Breakdown Cover and Garage
Discussion
Hello,
Not sure if this is the right area of the forum for this, but it seems like a good place to start.
My motorbike broke down in Italy. The stator and regulator/rectifier packed in so it wasn't charging. It was recovered off the motorway to a local recovery yard/garage affiliated with ACI (something like AA/RAC) but being August in Italy it was very difficult to get the parts or anyone to do it, so I had to come home and return to collect the bike later.
I was in some sort of contact with the garage and the insurance company throughout, but it was sporadic and not speaking much Italian quite limited with the garage. Then last week I got a message saying the bike is ready. Repaired, with no diagnosis, quote or authorisation. And the bill is enormous. Charitably double what would be a normal quote from a specialist.
I know the insurance company aren't liable for the repair, but they have simply said the garage is nothing to do with them and that is down to me and the garage. This seems to me to be a fairly major failing of the 'breakdown assistance' element of the policy - they have offered no assistance at all beyond arranging recovery to a garage who ripped me off! Surely they have some sort of affiliation with the garage, through the Europe wide network of which they are a part?
I wouldn't mind if they'd charged me £50 for changing a fuse or something but this is a few hundred pound and puts it clearly in the territory where it would have been better to recover it (I even said I could go and collect it myself with a trailer, but was told by insurance I should wait for the garage's diagnosis) and repair at home, or arrange to have it taken elsewhere.
I would like to know where I stand with this. Is there any chance of recovering something from the insurance? Or perhaps the insurance company leaning on the garage? Or do I just put it down to experience?
Not sure if this is the right area of the forum for this, but it seems like a good place to start.
My motorbike broke down in Italy. The stator and regulator/rectifier packed in so it wasn't charging. It was recovered off the motorway to a local recovery yard/garage affiliated with ACI (something like AA/RAC) but being August in Italy it was very difficult to get the parts or anyone to do it, so I had to come home and return to collect the bike later.
I was in some sort of contact with the garage and the insurance company throughout, but it was sporadic and not speaking much Italian quite limited with the garage. Then last week I got a message saying the bike is ready. Repaired, with no diagnosis, quote or authorisation. And the bill is enormous. Charitably double what would be a normal quote from a specialist.
I know the insurance company aren't liable for the repair, but they have simply said the garage is nothing to do with them and that is down to me and the garage. This seems to me to be a fairly major failing of the 'breakdown assistance' element of the policy - they have offered no assistance at all beyond arranging recovery to a garage who ripped me off! Surely they have some sort of affiliation with the garage, through the Europe wide network of which they are a part?
I wouldn't mind if they'd charged me £50 for changing a fuse or something but this is a few hundred pound and puts it clearly in the territory where it would have been better to recover it (I even said I could go and collect it myself with a trailer, but was told by insurance I should wait for the garage's diagnosis) and repair at home, or arrange to have it taken elsewhere.
I would like to know where I stand with this. Is there any chance of recovering something from the insurance? Or perhaps the insurance company leaning on the garage? Or do I just put it down to experience?
JuanCarlosFandango said:
Hello,
Not sure if this is the right area of the forum for this, but it seems like a good place to start.
My motorbike broke down in Italy. The stator and regulator/rectifier packed in so it wasn't charging. It was recovered off the motorway to a local recovery yard/garage affiliated with ACI (something like AA/RAC) but being August in Italy it was very difficult to get the parts or anyone to do it, so I had to come home and return to collect the bike later.
I was in some sort of contact with the garage and the insurance company throughout, but it was sporadic and not speaking much Italian quite limited with the garage. Then last week I got a message saying the bike is ready. Repaired, with no diagnosis, quote or authorisation. And the bill is enormous. Charitably double what would be a normal quote from a specialist.
I know the insurance company aren't liable for the repair, but they have simply said the garage is nothing to do with them and that is down to me and the garage. This seems to me to be a fairly major failing of the 'breakdown assistance' element of the policy - they have offered no assistance at all beyond arranging recovery to a garage who ripped me off! Surely they have some sort of affiliation with the garage, through the Europe wide network of which they are a part?
I wouldn't mind if they'd charged me £50 for changing a fuse or something but this is a few hundred pound and puts it clearly in the territory where it would have been better to recover it (I even said I could go and collect it myself with a trailer, but was told by insurance I should wait for the garage's diagnosis) and repair at home, or arrange to have it taken elsewhere.
I would like to know where I stand with this. Is there any chance of recovering something from the insurance? Or perhaps the insurance company leaning on the garage? Or do I just put it down to experience?
Not an expert, but if comms with the repairing garage is tricky I would start by asking the insurance / breakdown company to request a statement of work carried out by them. It may be that they - legitimately - needed to do much more work than was originally expected.Not sure if this is the right area of the forum for this, but it seems like a good place to start.
My motorbike broke down in Italy. The stator and regulator/rectifier packed in so it wasn't charging. It was recovered off the motorway to a local recovery yard/garage affiliated with ACI (something like AA/RAC) but being August in Italy it was very difficult to get the parts or anyone to do it, so I had to come home and return to collect the bike later.
I was in some sort of contact with the garage and the insurance company throughout, but it was sporadic and not speaking much Italian quite limited with the garage. Then last week I got a message saying the bike is ready. Repaired, with no diagnosis, quote or authorisation. And the bill is enormous. Charitably double what would be a normal quote from a specialist.
I know the insurance company aren't liable for the repair, but they have simply said the garage is nothing to do with them and that is down to me and the garage. This seems to me to be a fairly major failing of the 'breakdown assistance' element of the policy - they have offered no assistance at all beyond arranging recovery to a garage who ripped me off! Surely they have some sort of affiliation with the garage, through the Europe wide network of which they are a part?
I wouldn't mind if they'd charged me £50 for changing a fuse or something but this is a few hundred pound and puts it clearly in the territory where it would have been better to recover it (I even said I could go and collect it myself with a trailer, but was told by insurance I should wait for the garage's diagnosis) and repair at home, or arrange to have it taken elsewhere.
I would like to know where I stand with this. Is there any chance of recovering something from the insurance? Or perhaps the insurance company leaning on the garage? Or do I just put it down to experience?
My only similar experience is with a friend's car which threw a bunch of fault codes and went into safe mode in France. The local garage were able to fix it same day, for about half what I'd expect to pay in the UK. I guess the point is, I don't think foreign tradespeople set out to rip you off, but until you know the work done it's hard to understand.
Hope it works out well for you, OP.
I would like to think that, but we did have some communication - they messaged and emailed in Italian and I figured it out with Google translate, then messaged them back in Italian. Imperfect I'm sure, but I understood what they had done. Besides it's not easy to think what extras could be needed that would inflate the cost to that degree. Compared with chasing electronics problems round a car it's a relatively simple job.
And again, surely this is where breakdown assistance should have been able to offer something? It's not like I'm asking for every washer to be accounted for but something that major should have been flagged up.
And again, surely this is where breakdown assistance should have been able to offer something? It's not like I'm asking for every washer to be accounted for but something that major should have been flagged up.
I'd say check the contract with the breakdown recovery. If it says - as many do - they will take it to a garage within ten miles (or whatever distance) and they have done this, then it might be difficult to get much done, not that it stops you from questioning the bill.
One potential ray of hope is when in the same position as you (broke down in Germany) the German recovery chap said my car had to be taken to a specialist garage 80 km away - mainly down to the same issues as you had, he felt a local garage would not have the parts of know how needed for a quick repair. He called Green Flag and got them to agree.
So if you were riding say a Triumph and they took it to a Honda specialist, you might be able to argue that was wrong.
Have a good look at the small print and see what it says about where and to whom they would take the bike.
Whatever the case may be there, I'd still say you can argue the costs, demand an itemised bill and moan about it, they might compromise at least so as to get the money and bike collected.
One potential ray of hope is when in the same position as you (broke down in Germany) the German recovery chap said my car had to be taken to a specialist garage 80 km away - mainly down to the same issues as you had, he felt a local garage would not have the parts of know how needed for a quick repair. He called Green Flag and got them to agree.
