Discussion
I am with green flag and just looked on the web and there does not seem to be any companies that will pick you up and bring you home to the UK if you conk out, they all seem to just take you to a local garage, is there a company that will just come and get you.??????????????
Thanks in advance. Gordon
Thanks in advance. Gordon
I don't believe there are any who will just transport you home if you break down. Usually they will arrange transport to a local garage who'll assess whether or not the car can be repaired in a reasonable amount of time, as defined by the recovery firm. Some will provide a hire car if the repair is likely to take more than a few hours but the cheaper ones will expect you to organise it (within a specified budget). If the local garage can't repair it or the repair will take too long, the recovery company will usually cover 'repatriation' of the vehicle although some will just arrange flights for you to collect it.
I've had the misfortune of breaking down twice, one RAC, one Green flag. On the first occasion the alternator was repaired locally (for a fraction of what a replacement would have cost in the UK) and I was on my way within about 3 hours. Second occasion, the recovery company arranged a hire car and then I rejoined my P&J for the trip home (after the race) on a low-loader. Reading other peoples reports it seems pot luck as to what kind of service you get, as many horror stories about the big 3 as the cheaper companies. Read the policy, take your choice, pay your money, cross your fingers and if the worst happens, deal with it. Ultimately, any cover is better than nothing.
It's frustrating really, all the policies are geared towards people on 1-2 weeks holiday, not people going on a long weekend, the purpose of which is to see a sporting event (amongst other things!) which starts at a specific time.
I've had the misfortune of breaking down twice, one RAC, one Green flag. On the first occasion the alternator was repaired locally (for a fraction of what a replacement would have cost in the UK) and I was on my way within about 3 hours. Second occasion, the recovery company arranged a hire car and then I rejoined my P&J for the trip home (after the race) on a low-loader. Reading other peoples reports it seems pot luck as to what kind of service you get, as many horror stories about the big 3 as the cheaper companies. Read the policy, take your choice, pay your money, cross your fingers and if the worst happens, deal with it. Ultimately, any cover is better than nothing.
It's frustrating really, all the policies are geared towards people on 1-2 weeks holiday, not people going on a long weekend, the purpose of which is to see a sporting event (amongst other things!) which starts at a specific time.
Also worth noting is that most only cover you for breakdowns and not incidents or accidents.
Hitting an object in the road or a stone going through the radiator is an incident or an accident, as is putting the wrong fuel in so you're not covered. (Check policy)
Careful wording like radiator pipe broke or fuel pump failed are preferable to the above. (As I now know to my cost)
Hitting an object in the road or a stone going through the radiator is an incident or an accident, as is putting the wrong fuel in so you're not covered. (Check policy)
Careful wording like radiator pipe broke or fuel pump failed are preferable to the above. (As I now know to my cost)
If you breakdown on the Autoroute you can only be recovered by the local garage, other operators are not allowed to recover you from the Autoroute (about £100 IIRC)
Your insurer should reimburse you however.
last yr i was recovered from the A28, I claimed for, recovery from Autoroute, 2 days car hire and a contribution of £60 for an additional nights stay.
If the repair was going to take more than a couple of days they would have repatriated the car.
Your insurer should reimburse you however.
last yr i was recovered from the A28, I claimed for, recovery from Autoroute, 2 days car hire and a contribution of £60 for an additional nights stay.
If the repair was going to take more than a couple of days they would have repatriated the car.
It's all down to money. When I broke down at the Classic in 2008 they took my car to a local garage where Piere decided it was shock absorber problems. They thought that some new shocks would sort it so they transported the car off to Rouen where apparently "they fix Bentleys there" so nothing to worry about. I was not happy. They said that if they can get the car repaired prior to you going home AND it is cheaper than repatriating the car then they do that instead. Fortunately they realised it wasn't shock absorbers so they took it to Corvette Kingdom as I had originally requested where two U joints were replaced.
