Left stranded on the motorway.
Discussion
Yesterday i was off work and a friend was off to take a car for a VIC test at the (nearly) local VOSA test centre in doncaster, he asked if i wanted a drive out with him.
It's about 35 mile away and whilst sat on the A1M the cam belt snapped, no worries we were both in the RAC and would get home but as we'd not got to the test centre he would be £41 down.
Managed to coast past some police vehicles and to the very bottom of the slip road that leads to what i assume is the council/road works yard between J36 and 37.
A phone call to the RAC and as we were on the motorway we would be priority and about 30 mins away. the police were pulling vehicles on the A1M and taking them into this yard for VOSA inspections so before the RAC arrived we were visited by a motorcycle officer as the car came up on their system as uninsured/untaxed but as we were going to the VIC test all documents were on hand, traders policy, MOT and even drivers licence.
If anyone does not know what the VIC test is, it's a Vehicle Identity Check and after repairing a written off vehicle (cat C) you need to have this check (£41 but includes price of the V5) to see if all is as should be before the V5 is issued to you, now you can't tax the vehicle because you don't have the V5 so you are legally allowed to drive the vehicle on the road to and from the VIC test, provided everything else up to date so no laws were being broken.
The officer left once he knew we had called the RAC so we sat on the banking waiting, the RAC turned up, the guy asked for the keys and told us to wait were we were, he went in the boot, took the towing eye and fitted it to the front but then must have spotted the (lack of) tax disc, he asked us were it was and we told him what we were doing but he than claimed he could not recover us as it was not taxed, we explained the legallities of the VIC test but he then claimed he would not be insured to tow us at all, he had one of those dollies that folds out the back of his transit.
The only thing he would do was to organise a third party to tow us home, at our cost, he would'nt even tow us off the motorway and out of harms way. just left us there.
Dave called the RAC again (freephone numbers off mobile??) to complain but to no avail, we were on our own.
He had to ring a mate of a mate who could come out to us (own recovery truck) who was just finishing off another job and could be with us in around an hour. I was not happy with the RAC's answers so being a member myself i also rang them to complain, i was left on hold for about 6 mins whilst they asked a supervisor but their answer was just the same.
Then a second visit from the police, same reason, ANPR said not insured/taxed but was happy once we explained the situation, these officers were looking for vehicles to take off the road/defects etc so i'm sure if we had not been legal they would have taken this one off the road.
Looking into the RAC small print today it does say car needs to be taxed so i can see that side but it's not like we've been dodging tax for months and avoiding it,we were legal to drive it.
So on this footing, you take your car to a pre booked MOT and are unfortunate to break down you'll be in the same boat/car even though you can legally drive there with no tax.
Dave rang the RAC today, making out a new enquiry about cover and asked the tax disc question when going for a VIC test and the opperator left him on hold whilst asking a supervisor and guess what the answer was?
YES.
So now dilemma, if to push for recovery costs we had to pay out yesterday.
Discuss please.
It's about 35 mile away and whilst sat on the A1M the cam belt snapped, no worries we were both in the RAC and would get home but as we'd not got to the test centre he would be £41 down.
Managed to coast past some police vehicles and to the very bottom of the slip road that leads to what i assume is the council/road works yard between J36 and 37.
A phone call to the RAC and as we were on the motorway we would be priority and about 30 mins away. the police were pulling vehicles on the A1M and taking them into this yard for VOSA inspections so before the RAC arrived we were visited by a motorcycle officer as the car came up on their system as uninsured/untaxed but as we were going to the VIC test all documents were on hand, traders policy, MOT and even drivers licence.
If anyone does not know what the VIC test is, it's a Vehicle Identity Check and after repairing a written off vehicle (cat C) you need to have this check (£41 but includes price of the V5) to see if all is as should be before the V5 is issued to you, now you can't tax the vehicle because you don't have the V5 so you are legally allowed to drive the vehicle on the road to and from the VIC test, provided everything else up to date so no laws were being broken.
The officer left once he knew we had called the RAC so we sat on the banking waiting, the RAC turned up, the guy asked for the keys and told us to wait were we were, he went in the boot, took the towing eye and fitted it to the front but then must have spotted the (lack of) tax disc, he asked us were it was and we told him what we were doing but he than claimed he could not recover us as it was not taxed, we explained the legallities of the VIC test but he then claimed he would not be insured to tow us at all, he had one of those dollies that folds out the back of his transit.
