Overseas Breakdown Insurance - Which One?

[KeithJ]

Steve - I'm not saying if you are experienced you don't need insurance - far from it. But you might not need quite so much hand holding as you pay for with Red Pennant.

Taking your example, I would expect any breakdown service to deal with it, by arranging recovery to a garage for repair. Many people would not want to pay for a "superior" service offering any more than that. In fact an experienced traveller might be quite happy to make his/her own arrangements for recovery to a Kia dealer (accepting that half way up a mountain on a Sunday afternoon might be difficult!).

All I'm saying is that you pay for the level of service that you require. Personally I don't want two way recovery, for example, but plenty of people do.

Regards

Keith

 

[DianneT]

Yes KeithJ, ADAC does cover the points you mention with the Plus membership and more besides. Lutz has checked it with them too. We have an 8 metre long van and no one else would cover that only thro the Clubs which made the price very expensive. We also re-checked that the van would be covered even if the car was not damaged or broke down.

 

[SteveW77]

Sorry Kieth, but I did not give the whole story, I should have stated that I was towing my caravan at the time. They recovered the car and caravan, took us and the van to the campsite that we had already booked and then they arranged for a hire car until my car was repaired under warranty (10 days). All this for a one off annual fee, no further charges of any kind. So after telling you the whole story I think that you may agree that any recovery service may not be good enough.

Steve W

 

[KeithJ]

Steve - I agree that not all recovery services might be good enough, but I think what you have described is a pretty basic recovery of car and 'van + provision of rental car, which I think many policies would cover - ie. it is not essential to pay the high premiums of Red Pennant, unless you want a higher level of cover such as a replacement tow car or two way recovery etc.

Personnally I have used Britannia Rescue for many years (although not every time) and I am sure they cover all my requirements, and for an annual fee, like your policy. I know Tim has had a bad experience with Britannia but I have never had a claim so I can't really say how good they are - but the level of cover suits me, and I have saved a fortune using them over the years!

It's all down to reading the policy, choosing your level of cover, and deciding how much you are prepared to pay.

Regards

Keith

 

[KeithJ]

PS

I am not knocking Red Pennant - I think they are excellent for those who want the highest level of cover and don't mind paying for it - I was just trying to respond to Tim (1st Tim!) 's original qustion.

Keith

 

[adrian_374544186]

I insured with the RAC and broke down in southern France, they arranged car hire paid for the tow off the auto route, temporary camp site, car hire back to the UK overnight hotel accomodation en route, and flight back to Marseille and more care hire / taxis. Altogether 100% professionel calm and helpful in a difficult situation. Every time I phoned my information was always up to date, all this added an extra two weeks or more waiting for spares and was fairly stressful but the RAC delt with the garage and helped with the repair cost because of the unforseen delays. To put that into perspective my estimate for being towed off the autoroute with a caravan would be in the region of 200 euros so

 

[ChristineandAlan]

HI,we are going to france for a month in june,we are thinking of taking out european vehicle assistance with ALAN ROGERS INS/SERVICES,its 71.54 thats car and caravan the levels of cover look good + its a lot cheaper than red pennant.has anybody gone with them are they alright if so please advise me thank you ALAN P/T

 

[Dave_374558726]

Ref: Europ Assistance insurance cover.

Last summer our car broke down enroute from the Dordogne to Switzerland. The caravan was towed to a local municipal site while the car was taken to the nearest main dealer for repair.

Unfortunately the repair took 9 days so we were unable to reach our destination as Europ Assistance do not provide replacement tow-cars.

Also we have been unable claim the

 

[KeithJ]

Dave - you said you were en route to Switzerland.

No insurance company would pay your Swiss Vignette if you were going there anyway?

Keith

 

[KeithJ]

Dave - sorry just realised - you probably mean you had paid the Swiss Vignette and site fees in advance, but didn't reach Switzerland.

Sorry about your loss, but I think most companies would class these advance payments as "consequental" to the main incident, and therefore not covered - especially the Vignette, which is for a whole year anyway and can be paid at the border.

Keith

 

[Dave_374558726]

Hi Keith,

All our sites had been prepaid and yes we didn't get to Switzerland.

As a result of our experience we will never again prepay for all our sites beforehand. Alan Rogers camping cheques maybe?

By the way Europ Assistance were brilliant on the car breakdown recovery side of things but just isn't designed for caravan holidays unfortunately.

 

[dennis_374559636]

I would't dream of using anything else but red pennant. Their service is brilliant. With an older car, if you are broken down abroad you'll be glad you had the red pennant insurance. I certainly was two years ago.

Dennis

 

[joeby]

been with the RAC for over 20 years , and just found out they dont cover your caravan if its over 25 feet including the drawbar , unless you are in the CCC , just looked on the ADAC after a recomendation from some body else , and for around £80 per year you are covered in the whole of Europe , i couldnt find any thing they didnt cover , seems a far better deal than any UK company , please point out any pitfalls

 

[Keith_DM]

We make two trips per year each of around sixty-six days (door to door) and have been using the Red Pennant annual multi-trip max 66 days policy. Last year it cost me £405. Looking at the ADAC policy, for breakdown/recovery/repatriation it looks to be ideal and I am highly tempted. That then leaves health insurance (we are both in our late sixties). AFAIK, the EHIC does not cover an awful lot in Spain, so does anyone have a recommendation for a suitable health insurance policy provider?

 

[airsiggy]

I insure my Honda CRV with Marks & Spencer Insurance. The price is very competitive and a lot cheaper than some other companies have quoted me. The big plus though is that in addition to accident insurance /recovery they include UK/European breakdown /recovery for car & caravan for any number of trips a year. Each trip no longer than 90 days

 

[RayS]

I have used Red Pennant for many years and have had only one very small claim which they handled admisrably. However i am not hitting the age-related premium problems and have been in correspondence with them following one of the monthly Member Surveys.

This suggestion I have made is for a No Claims Discount scheme to reduce the costs a little (to the memers directly) and to RP (by reducing the number of small or trivial claims).

Travel insurance seems to be the only form of insurance which does not offer some form of NCD. I have suggested that the NCD should be related to the number of claim-free policies issued (in my case sometimes 2 per year) rather than to a calander year, and that the discount should be cumulative with an upper limit (as with most motor insurance). By analysing the premiums I have pad over the past years, it is clear than loger stay policies are less expensive than short stay -e.g. in 2012 a 42 day policy was £4.15/night whereas a 122 night policy was £.2.2/night (for two 'elderly' caravanneers with some medical history, motoring and personal cover)
From conversations with other less fortunate European travellers I have heard ntoher but good reports of those who have had to use RP often in near-tragic circumstances, whereas every other fcompany has had a mixed reaction, including one case of acaravan so badly mishandled during recovery that it was written off on arrival.
If the CC members reading this think some form of NCD would be attractive, not is the time to let CC know your views as I understand a major review is about to take place.

 

[DianneT]

If anyone is interested see about ADAC here If you need documents in English just contact me through the link or with your email address and I will be pleased to email them.

 

[Raywood]

We have been abroad several times and used either Red Pennant or Carefree (C&CC) depending who we booked with. We have not had to claim but from what we have heard both provide excellent service so we stick with them.