So if you were riding say a Triumph and they took it to a Honda specialist, you might be able to argue that was wrong.
Have a good look at the small print and see what it says about where and to whom they would take the bike.
Whatever the case may be there, I'd still say you can argue the costs, demand an itemised bill and moan about it, they might compromise at least so as to get the money and bike collected.
This won't help the OP I'm afraid, but my car once broke down in deepest darkest France on our way back up to catch a ferry. It was a Bank Holiday and the only help my breakdown provider could offer over the phone was to say none of their affiliates were available and for me to arrange my own recovery which they'd reimburse. Not great when I spoke very little French. As an aside, their hold music was just Rescue Me by Fontella Bass on repeat constantly - that annoyed the hell out of me.
Anyway, I eventually found a breakdown recovery firm. The guy came out, diagnosed the issue but couldn't fix it at the roadside. He put my car on the back of his truck and took me back to his garage and fixed the problem (something to do with a fuel hose connection from memory). Total charge was £0. He said he was on his way back past us anyway and the part cost him very little. I was so grateful, but had no Euros left to offer him any kind of cash payment.
Not all foreign garages are out to rip you off!
Anyway, I eventually found a breakdown recovery firm. The guy came out, diagnosed the issue but couldn't fix it at the roadside. He put my car on the back of his truck and took me back to his garage and fixed the problem (something to do with a fuel hose connection from memory). Total charge was £0. He said he was on his way back past us anyway and the part cost him very little. I was so grateful, but had no Euros left to offer him any kind of cash payment.
Not all foreign garages are out to rip you off!
They will have a network of garages that they will be familiar with, but the amount that they deal with them will vary. The breakdown element of most policies is to a place of safety, and with a European one it won't be to fix your bike, it will likely be to get it to a place of safety, repatriate it to your home address/UK repairer or salvage agent. I can also say that the cost of recovering your bike from Italy (or anywhere in Europe) would have cost them more than a couple of hundred pounds.
Did your policy have a repatriation element in it?
Did your policy have a repatriation element in it?
The policy says recovery to 'the closest repairer' or to your home.
They were not a bike specialist, and said as much. It was more like a recovery depot with a few tyres, exhaust parts and so forth for relatively basic repairs. Though obviously they did repair it in the end and seem to have done a decent job.
Nice story Paul. I don't think all foreign garages are out to get you at all. And by the same token I can imagine plenty of garages here doing much the same! It is the lack of any assistance frrom the insurance company that annoys me, and the fact they went ahead and did it with no quote or authorisation.
The policy does include recovery, but this is a last resort as it is expensive and takes time, but possible if repairs aren't feasible. It is a relatively simple job so it made perfect sense to get it done there. I also put forward the idea that I could collect it myself on a trailer which still would have been expensive but comparable to this repair. The insurance company said they would contribute to the cost of this, but encouraged me to wait for a diagnosis and quote first.
I wouldn't expect the repair itself to be covered. What seems wrong here is that it was recovered to their choice of garage who then went ahead and (very expensively) repaired it, while the insurance company offered very little assistance in dealing with any of it. It would be a half hour's job for an Italian speaker to phone a couple of local bike garages and get a quote for transporting and repairing the bike and it could have saved hundreds of pounds. In fact by not doing anything and apparently being even less able to communicate with the garage than myself, it would quite possibly have worked out cheaper had I not had breakdown cover at all!
They were not a bike specialist, and said as much. It was more like a recovery depot with a few tyres, exhaust parts and so forth for relatively basic repairs. Though obviously they did repair it in the end and seem to have done a decent job.
Nice story Paul. I don't think all foreign garages are out to get you at all. And by the same token I can imagine plenty of garages here doing much the same! It is the lack of any assistance frrom the insurance company that annoys me, and the fact they went ahead and did it with no quote or authorisation.
The policy does include recovery, but this is a last resort as it is expensive and takes time, but possible if repairs aren't feasible. It is a relatively simple job so it made perfect sense to get it done there. I also put forward the idea that I could collect it myself on a trailer which still would have been expensive but comparable to this repair. The insurance company said they would contribute to the cost of this, but encouraged me to wait for a diagnosis and quote first.
