recovery issues

[matty]

Hi all i recently had a issue with rac arrival ive been with rac over 20 years and never needed work on the caravan until last september.

Never had problems with electrics so 4 in the morning hitched up to go to wales no lights on the caravan so i checked what i could then rang rac .
They claimed that i did not have cover for the caravan which i know that i did . basically i was told to take it up with membership on monday morning
they could send a commercial company out but i would have to pay for it. we made alternative arrangments and went into a static ,rang rac monday and first thing the operater says we where covered and they should have come out they where at error after 6 week delaying process rac didnot come back to us and when thay did basically in there opinion tought.
they did offer to look at the van but i explained the van was in cambridge we where in wales.

has anyone else had issues like this or can anyone else recommend a recovery that covers caravans

 

[Buckman]

We gave up on RAC many years ago for similar reason and are now with Green Flag Mayday through the CAMC.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Another vote for Green Flag Mayday recovery.
You do need to be a CAMC member.
Might be worth speaking to Green Flag and checking what cover they provide if you're not a CAMC member.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Whilst I do not know the intricate details of this particular issue, you should check the details of the policy you have with the service, becasue they may not cover you within a certain distance from your home address. Perhaps that was why they refused your initial request?

 

[Dustydog]

Mmm a sad story . But who fixed it and did you get away and what was the problem?
Green Flag Mayday has never let me down

 

[Beachball]

Hoping you managed to reach home with your caravan intact although we no longer enjoy caravan holidays we were with RAC also and lucky we found them reliable hope your future holidays are less stressful

 

[Paullus1959]

I had RAC cover through a work scheme which covered my caravan or so I thought until I read the small print. The maximum trailer length under this particular policy was 7.0m and my caravan is 7.4m long and I'd been to France twice before I noticed this. I did check with the RAC and they confirmed my caravan wasn't covered and I couldn't upgrade the work scheme.
I ditched the work policy in favour of RAC Arrival, the Camping and Caravanning Club scheme which does not have a length limit. I also ring RAC each year to speak to a human being to negotiate a better deal than the CCC site robot can offer.
It's definitely worth reading the small print to see if there are any restrictions in these policies that you may not be aware of.
***PLEASE NOTE, THIS POST WAS BASED ON WHAT I THOUGHT I KNEW AT THE TIME OF WRITING AND IT WASN'T COMPLETELY ACCURATE. PLEASE SEE MY POST BELOW.***

 

[Buckman]

I had RAC cover through a work scheme which covered my caravan or so I thought until I read the small print. The maximum trailer length under this particular policy was 7.0m and my caravan is 7.4m long and I'd been to France twice before I noticed this. I did check with the RAC and they confirmed my caravan wasn't covered and I couldn't upgrade the work scheme.
I ditched the work policy in favour of RAC Arrival, the Camping and Caravanning Club scheme which does not have a length limit. I also ring RAC each year to speak to a human being to negotiate a better deal than the CCC site robot can offer.
It's definitely worth reading the small print to see if there are any restrictions in these policies that you may not be aware of.

Many representatives in breakdown organisations confuse body length with shipping length. Body length of 7m is perfectly legal, but they think it applies to shipping length hence the restriction.

 

[Raywood]

The 7m rule should be the body length and therefore unless your caravan is illegal for a car to tow you should be covered. Hope the call centre staff know that though. Ant cover restricting the caravan to less than 7m shipping length would get very little business as that would rule out the majority of caravans.
RAC have had some criticism for their service, but so have most other providers, so difficult to know if they are better or worse than others. I have not seen any chart comparing them.
Generally the Mayday cover through the CAMH is very good and you get more cover than anything else I know of, other than the RAC Arrival cover through the C&CC.
Outside of those two you need to check carefully what is covered as cover is usually less and may not include faults on the caravan, which I suspect is what the operator you spoke to thought. I hope you got his full name and told he RAC so they could deal with him.

 

[Raywood]

Many representatives in breakdown organisations confuse body length with shipping length. Body length of 7m is perfectly legal, but they think it applies to shipping length hence the restriction.

I think you have got this the wrong way round. It is the shipping length of 7m that is legal.

 

[Buckman]

I think you have got this the wrong way round. It is the shipping length of 7m that is legal.

Nope body length. Caravan can legally be towed with body length to maximum of 7m. Our caravan shipping length is over 8m.

 

[Dustydog]

RAC Arrival , today, says this on the towed vehicle,

“What do I need to know?​

Any towing vehicle is covered as long as it’s designed to tow a caravan and weighs less than 3.5 tonnes

There are no height, weight or length restrictions for the vehicle you tow.”

Seems pretty clear to me it is not restrictive. “Vehicle you tow” is the caravan 😉

 

[Dustydog]

Nope body length. Caravan can legally be towed with body length to maximum of 7m. Our caravan shipping length is over 8m.

I agree. It’s always been the old 7 metre rule .
The 7m refers to body length, not overall length, but yes, it is illegal in the UK for a vehicle with a plated gross vehicle weight under 3500kg to tow a trailer if the body length exceeds 7m.
My TA shipping length is 7.99 m.

 

[Buckman]

RAC Arrival , today, says this on the towed vehicle,

“What do I need to know?​

Any towing vehicle is covered as long as it’s designed to tow a caravan and weighs less than 3.5 tonnes

There are no height, weight or length restrictions for the vehicle you tow.”

Seems pretty clear to me it is not restrictive. “Vehicle you tow” is the caravan 😉

LOL! I think that they have left out "use to" between you and tow. Poor English abounds all over and I am not even English!

 

[Paullus1959]

Very interesting

RAC Arrival , today, says this on the towed vehicle,

“What do I need to know?​

Any towing vehicle is covered as long as it’s designed to tow a caravan and weighs less than 3.5 tonnes

There are no height, weight or length restrictions for the vehicle you tow.”

Seems pretty clear to me it is not restrictive. “Vehicle you tow” is the caravan 😉

Some very interesting points have been made here and I have learnt a lot.
I was given the wrong information when I queried the RAC's 7.0m rule.
As correctly pointed out, the maximum length of a trailer that can be legally towed by a vehicle with a MAM of less than 3500kg is 7.0m excluding the A-frame
The shipping length includes the A-frame and hitch.
It's clear that recovery company sales staff don't know which length is applicable and the fact that 7.0m is a legal limit because, they never queried it when I said my caravan was over 7.0m long.
Therefore, I gave them the wrong details of my caravan which has the following dimensions: Exterior body length: 6,520mm. Shipping length: 7,430mm.
I wish I'd known this when I switched from my work's RAC scheme to RAC Arrival and pushed them on this point because, the work policy definitely stated a limit of 7.0m. I should have asked if it was the overall length or length of the body they were applying, as I assumed it was the overall length. Too late now!

 

[Raywood]

Nope body length. Caravan can legally be towed with body length to maximum of 7m. Our caravan shipping length is over 8m.

Sorry I seem to have misread this as you will see from my post. Must be old age as I read it several times and still got it wrong.

 

[RogerL]

Nope body length. Caravan can legally be towed with body length to maximum of 7m. Our caravan shipping length is over 8m.

Recovery companies may however impose an overall limit of 7m if that is the maximum length their normal flatbed trucks will take. It's therefore vital to read the small print.

 

[Arethusa]

I gave the RAC a miss when they said if car broke down fine but would not take dog. Didn’t get as far as discussing what would happen to caravan.

 

[otherclive]

I gave the RAC a miss when they said if car broke down fine but would not take dog. Didn’t get as far as discussing what would happen to caravan.

That’s strange as their website says they do take dogs but the final decision rest with the recovery driver. If the dog cannot travel in the recovery vehicle they say it could travel in the vehicle being recovered.

The AA says virtually the same too.

This came from CMHC MAYDAY/ Greenflag:

“Dave Smith here, External Products Manager at the Club.
Just to clarify the two points made in your post:
1. Health and Safety laws do not allow a vehicle to be towed or recovered with human passengers in the vehicle. This is why the passengers are always asked to ride in the cab of the recovery vehicle, or other arrangements are made. You will find this is the same across all breakdown and recovery providers
2. As for dogs, Mayday (and Green Flag’s) policy on animals is that their breakdown contractors will try and accommodate animals wherever possible, but reserve the right to refuse to take animals. In reality, although recovery drivers will rarely allow an animal in the cab of the recovery vehicle, in some cases they will offer to transport the animal in the vehicle that is being recovered. If members are not happy with this arrangement (which is understandable, especially for long journeys or hot days), or if the recovery vehicle driver does not feel the animal can be accommodated at all, then the member will need to make their own alternative arrangements for the return of their animals.
We’d love to be able to accommodate dogs, and we are very aware that many of our members travel with their pets, but this is simply something that is in the terms and conditions of UK Insurance, who underwrite Green Flag and Mayday. You’ll also find this is standard across all major breakdown providers – in fact, most are even stricter, simply saying they don’t transport animals, without exception.
I hope this clarifies the situation.

Posted on 20/03/2020”

Looks as if all recovery companies have the same restrictions.

 

[Dustydog]

That’s a real concern and frankly something I’ve never considered in years. Good job we are now dogless 😥

 

[otherclive]

Likewise, as even if the dog(s) traveled in the broken down caravan/car on a warm day it could be far too hot for its well being.

 

[Buckman]

We were in that position two years ago. The first driver allowed the dog in the cab on my wife's lap, the second driver refused point blank. It was a hot day, but luckily we were only about an hour and a half drive from home.

We partially opened the windows and made sure she had plenty of water. The driver did stop at Strensham Services so that we could check on the dog and she seemed fine as she was asleep.