' cover
The problem with CAR based recovery insurance is determining their policy regards the caravan. Some will attend the caravan IF it is attached to the car,some have restrictions on the caravan diamentions. There are very few who will cover all eventualities.
ask this question of them"if the van is on site & the car is incapacitated while away from the site, will they both recover the Car & the caravan??"
The caravan club,or camping & caravan club cover .is specificaly designed for caravaners & offer many facilities not offered by other breakdown insurers,even the same companies as used by CC & C&CC will not offer the same service in their normal policies
TD
PS this problem is even more if you are traveling abroad,a caravan can be very expensive to repatriate home
ask this question of them"if the van is on site & the car is incapacitated while away from the site, will they both recover the Car & the caravan??"
The caravan club,or camping & caravan club cover .is specificaly designed for caravaners & offer many facilities not offered by other breakdown insurers,even the same companies as used by CC & C&CC will not offer the same service in their normal policies
TD
PS this problem is even more if you are traveling abroad,a caravan can be very expensive to repatriate home
Thank guys ... will check our Caravan Insurance documents ... we are with Towersgate and I am sure I remember him saying something about breakdown cover as he mentione Europe and at the time I thought "Blimey, we haven't even towed in the UK yet!". Have heard good things about Mayday too. Cheers.
Towergate will repatriate your caravan from France. We're insured with them as we store our caravan permanently in France and checked that the cover included getting the caravan home. It does!
We had the same problem with a new car which was with RAC. In the event of an issue with the caravan, not interested and you could not update the policy and pay the difference even if you joined the C & CC. Took a Mayday policy with CC.
I use ADAC, the German equivalent to our AA. It's cheaper by far than any of the others, and gives much greater cover than any of them, even its own aeroplanes for emergency evacuation.
As recommended by Diane T and others.
Google ADAC and see how good they are, you'll not want to bother with Mayday!
As recommended by Diane T and others.
Google ADAC and see how good they are, you'll not want to bother with Mayday!
- Mar 14, 2005
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You will only get acurate answers for your questions by asking the policy supplier.
With so many differnt speical policies being created by banks, and other consumer groups, you cannot assume what one group gets will translate to every other group.
Ask you policy supplier.
With so many differnt speical policies being created by banks, and other consumer groups, you cannot assume what one group gets will translate to every other group.
Ask you policy supplier.
We've done a bit of digging around with regard to breakdown policies and with specific regard to wider caravans. Hope you might find it useful. We found some odd width exclusions...
http://www.practicalcaravan.com/advice/wider-caravans-your-breakdown-recovery-broken
There is a link at the bottom of the story to bring you back here
http://www.practicalcaravan.com/advice/wider-caravans-your-breakdown-recovery-broken
There is a link at the bottom of the story to bring you back here
- Mar 14, 2005
- 18,708
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The PC guide Nigel points to makes interesting reading.
I agree whole heartedly that the wording in your policy is the one you have contracted to, and you have no right to expect your provider to change that within the life of the policy.
However it is highly inconsistent for a breakdown company to place a narrow width restriction on some customers but a wider one on a different group based solely on which broker supplied the policy. It would or could make some sense if there was a significant cost difference or policy services (and perhaps there is) but as all width of caravans can be towed anywhere in the UK, it is most likely the exact same tow or flatbed truck will attend your incident regardless of how you purchased your policy.
Also with an increasing population of wider caravans being made available in the UK, the breakdown companies should make any policy limit on widths a highly visible feature of their publicity ad application forms, so that customers are not falsely led on to purchase what may be an incompatible policy.
Here's an opportunity for the manufactures or wider caravans to offer some kind of breakdown service them selves, as they must have access to vehicles that can tow or carry their wider products.
I agree whole heartedly that the wording in your policy is the one you have contracted to, and you have no right to expect your provider to change that within the life of the policy.
However it is highly inconsistent for a breakdown company to place a narrow width restriction on some customers but a wider one on a different group based solely on which broker supplied the policy. It would or could make some sense if there was a significant cost difference or policy services (and perhaps there is) but as all width of caravans can be towed anywhere in the UK, it is most likely the exact same tow or flatbed truck will attend your incident regardless of how you purchased your policy.
Also with an increasing population of wider caravans being made available in the UK, the breakdown companies should make any policy limit on widths a highly visible feature of their publicity ad application forms, so that customers are not falsely led on to purchase what may be an incompatible policy.
Here's an opportunity for the manufactures or wider caravans to offer some kind of breakdown service them selves, as they must have access to vehicles that can tow or carry their wider products.
- Jun 20, 2005
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Most enlightening Nigel,
A few years ago the main problem was length. At that time and maybe even now the only recovery service I could find that ticked all the boxes in all situations and for my outfit was the CCs Mayday service. I expect the C&CC will be the same. The freebie offered by my Bank wasn't worth the paper it was written on.
A few years ago the main problem was length. At that time and maybe even now the only recovery service I could find that ticked all the boxes in all situations and for my outfit was the CCs Mayday service. I expect the C&CC will be the same. The freebie offered by my Bank wasn't worth the paper it was written on.
The RAC Arrival through the C&CC have no restrictions on size, I have been with them for years and I have never had any problems.
The only time I needed their services, was in the South of France and the provided everything I needed and they phoned me every day until I reached Calais, just to make sure we were OK.
Steve W
The only time I needed their services, was in the South of France and the provided everything I needed and they phoned me every day until I reached Calais, just to make sure we were OK.
Steve W
I did a lot of research into breakdown insurance this time last year, and found staggering differences in the cover. Some companies, when providing their own cover, specify one length or width, and yet if being used as 'agents' to provide a service for another company, have very different specifications. The RAC and AA provide the cover in Britain for ADAC, and yet the length/width specifications are very different to their own policies.
It's all a bit of a nightmare, and even several spreadsheets, a lot of work, and much heart-searching, didn't lead to a 'Best Policy' decision.
In the event by the time I'd finished researching we stuck with our current policy provided, but this year are going with ADAC too!
It's all a bit of a nightmare, and even several spreadsheets, a lot of work, and much heart-searching, didn't lead to a 'Best Policy' decision.
In the event by the time I'd finished researching we stuck with our current policy provided, but this year are going with ADAC too!
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