Euro breakdown cover - again

[Mark31415]

OK folks, everyone seemed to recommend C&MHC red pennant cover for our 4 week euro tour and it certainly sounds like it does everything. Unfortunately though you need to be a C&MHC member to take out the insurance which bumps the policy up by £51. We're already members of the Camping and Caravan Club and to be honest we're not really getting value for money out of that membership so a little loathed to spend an extra £51 on another membership just to get the insurance.

Does anyone know of any discount routes for a C&MHC membership? Currently seems to be an "all or nothing" approach to the membership which we only need to provide the 1 month cover. Anyone got any referral codes or similar? At least if I need to pay to join if someone else can get a kick-back it's better than nothing.

 

[otherclive]

I’ve been a member for many years and am not aware of any discount codes. If they were being used I would expect to see them in the monthly magazine or email marketing shots.

A family issue hit us just days before we were due to go away and there was no hassle at all in the cancellation and refund process. But they also asked if I wanted the whole holiday rescheduled. But regrettably that isn’t feasible. So I would endorse the views of others that Red Pennant and CMHC are good when things go wrong. Which after all is the only chance you get to judge their performance.

 

[Mark31415]

Also, can anyone tell me what the actual difference is between Green Flag's cover and the caravan clubs version? It's almost half price to go direct with GF if you factor in the membership cost too, not sure if I'm missing something.

Unfortunately Caravan club's call centre is shut for the evening.

 

[otherclive]

Also, can anyone tell me what the actual difference is between Green Flag's cover and the caravan clubs version? It's almost half price to go direct with GF if you factor in the membership cost too, not sure if I'm missing something.

Unfortunately Caravan club's call centre is shut for the evening.

If you do a search of posts within last two months you will see lots of info on these two schemes plus others as well. It was given a pretty good airing. Assume that as well as breakdown your outfit you will be looking for travel personal insurance too as EH1C can be quite limited if things go wrong.

Edit ps. Just look under European Breakdown Cover. If those posts don’t give you the full answer then it’s a comparison of the two policies.

 

[Craigyoung]

Try the live chat on the club website on the "get in touch" bit 9am - 9pm !

https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/contact/

 

[VicMallows]

I have been comparing the detailed wording of Red Penant (vehicle) and Arrival. (note that Arrival has recently been 'enhanced' in a few respects). The only significant difference I can spot is that Red Pennant say that if necessary they will 'TRY' to source a hire car with a a towbar so you can continue your journey. Arrival on the other hand say they 'CANNOT' provide a hire car with towbar.

I have a feeling that quite a few people assume that the overseas cover with either provider will provide all the same benefits as Mayday/Arrival do in the UK .... this is not the case.

 

[Raywood]

The new ASrrival scheme also now says they will try and source a car with a tow bar on the e mail I got on this. On that basis the cover should be the same as the CAMH scheme. Never had to call on their claims service but members say it is good.

 

[Woodentop]

Have a look at LV=. You get discount if you have more than one policy with them and full UK and European breakdown cover costs me £93pa.
A recent Which? survey placed LV in second place behind Saga for best customer service - and there is a considerable difference in price. LV will also provide longer overseas cover than almost anyone else. They are based in Bournemouth and they took over Frizzell who used to do the CC RP cover, so it can't be all bad can it?

 

[otherclive]

We have LV for house and car insurance and use them too for non caravan overseas trips. They do have a good reputation and Brittania Rescue regularly comes high up on surveys of recovery companies. One thing I like with LV is that when renewal time comes around I’ve never felt the need to contact other insurers due to receiving an inflated renewal quote. They recently dealt with our flood in February and were very efficient.
But on overseas insurance and breakdown you reallly need to compare what each is offering to ensure it gives you what you hopefully don’t need. And there is no substitute for comparing different organisations offerings other than by reading through them, as advice from others will obviously reflect their approach to risk.

 

[VicMallows]

The new ASrrival scheme also now says they will try and source a car with a tow bar on the e mail I got on this. .

Ray, that is specifically under 'UK Breakdown/Recovery'. As far as I can see, there is no mention of this under 'European Rescue'.

 

[Raywood]

The new ASrrival scheme also now says they will try and source a car with a tow bar on the e mail I got on this. .

Ray, that is specifically under 'UK Breakdown/Recovery'. As far as I can see, there is no mention of this under 'European Rescue'.

It was in an e mail advertising the service, I have looked back and found it. It does say that they will try and source a car with a tow bar under the UK cover, but I did read it that the European cover was in addition to the Uk cover, because these items would not be needed over here. Possibly a phone call would confirm either way or a look at the policy wording. I might have a look when I have time to go through it.

 

[Mark31415]

After much pontification and many firm decisions which were then reversed I decided to go for Red Pennant over Green Flag. Purely out of uncertainty. Both seem to offer pretty much the same thing but ...

- Both say they will recover car and caravan
- Both will deal with a defective caraven on an otherwise viable car
- Both will deal with repatriation of car, van and passengers
- Neither commit to providing an alternative car suitable for towing
- Neither commit to multi-site plan support
- RP was £205 for one month of EU cover (£154 for cover and had to sign up to C-club for £51). GF only £115 for 12 months UK including 90 days of EU

Neither GF or Caravan club could explain the differences in the policies unless you had a van over 7m (excl a-frame) both policy docs were caveated so highly that either could fail to deliver the extras you sign up for.

On the surface GF looked much better value but given we are away for a month visiting 8 countries for our first long trip I went for belt and braces. We've not towed this sort of distance or trip complexity before so confidence in survivability of car and caravan as not as high as it may be for others. We also speak no German and only school-boy French which given we're skirting the German French border for much of the trip is a bit of a risk to sorting things out ourselves locally.

Feedback from this, and other forums, suggests that RP go beyond the call of duty to sort you out. That is worth a bit of a premium but not entirely sure it's worth double. But then try explaining that to the family when stuck in the middle of nowhere but with an extra £100 in your pocket. I hope I will need none of it but the thought of ruining a month away due to something that was covered in RP but not in GF swayed the finances in the end.

Thanks for all the advice.

 

[otherclive]

Good luck and enjoy your trip.

 

[Hutch]

Mark , touring Europe is not as scary as once you get over the first few days, and have ended up in the middle of Paris with the van on the back , or ended up in the tram lane with all lights red except for trams, or you pull up in an aire to find the fold up table has gone through the cooker door and there is glass everywhere, the worst thing was the dog eating a half kilo of very expensive mountain farm cheese, no of it covered by insurance, great memories though.
Enjoy the trip.

 

[Mark31415]

Cheers. We've been all over France for many years without a caravan with no problems at all. This is a whole new world of things to consider like gas bottles, reverse hook-ups and the like which was all new and slightly scary. However we now have a German gas cylinder, not fussed about backwards mains and now know we have to pay a fortune to drive anywhere is Switzerland. Over-the-top breakdown cover and a decent can-do attitude.

Got my second warning triangle, fire extinguisher and blanket, 3 first aid kits each, Hi-Viz breathalyser for everyone an original copy of my grandmother and a few €20 notes kept in with my driving license for emergency use on the side of the road.

Just waiting for the fake numberplates to arrive and we're good to go.

Nothing we can't deal with.

 

[Bob_5041432]

Mark , touring Europe is not as scary as once you get over the first few days, and have ended up in the middle of Paris with the van on the back , or ended up in the tram lane with all lights red except for trams, or you pull up in an aire to find the fold up table has gone through the cooker door and there is glass everywhere, the worst thing was the dog eating a half kilo of very expensive mountain farm cheese, no of it covered by insurance, great memories though.
Enjoy the trip.

Hutch, you could start a whole new thread here - 'Disasters we have had'!

Mine included wondering why, in Florence, I was putting a 4th watering can of water into my onboard tank which is under one of the bunks only to discover that I had forgotten to put the top back on after checking the water level at the previous campsite - it had been a long day and took a bit of time to twig. In my defence, we had come from Sorrento and I was obviously distracted by the thought of getting us out of a very steep campsite and through the artistic flair of Sorrento drivers. There is a lot of water in a watering can!

 

[Bob_5041432]

Mark , touring Europe is not as scary as once you get over the first few days, and have ended up in the middle of Paris with the van on the back , or ended up in the tram lane with all lights red except for trams, or you pull up in an aire to find the fold up table has gone through the cooker door and there is glass everywhere, the worst thing was the dog eating a half kilo of very expensive mountain farm cheese, no of it covered by insurance, great memories though.
Enjoy the trip.

Hutch, you could start a whole new thread here - 'Disasters we have had'!

Mine included wondering why, in Florence, I was putting a 4th watering can of water into my onboard tank which is under one of the bunks only to discover that I had forgotten to put the top back on after checking the water level at the previous campsite - it had been a long day and took a bit of time to twig. In my defence, we had come from Sorrento and I was obviously distracted by the thought of getting us out of a very steep campsite and through the artistic flair of Sorrento drivers. There is a lot of water in a watering can!

As you said, not covered by insurance but great memories.