I wouldn't expect the repair itself to be covered. What seems wrong here is that it was recovered to their choice of garage who then went ahead and (very expensively) repaired it, while the insurance company offered very little assistance in dealing with any of it. It would be a half hour's job for an Italian speaker to phone a couple of local bike garages and get a quote for transporting and repairing the bike and it could have saved hundreds of pounds. In fact by not doing anything and apparently being even less able to communicate with the garage than myself, it would quite possibly have worked out cheaper had I not had breakdown cover at all!
A few hundred pounds to repair your regulator/ stator is probably cheaper than you would pay here in the UK.
This year my transit turbo failed, in germany , I didn't have breakdown insurance, I called the local police, who kindly came in a patrol car, arranged a tow to a local garage(150 euro), who not only fixed the van for a reasonable price,(yes, less than the UK) but also arranged us a hire car, and were even going to book us a hotel for the night, but we'd already booked one.
Had I taken AA euro cover, they probably would not have had any hire cars as none of the major companys have stock, and they would have perhaps taken the van to a depot in the UK and I'd have had to deal with it here.
It happens, just pay the bill, get your bike and get on with your life.
As usual , Insurance is useless.
This year my transit turbo failed, in germany , I didn't have breakdown insurance, I called the local police, who kindly came in a patrol car, arranged a tow to a local garage(150 euro), who not only fixed the van for a reasonable price,(yes, less than the UK) but also arranged us a hire car, and were even going to book us a hotel for the night, but we'd already booked one.
Had I taken AA euro cover, they probably would not have had any hire cars as none of the major companys have stock, and they would have perhaps taken the van to a depot in the UK and I'd have had to deal with it here.
It happens, just pay the bill, get your bike and get on with your life.
As usual , Insurance is useless.
Unfortunately if you don’t have anything in writing confirming that they wouldn’t do any work until they’d given you a diagnosis I think you are on a hiding to nothing as you’ll never be able to show what was/wasn’t agreed.
Even if you did have such an agreement in writing you’re still on the back foot as they have your bike and you want it back.
For the sake of a a few hundred pounds I think you have to chalk it down to experience as otherwise you’re looking at months of dispute- they might put the bike up for sale to pay the repair costs - things could really get difficult.
You have my sympathy
Edit to add: they would have charged you for the diagnosis in any event so perhaps the invoice isn’t as inflated as you think?
Even if you did have such an agreement in writing you’re still on the back foot as they have your bike and you want it back.
For the sake of a a few hundred pounds I think you have to chalk it down to experience as otherwise you’re looking at months of dispute- they might put the bike up for sale to pay the repair costs - things could really get difficult.
You have my sympathy
Edit to add: they would have charged you for the diagnosis in any event so perhaps the invoice isn’t as inflated as you think?
The breakdown company took your vehicle to a garage for repair; anything that happens after this isn't really their fault or problem.
It'll have been a case of the local recovery chap knowing (or even Googling) a garage who can deal with the issue, it's up to you to deal with any problems arising from this.
The best you can do is argue about the bill with them and ask for a reduction.
It'll have been a case of the local recovery chap knowing (or even Googling) a garage who can deal with the issue, it's up to you to deal with any problems arising from this.
The best you can do is argue about the bill with them and ask for a reduction.
I got a price from a specialist of around half of what I paid using Triumph parts.
Right about insurance being useless. I'm quite sure I could have resolved it cheaper without it!
The recovery place repaired it themselves, with no quote or authorisation and the insurance company offered no assistance in any of the arrangements. A captive customer.
Yes it looks like a learning experience!
Right about insurance being useless. I'm quite sure I could have resolved it cheaper without it!
The recovery place repaired it themselves, with no quote or authorisation and the insurance company offered no assistance in any of the arrangements. A captive customer.
Yes it looks like a learning experience!
JuanCarlosFandango said:
I got a price from a specialist of around half of what I paid using Triumph parts.
Right about insurance being useless. I'm quite sure I could have resolved it cheaper without it!
The recovery place repaired it themselves, with no quote or authorisation and the insurance company offered no assistance in any of the arrangements. A captive customer.
Yes it looks like a learning experience!
I am not sure why you keep mentioning the insurance company, they do not cover breakdowns. They may have included 'breakdown cover' as part of the premium, but, normally this is a separate policy with one of the breakdown companies such as AA, RAC or Green Flag or the bike equivalent.Right about insurance being useless. I'm quite sure I could have resolved it cheaper without it!
The recovery place repaired it themselves, with no quote or authorisation and the insurance company offered no assistance in any of the arrangements. A captive customer.
Yes it looks like a learning experience!
MustangGT said:
I am not sure why you keep mentioning the insurance company, they do not cover breakdowns. They may have included 'breakdown cover' as part of the premium, but, normally this is a separate policy with one of the breakdown companies such as AA, RAC or Green Flag or the bike equivalent.
I meant the breakdown insurance company. Not the insurers who cover the bike.I don't really understand why you think the breakdown company should be involved once they've recovered the car somewhere.
If I breakdown in the UK, the car gets recovered somewhere - what happens next is between me and the place it's been taken to. I've had breakdown cover abroad, and although I've not needed it, I'd expect it to be the same - if they can't repair at the roadside, then it gets recovered somewhere and at that point the recovery company's involvement ends.
If the garage it was taken to fixed it without authorisation, and it was fairly expensive then that's unfortunate - but I can't see what that has to do with the Italian version of the AA.
If I breakdown in the UK, the car gets recovered somewhere - what happens next is between me and the place it's been taken to. I've had breakdown cover abroad, and although I've not needed it, I'd expect it to be the same - if they can't repair at the roadside, then it gets recovered somewhere and at that point the recovery company's involvement ends.
If the garage it was taken to fixed it without authorisation, and it was fairly expensive then that's unfortunate - but I can't see what that has to do with the Italian version of the AA.
Thinking about it, when our Range Rover broke down in Le Mans, I was pretty much out the picture. I know it visited 3 garages before it got fixed. I always though it was a small issue, but no issue in France on Saturday evening is that small.
My level of apprehension was calmed as I clicked the parts and labour cover for a tenner button. One of my wiser choices.
My level of apprehension was calmed as I clicked the parts and labour cover for a tenner button. One of my wiser choices.
davek_964 said:
I don't really understand why you think the breakdown company should be involved once they've recovered the car somewhere.
If I breakdown in the UK, the car gets recovered somewhere - what happens next is between me and the place it's been taken to. I've had breakdown cover abroad, and although I've not needed it, I'd expect it to be the same - if they can't repair at the roadside, then it gets recovered somewhere and at that point the recovery company's involvement ends.
If the garage it was taken to fixed it without authorisation, and it was fairly expensive then that's unfortunate - but I can't see what that has to do with the Italian version of the AA.
Well it matters somewhat where they recover it to. My expectation would be a garage that - being affiliated with a major breakdown network - would at least be bound to give a quote and then let you decide whether it was worth going ahead, recovering the bike or trying to arrange something else myself. If I breakdown in the UK, the car gets recovered somewhere - what happens next is between me and the place it's been taken to. I've had breakdown cover abroad, and although I've not needed it, I'd expect it to be the same - if they can't repair at the roadside, then it gets recovered somewhere and at that point the recovery company's involvement ends.
If the garage it was taken to fixed it without authorisation, and it was fairly expensive then that's unfortunate - but I can't see what that has to do with the Italian version of the AA.
JuanCarlosFandango said:
Well it matters somewhat where they recover it to. My expectation would be a garage that - being affiliated with a major breakdown network - would at least be bound to give a quote and then let you decide whether it was worth going ahead, recovering the bike or trying to arrange something else myself.
I think you have an unrealistic expectation! What does the policy say ?
The most i would expect from a European policy is recovery to the nearest garage and potentially some additional assistance in communication and translation. In the UK i'd expect less ! unless you specified a garage within the given range (10 miles ) - they would simply recover to the nearest garage - then any dealings with the garage would be up to you. Relay/onwards transport to your home would be a different policy
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