Euro breakdown cover without vehicle value repat limit
Discussion
Off to France in a few weeks for a fortnight holiday. Vehicle of choice is a 15 year old BMW. Worth maybe £3k.
I'd like to get some breakdown cover that would bring the car back if it cannot be repaired. Most policies that I look at have a repatriation cost limit to the value of the vehicle. Not knowing how much repatriation actually costs, it's hard for me to judge whether we would breach that but I'm sure it's possible if family onward travel/hire car etc are also included in that.
The problem I'm having is that this clause is generally buried in the small print of each policy so it's proving a bit of a long winded exercise trying to find cover that would actually bring the car home.
Anybody been through this and got the answer?
I'd like to get some breakdown cover that would bring the car back if it cannot be repaired. Most policies that I look at have a repatriation cost limit to the value of the vehicle. Not knowing how much repatriation actually costs, it's hard for me to judge whether we would breach that but I'm sure it's possible if family onward travel/hire car etc are also included in that.
The problem I'm having is that this clause is generally buried in the small print of each policy so it's proving a bit of a long winded exercise trying to find cover that would actually bring the car home.
Anybody been through this and got the answer?
OP, I'm surprised you managed to find a policy that covers cars over 10 yrs old, I know when I was traveling regularly to France, I used to take out breakdown cover, until I realised my car wasn't actually covered as it was over 10 yrs old.
I think you are probably as well to take the policy you have found. If it does need to be repatriated, you are at least covered up to the value of the car and you would be liable for any additional costs. Onward travel/car hire etc are all costs that are under your control within reason as well.
Depending on where you are going in France, there are also plenty of small garages who are fairly good at getting you going again.
Just check the obvious things on the car before you go and I am sure you will be fine (famous last words!).
I think you are probably as well to take the policy you have found. If it does need to be repatriated, you are at least covered up to the value of the car and you would be liable for any additional costs. Onward travel/car hire etc are all costs that are under your control within reason as well.
Depending on where you are going in France, there are also plenty of small garages who are fairly good at getting you going again.
Just check the obvious things on the car before you go and I am sure you will be fine (famous last words!).
Cheers. Eversure seem to cover vehicles up to 20 years old. They're not too badly priced. Cheaper than RAC, Greenflag and AA. I'm trying to find out from them what actually happens in the event that they decide that the car is uneconomical to recover. Not clear on whether they pay out for the value of the car plus onward travel. Pay out for the cost of the car minus onward travel. Pay out for onward travel only. Or nothing! I'm on their (not very) livechat now so maybe I'll be able to give the answer to that shortly if that may also help others who find this thread.
If it looks like the cover level isn't worth it for our car, obviously I'll need to just take my chances with local recovery etc should the worst happen but that could be a real pain, particularly if it happens on the way home.
If it looks like the cover level isn't worth it for our car, obviously I'll need to just take my chances with local recovery etc should the worst happen but that could be a real pain, particularly if it happens on the way home.
Right, update on this one from Eversure.
"If the total cost of repatriation your vehicle is greater than the value of the vehicle, we will deem the vehicle to be an economic write-off and will
only offer repatriation of passengers, plus a contribution towards the cost of disposal of the vehicle."
So, they can deem it an "ecomonic write off " and not actually have to pay anything other than the cost to scrap it. Seems a nice bit of business if you can get it!
It also seems like this is pretty much industry standard.
But seems a totally crap deal for the customer. It effectively means that they can charge you exactly the same regardless of your vehicle's value (they don't even ask that), but if your car isn't worth 'enough' then they would simply leave it there with no real cost to them. If your car is worth more, they'll shell out to bring it home. A massive disparity in pay out cost for the same policy. I would have thought it would have been far fairer to pay out for the vehicle's value which would already be saving them money on repatriation fees, according to them.
So, a bit back to square one with this! Surely there is someone who will charge me an appropriate fee to cover the risk? The car isn't worth a great deal but has been in our family for ages, I'd hate to see it sent to the crusher just because it's too much hassle to get it home.
"If the total cost of repatriation your vehicle is greater than the value of the vehicle, we will deem the vehicle to be an economic write-off and will
only offer repatriation of passengers, plus a contribution towards the cost of disposal of the vehicle."
So, they can deem it an "ecomonic write off " and not actually have to pay anything other than the cost to scrap it. Seems a nice bit of business if you can get it!
It also seems like this is pretty much industry standard.
But seems a totally crap deal for the customer. It effectively means that they can charge you exactly the same regardless of your vehicle's value (they don't even ask that), but if your car isn't worth 'enough' then they would simply leave it there with no real cost to them. If your car is worth more, they'll shell out to bring it home. A massive disparity in pay out cost for the same policy. I would have thought it would have been far fairer to pay out for the vehicle's value which would already be saving them money on repatriation fees, according to them.
So, a bit back to square one with this! Surely there is someone who will charge me an appropriate fee to cover the risk? The car isn't worth a great deal but has been in our family for ages, I'd hate to see it sent to the crusher just because it's too much hassle to get it home.
In that case I guess you would use the insurance to get you and your family home - so you still get some benefit from the insurance - and then try to arrange with a local garage to hold onto the car until you can return.
Either you get that local garage to repair the car so you can drive it back, or you arrange for transportation back to UK. You would still be a lot out of pocket but the breakdown cover wouldn't be worthless as it would get your family home.
Either you get that local garage to repair the car so you can drive it back, or you arrange for transportation back to UK. You would still be a lot out of pocket but the breakdown cover wouldn't be worthless as it would get your family home.
braddo said:
In that case I guess you would use the insurance to get you and your family home - so you still get some benefit from the insurance - and then try to arrange with a local garage to hold onto the car until you can return.
Either you get that local garage to repair the car so you can drive it back, or you arrange for transportation back to UK. You would still be a lot out of pocket but the breakdown cover wouldn't be worthless as it would get your family home.
Well yeah, though very annoying to be paying the same amount as anyone else but getting effectively much less cover. Either you get that local garage to repair the car so you can drive it back, or you arrange for transportation back to UK. You would still be a lot out of pocket but the breakdown cover wouldn't be worthless as it would get your family home.
The people repatriation cover is only up to £300 per person as well so in our case approx. £1200 of costs covered for about £100. Doesn't seem a great option! I guess they'd be covering some rescue fees and disposal of the vehicle as well so if I'm being kind, maybe I'd get about £2k of useful cover for my £100.
I don't actually have any kind of barometer for what repatriation costs actually add up to. Maybe we're fine. Maybe £3k ish gets my car all the way home from France, no problem. What if repatriation costs were £10k. Do they just scrap off a £10k car?! There must be someone who properly insures this risk!
delta0 said:
Some policies will disregard the value of the vehicle. I often take a policy like this with RAC. It is a bit more expensive.
Cheers. Do you have a link to that or is it a case of phoning them? Their website only seems to have policies that cap the repat costs to the car value. Gad-Westy said:
delta0 said:
Some policies will disregard the value of the vehicle. I often take a policy like this with RAC. It is a bit more expensive.
Cheers. Do you have a link to that or is it a case of phoning them? Their website only seems to have policies that cap the repat costs to the car value. The basic one uses market value, the comprehensive plus one doesn’t.
How far down France are you going?
I have just had a car recovered and transported 50 kilometres and that cost 300 euro so approx 6 euro per kilometre. You’ve got the driver, the vehicle and the return journey to think about.
However our local HyperU supermarket will rent you a car transporter for 128 euro per day plus mileage charges. Or you can just park it up somewhere and arrange to come back and collect it.
Loads of PH’s in France usually with lots of space, check out the France forum in International PH
I have just had a car recovered and transported 50 kilometres and that cost 300 euro so approx 6 euro per kilometre. You’ve got the driver, the vehicle and the return journey to think about.
However our local HyperU supermarket will rent you a car transporter for 128 euro per day plus mileage charges. Or you can just park it up somewhere and arrange to come back and collect it.
Loads of PH’s in France usually with lots of space, check out the France forum in International PH
leyorkie said:
How far down France are you going?
I have just had a car recovered and transported 50 kilometres and that cost 300 euro so approx 6 euro per kilometre. You’ve got the driver, the vehicle and the return journey to think about.
However our local HyperU supermarket will rent you a car transporter for 128 euro per day plus mileage charges. Or you can just park it up somewhere and arrange to come back and collect it.
Loads of PH’s in France usually with lots of space, check out the France forum in International PH
Cheers. Useful to know. Obviously I'm not planning on breaking down but if it's going to happen anywhere, I can guarantee it won't be somewhere convenient! I have just had a car recovered and transported 50 kilometres and that cost 300 euro so approx 6 euro per kilometre. You’ve got the driver, the vehicle and the return journey to think about.
However our local HyperU supermarket will rent you a car transporter for 128 euro per day plus mileage charges. Or you can just park it up somewhere and arrange to come back and collect it.
Loads of PH’s in France usually with lots of space, check out the France forum in International PH
We'll be somewhere between Limoges and Brive. I forget the exact place.
Check out Nationwide's recovery included with a bank account.
https://www.nationwide.co.uk/-/assets/nationwideco...
https://www.nationwide.co.uk/-/assets/nationwideco...
I think it's a common desire to wrap problems in an "I've paid for this to be dealt with" blanket, even if that's not the reality of what would happen in the event of an actual breakdown. I used to do this all the time. In my case it's almost a wilful not-thinking-it-through. Even with breakdown insurance, breaking down abroad is still going to be 90% of the hassle if you have assistance arranged beforehand. It'll just cost slightly less that way.
If you break down on a French autoroute, you will have to use one of the orange phones (or dial 112, which is their version of 999) to call their recovery service, this is how it works in France; autoroutes are private and they deal with breakdowns on their road.
Assuming you will use autoroutes, what are you covering with recovery insurance? Just breakdowns that don't happen on the autoroute, and/or recovery from wherever the autoroute recovery system gets you to?
Either way you are going to be waiting about for lowloaders and the like. Depending on timing, it's entirely feasible the family will have to make their own way home and you'll be sorting out the rest.
Personally I'd just pocket the money each time I travel and then ultimately pay for repatriation myself if the vehicle broke down abroad, but I always leave some time to recover and even if I didn't turn up to work for a couple of days it would not cost me my job or the like.
Likewise, I don't really buy into this inside the UK (although I have 2 vehicles, access to 4 and don't need any of them day to day, YMMV) -- the sole difference being that inside the UK you have the option to call a recovery service like the AA/RAC/whoever and join at the point of the breakdown. It was once the case that if you broke down, the AA or RAC or whoever would arrive in their own truck and fix or recover your car, and they still do some of that, but since they all also contract recovery to local firms you could just as easily call yourself it's not as relevant these days.
TL;DR CraigyMc doesn't wholeheartedly buy into recovery insurance.
If you break down on a French autoroute, you will have to use one of the orange phones (or dial 112, which is their version of 999) to call their recovery service, this is how it works in France; autoroutes are private and they deal with breakdowns on their road.
Assuming you will use autoroutes, what are you covering with recovery insurance? Just breakdowns that don't happen on the autoroute, and/or recovery from wherever the autoroute recovery system gets you to?
Either way you are going to be waiting about for lowloaders and the like. Depending on timing, it's entirely feasible the family will have to make their own way home and you'll be sorting out the rest.
Personally I'd just pocket the money each time I travel and then ultimately pay for repatriation myself if the vehicle broke down abroad, but I always leave some time to recover and even if I didn't turn up to work for a couple of days it would not cost me my job or the like.
Likewise, I don't really buy into this inside the UK (although I have 2 vehicles, access to 4 and don't need any of them day to day, YMMV) -- the sole difference being that inside the UK you have the option to call a recovery service like the AA/RAC/whoever and join at the point of the breakdown. It was once the case that if you broke down, the AA or RAC or whoever would arrive in their own truck and fix or recover your car, and they still do some of that, but since they all also contract recovery to local firms you could just as easily call yourself it's not as relevant these days.
TL;DR CraigyMc doesn't wholeheartedly buy into recovery insurance.
To be fair to them I can see the logic that there's no sense repatriating a £3k when working car if it's going to cost £4k. You still get roadside recovery (and they cover the costs of getting off the autoroute) and onward travel.
The best way to look at it is that they may not cover the repatriation costs over a certain point, but their risk for the things they do cover is higher.
It also depends how good your French is as they arrange everything...
The best way to look at it is that they may not cover the repatriation costs over a certain point, but their risk for the things they do cover is higher.
It also depends how good your French is as they arrange everything...
I think CraigyMc has hit the nail on the head.
If it was possible to get cover so that in the event of a breakdown you could:
1. Phone the Breakdown co
2. Tell them where you had broken down
3. Tell them you need to get to Home/Holiday destination
At which point the Breakdown co says, "Don't worry sir/madam we will sort everything out for you"
Then it would be a no brainer.
But the reality would be vastly different, it will be a complete nightmare trying to resolve all the things that need to happen, even with breakdown cover, you are not going to be shielded from this nightmare.
Apologies for the doom and gloom above, on to a more positive note.
It might be worth checking travel insurance to see if they will repatriate people in the event of a car breakdown, at least that way you can get you and your family home if required.
If it was possible to get cover so that in the event of a breakdown you could:
1. Phone the Breakdown co
2. Tell them where you had broken down
3. Tell them you need to get to Home/Holiday destination
At which point the Breakdown co says, "Don't worry sir/madam we will sort everything out for you"
Then it would be a no brainer.
But the reality would be vastly different, it will be a complete nightmare trying to resolve all the things that need to happen, even with breakdown cover, you are not going to be shielded from this nightmare.
Apologies for the doom and gloom above, on to a more positive note.
It might be worth checking travel insurance to see if they will repatriate people in the event of a car breakdown, at least that way you can get you and your family home if required.
Cheers all. Lots to consider though starting to look like I should either just leave it or have a more expensive car!
I guess in reality a more likely scenario in the event of a more serious breakdown, is that the car sits in a french garage for a week or so and I have to fly out and get it. I think the premium RAC membership might cover a scenario like that.
Just a bit of crap situation as our car falls into the not worth much money but has some sentimental value and it's almost entirely self-maintained so if something breaks at home, it costs me a bit of sanity, some parts and oily finger nails where if it breaks in a serious way in France, it seems that it's probably going to be staying there
Does anyone actually know how much repatriation can cost? I have no feel for it at all but I just wonder if there are people driving £10k cars that could even find themselves sat the wrong side of this clause? It would also be useful to know in case I go for the self-insured option.
Bill said:
To be fair to them I can see the logic that there's no sense repatriating a £3k when working car if it's going to cost £4k. You still get roadside recovery (and they cover the costs of getting off the autoroute) and onward travel.
Maybe it's just my own self interest that is distorting my view of this but in the example above, it's more like, it's not worth paying £4k to get a £3k car home so instead we'll be pay nothing. In insurance terms, it's an insurance company deciding to write your car off because it's uneconomical to repair but then you not getting a penny in return.I guess in reality a more likely scenario in the event of a more serious breakdown, is that the car sits in a french garage for a week or so and I have to fly out and get it. I think the premium RAC membership might cover a scenario like that.
Just a bit of crap situation as our car falls into the not worth much money but has some sentimental value and it's almost entirely self-maintained so if something breaks at home, it costs me a bit of sanity, some parts and oily finger nails where if it breaks in a serious way in France, it seems that it's probably going to be staying there
Does anyone actually know how much repatriation can cost? I have no feel for it at all but I just wonder if there are people driving £10k cars that could even find themselves sat the wrong side of this clause? It would also be useful to know in case I go for the self-insured option.
delta0 said:
Gad-Westy said:
delta0 said:
Some policies will disregard the value of the vehicle. I often take a policy like this with RAC. It is a bit more expensive.
Cheers. Do you have a link to that or is it a case of phoning them? Their website only seems to have policies that cap the repat costs to the car value. The basic one uses market value, the comprehensive plus one doesn’t.
It does look like the premium cover might be more useful for repairs and onward travel though.
We broke down in France several years ago on the way back from a campinig holiday in our family car, which was an old Saab 9-5 with 200k miles. The clutch went (master cylinder) as we queued to get through a Péage booth.
I was able to push the damn thing through the toll booth and into a rest stop just the other side while I worked out what to do. Long story short I managed to get it moving with no clutch (horrible treatment of the gearbox) and limped it to a local garage. They replaced the master cylinder but the new one burst the slave cylinder, which definitely wasn't going to be a local repair.
We'd used Eurotunnel and taken out their breakdown cover, which cost £80 on top of the crossing cost. Eurotunnel's service was unbelievably good. They provided:
- a taxi to take me to Lyon airport to collect...
- a hire car we could use to get back to Calais, where we swapped it for a...
- British-registered hire car for the UK journey home to Sussex.
- the repatriation and delivery of our car to a garage of my choice in the UK for the repair a few weeks later.
Thing is, I'd paid £1050 to buy this battered, scruffy old Saab about two years earlier, but they never quibbled about the value of the car vs. the repatriation costs. When the lorry arrived to collect it from the garage the (British) truck driver filled out a condition report. He just wrote 'Dents and scratches on every panel'
But still, they brought this wreck home. Amazing service.
OP, depends who you're travelling with but you could consider Eurotunnel's breakdown cover if you haven't already.
I was able to push the damn thing through the toll booth and into a rest stop just the other side while I worked out what to do. Long story short I managed to get it moving with no clutch (horrible treatment of the gearbox) and limped it to a local garage. They replaced the master cylinder but the new one burst the slave cylinder, which definitely wasn't going to be a local repair.
We'd used Eurotunnel and taken out their breakdown cover, which cost £80 on top of the crossing cost. Eurotunnel's service was unbelievably good. They provided:
- a taxi to take me to Lyon airport to collect...
- a hire car we could use to get back to Calais, where we swapped it for a...
- British-registered hire car for the UK journey home to Sussex.
- the repatriation and delivery of our car to a garage of my choice in the UK for the repair a few weeks later.
Thing is, I'd paid £1050 to buy this battered, scruffy old Saab about two years earlier, but they never quibbled about the value of the car vs. the repatriation costs. When the lorry arrived to collect it from the garage the (British) truck driver filled out a condition report. He just wrote 'Dents and scratches on every panel'
But still, they brought this wreck home. Amazing service.OP, depends who you're travelling with but you could consider Eurotunnel's breakdown cover if you haven't already.
Gad-Westy said:
Maybe it's just my own self interest that is distorting my view of this but in the example above, it's more like, it's not worth paying £4k to get a £3k car home so instead we'll be pay nothing. In insurance terms, it's an insurance company deciding to write your car off because it's uneconomical to repair but then you not getting a penny in return.
I guess in reality a more likely scenario in the event of a more serious breakdown, is that the car sits in a french garage for a week or so and I have to fly out and get it. I think the premium RAC membership might cover a scenario like that.
FWIW we have just had that exact scenario with standard AA cover. Car need a sensor that took 3 working days to arrive. They refused to repatriate it on the grounds it was a €300 fix.I guess in reality a more likely scenario in the event of a more serious breakdown, is that the car sits in a french garage for a week or so and I have to fly out and get it. I think the premium RAC membership might cover a scenario like that.
In hindsight I should just have limped home at 50mph but ended up doing a planes, trains and automobiles job to go get it. And claimed the costs of getting the family home and going to fetch the car.
Gad-Westy said:
It looks to me like on that particular aspect the two policies is the same (or maybe I'm missing something important?).
It does look like the premium cover might be more useful for repairs and onward travel though.
The first one says they'll pay to get it home up to the value of the vehicle, the second doesn't have a limit. Both will only get it home if the repair cost is less than the value of the car.It does look like the premium cover might be more useful for repairs and onward travel though.
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