The only thing he would do was to organise a third party to tow us home, at our cost, he would'nt even tow us off the motorway and out of harms way. just left us there.
Dave called the RAC again (freephone numbers off mobile??) to complain but to no avail, we were on our own.
He had to ring a mate of a mate who could come out to us (own recovery truck) who was just finishing off another job and could be with us in around an hour. I was not happy with the RAC's answers so being a member myself i also rang them to complain, i was left on hold for about 6 mins whilst they asked a supervisor but their answer was just the same.
Then a second visit from the police, same reason, ANPR said not insured/taxed but was happy once we explained the situation, these officers were looking for vehicles to take off the road/defects etc so i'm sure if we had not been legal they would have taken this one off the road.
Looking into the RAC small print today it does say car needs to be taxed so i can see that side but it's not like we've been dodging tax for months and avoiding it,we were legal to drive it.
So on this footing, you take your car to a pre booked MOT and are unfortunate to break down you'll be in the same boat/car even though you can legally drive there with no tax.
Dave rang the RAC today, making out a new enquiry about cover and asked the tax disc question when going for a VIC test and the opperator left him on hold whilst asking a supervisor and guess what the answer was?
YES.
So now dilemma, if to push for recovery costs we had to pay out yesterday.
Discuss please.
You're unfortunately in one of those catch 22 problems, yes you're legal, but no the RAC can't tow you as your vehicle is not taxed,which it's not. There is no inbetween. They are not covered by insurance unless you vehicle is taxed, not their fault but the insurance company they have.
It would be a waste of time & effort trying to claim from the RAC, it is clearly written down in the policy that you've checked.
Next time, either have a friend on standby, or make a better job of fixing it ;-)
It would be a waste of time & effort trying to claim from the RAC, it is clearly written down in the policy that you've checked.
Next time, either have a friend on standby, or make a better job of fixing it ;-)
LADANIVA said:
I'll stand corrected, but you were lucky with the police.
Going out for a drive as you put it in your 1st paragraph isn't covered by Trade plates is it???
They weren't "going for a drive" the OP was asked if he'd like to go with the driver whist he took it for test, there's no problem with that.Going out for a drive as you put it in your 1st paragraph isn't covered by Trade plates is it???
LADANIVA said:
I'll stand corrected, but you were lucky with the police.
Going out for a drive as you put it in your 1st paragraph isn't covered by Trade plates is it???
They weren't 'lucky' with the police, they were completely legal.Going out for a drive as you put it in your 1st paragraph isn't covered by Trade plates is it???
And it's not written anywhere that they were using trade plates, and if they were, it was completely legal to do so.
You seem to be confusing 'going out for a drive' with him being invited 'along for a drive' to a pre-arranged test which is legal
s
tty luck OP. LADANIVA said:
I'll stand corrected, but you were lucky with the police.
Going out for a drive as you put it in your 1st paragraph isn't covered by Trade plates is it???
The car was going for a vic test, op was asked to accompany the driver for this test .....wasn't out on a jollie so no issue.Going out for a drive as you put it in your 1st paragraph isn't covered by Trade plates is it???
I'm glad I'm not the only one then!!
Used my ZZR1100 to get myself to uni one time, I had bought tax online 4 days earlier but it hadn't arrived. Plymouth University is 75 miles from home so I chanced it..
On the way home, the engine let go and I rolled to a stop in a layby 20 miles from home. Called the RAC, someone came, all chatty, the usual, yeh I'm a biker, love bikes etc.. spotted no disc and said he couldn't recover! I told him to wait and phoned DVLA, they spoke to the RAC man and confirmed I was taxed but the RAC man and RAC head office said "must be displayed". I was pretty angry to say the least!!
Sat beside the A30 for nearly 5 hours before I could get picked up by another company.
Used my ZZR1100 to get myself to uni one time, I had bought tax online 4 days earlier but it hadn't arrived. Plymouth University is 75 miles from home so I chanced it..
On the way home, the engine let go and I rolled to a stop in a layby 20 miles from home. Called the RAC, someone came, all chatty, the usual, yeh I'm a biker, love bikes etc.. spotted no disc and said he couldn't recover! I told him to wait and phoned DVLA, they spoke to the RAC man and confirmed I was taxed but the RAC man and RAC head office said "must be displayed". I was pretty angry to say the least!!
Sat beside the A30 for nearly 5 hours before I could get picked up by another company.
Edited by Lee540 on Thursday 31st January 15:30
Gafferjim said:
You're unfortunately in one of those catch 22 problems, yes you're legal, but no the RAC can't tow you as your vehicle is not taxed,which it's not. There is no inbetween. They are not covered by insurance unless you vehicle is taxed, not their fault but the insurance company they have.
It would be a waste of time & effort trying to claim from the RAC, it is clearly written down in the policy that you've checked.
Next time, either have a friend on standby, or make a better job of fixing it ;-)
Not sure on this but once car is picked up on one of those dollies, does'nt it become a trailer?It would be a waste of time & effort trying to claim from the RAC, it is clearly written down in the policy that you've checked.
Next time, either have a friend on standby, or make a better job of fixing it ;-)
Catch 22, your probably right there
But when calling this morning asking if was covered (as a new custoemr) they say yes, is this just to get business? whats the legalities of recording their calls without telling them? ie 'if' we had recorded them saying yes?
It was a rear door and wing damaged, never thought to check cambelt on a 40k engine
doogz said:
Nope. If any part of the car is touching the ground, it's a car. It should be road legal.
And therein lies the problem. The RAC (rightly) will not recover anything that's not road-legal. The car, in this case, is no longer going to the VIC test, so it is no longer in the legal loophole which excuses it.Extremely tough luck, I would say.
littleredrooster said:
And therein lies the problem. The RAC (rightly) will not recover anything that's not road-legal. The car, in this case, is no longer going to the VIC test, so it is no longer in the legal loophole which excuses it.
Extremely tough luck, I would say.
So, does that mean they won't recover a vehicle which has a damaged tyre if the damage is sufficient to make it illegal?Extremely tough luck, I would say.
Dark85 said:
So, does that mean they won't recover a vehicle which has a damaged tyre if the damage is sufficient to make it illegal?
If they can't fit a tyre that will make it towable, probably not. Although chances are they'd send a low loader to sort it, in this case they can get out of expense by washing their hands of it.Gafferjim said:
You're unfortunately in one of those catch 22 problems, yes you're legal, but no the RAC can't tow you as your vehicle is not taxed,which it's not. There is no inbetween. They are not covered by insurance unless you vehicle is taxed, not their fault but the insurance company they have.
It would be a waste of time & effort trying to claim from the RAC, it is clearly written down in the policy that you've checked.
Next time, either have a friend on standby, or make a better job of fixing it ;-)
That's not Catch 22. It would be a waste of time & effort trying to claim from the RAC, it is clearly written down in the policy that you've checked.
Next time, either have a friend on standby, or make a better job of fixing it ;-)
RAC....been a member for years. Broke down in Sittingbourne Kent at 830 pm. I was recovered off the motorway at 2 am. No drivers with enough hours to recover us back to yorkshire so was given an 05 Ka to drive 200 miles, rejected that was given a 08 Skoda fabia (fair enough)
upon complaining I was told that 5.5 hours in acceptable to be recovered off a motorway and offered 15% discount on membership.
Im in the AA now
They might be in mid policy change.
The one advantage of the RAC is they would recover you following an accident. Other well known operators only recover from a breakdown.
Not so long ago the RAC changed policy in line with every one else.
However sometime around Christmas a mate who asked them a direct question discovered that, due to loss of custom, theyd just returned to their previous policy.
So maybe they do.
Doesn't their small print say something about recovery only while MOT'd too.
Are there so many people who need recovery having just missed an MOT that its costing loads of money?
They cant be doing it as a money earner as they dont seem to volunteer we will take you after all for £xxxx,
isn't it just a 'youre on your own mate'
The one advantage of the RAC is they would recover you following an accident. Other well known operators only recover from a breakdown.
Not so long ago the RAC changed policy in line with every one else.
However sometime around Christmas a mate who asked them a direct question discovered that, due to loss of custom, theyd just returned to their previous policy.
So maybe they do.
Doesn't their small print say something about recovery only while MOT'd too.
Are there so many people who need recovery having just missed an MOT that its costing loads of money?
They cant be doing it as a money earner as they dont seem to volunteer we will take you after all for £xxxx,
isn't it just a 'youre on your own mate'
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