I had the misfortune to have the diff on my XK8 threw out all its oil on the Autoroute 80 miles from Calais a month ago on a Saturday afternoon, fortunately got to an Aire d' to stop. Called the RAC and of course had to use the official rescue people which is paid for by the RAC at the time. However, the RAC wanted me to leave the car at the garage and would sort me a hire car to use to get to the port, cross as a foot passenger with another hire car provided by them to get me home, returning to pick the car up at a later date. As I knew I wouldn't really have time to pick the car up for quite a while and didn't want to pay for a brand new diff that would probably be what the garage would fit I asked if they could take us to Calais where I hoped the car would drive on and off the boat (it did, albeit very slowly and cautiously) to then be recovered home in the UK. The outcome was that they eventually agreed to this but that was the limit of what they would cover, so once off the boat in Dover they wouldn't help other than to arrange a recovery at £2 per mile + £65 call out.
So don't expect them to recover you back to the UK from France, 80 miles took some negotiation and Le Mans is a lot further than that! That wasn't single trip cover, I cross about 5 times per year so have annual cover.
So don't expect them to recover you back to the UK from France, 80 miles took some negotiation and Le Mans is a lot further than that! That wasn't single trip cover, I cross about 5 times per year so have annual cover.
I have annual cover through MSM. When I knackered my flex disc (the car would move slowly under it's own steam) they suggested if it couldn't be repaired in time, they would recover it to the tunnel and collect me the other side.
This would have suited me, I was traveling with a dog so could have made things complicated.
Different insurers attitudes I guess, very happy with the way they dealt with a potentially stressful situation.
This would have suited me, I was traveling with a dog so could have made things complicated.
Different insurers attitudes I guess, very happy with the way they dealt with a potentially stressful situation.
PositronicRay said:
I have annual cover through MSM. When I knackered my flex disc (the car would move slowly under it's own steam) they suggested if it couldn't be repaired in time, they would recover it to the tunnel and collect me the other side.
This would have suited me, I was traveling with a dog so could have made things complicated.
Different insurers attitudes I guess, very happy with the way they dealt with a potentially stressful situation.
That was the other reason I wanted to cross the channel with the car as we had the dog with us - apparently it is possible to use the Dieppe-Newhaven crossing as a foot passenger with a dog but needs to be pre-booked and approved so not ideal as a last minute diversion!This would have suited me, I was traveling with a dog so could have made things complicated.
Different insurers attitudes I guess, very happy with the way they dealt with a potentially stressful situation.
andyps said:
PositronicRay said:
I have annual cover through MSM. When I knackered my flex disc (the car would move slowly under it's own steam) they suggested if it couldn't be repaired in time, they would recover it to the tunnel and collect me the other side.
This would have suited me, I was traveling with a dog so could have made things complicated.
Different insurers attitudes I guess, very happy with the way they dealt with a potentially stressful situation.
That was the other reason I wanted to cross the channel with the car as we had the dog with us - apparently it is possible to use the Dieppe-Newhaven crossing as a foot passenger with a dog but needs to be pre-booked and approved so not ideal as a last minute diversion!This would have suited me, I was traveling with a dog so could have made things complicated.
Different insurers attitudes I guess, very happy with the way they dealt with a potentially stressful situation.
Used this lot last year.
http://www.vehicle-rescue.com/european-breakdown-b...
Cover seems to cover everything possible. Will use them again this year, going in the MG so need reliable cover haha!
http://www.vehicle-rescue.com/european-breakdown-b...
Cover seems to cover everything possible. Will use them again this year, going in the MG so need reliable cover haha!
PositronicRay said:
My fall back position would be use the rental car to return wife and dog to UK. Return to France and come back as a foot passenger. Bit of a faff though.
I'm pretty sure it isn't allowed to take the rental car across the channel from what the RAC said to me, hence why they say you cross as a foot passenger. When I said about the dog I was told by the person I was speaking to that there was a company who took them, but they only crossed a couple of times each day but he didn't know more. It is only since I got back that I checked and found out it is DFDS on Newhaven-Dieppe route. Seems there isn't a good solution in that case, but I was lucky in that the car was sort of drivable and did get us on and off the boat - big sigh of relief once I was out of the port area in Dover.Gassing Station | Le Mans | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff