RAC breakdown crap

[The big yin]

I sent power of attorney forms on the 1 August to allow me to renew a family members cover.
They have received them and not done anything about authorising me to renew the cover.
They do not reply to e mails or calls and the CEO Dave Hobday does not reply or acknowledge e mails .
Has any body else had hassle getting cover ?

[miniman]

Seems like a good opportunity to switch to a breakdown service that won't let you down.

[deckster]

In my experience nothing involving PoA is quick or easy. Expect at least a few weeks for them to register the PoA and even then it's usually a right pain when you have to explain for the nth time that no, you're not your dad but you do have PoA.

That said for things like breakdown insurance I wouldn't even bother telling them. Just renew and pretend that you're the person in question.

[Sheepshanks]

Why can't you just renew it - you'll know all the security answers, surely?

[languagetimothy]

Not sure I quite understand this. You have PoA for a family member, because perhaps they are passed being able to do things for themselves? Don’t want you take this the wrong way, but should they be driving?

[Mr Penguin]

languagetimothy said:

Not sure I quite understand this. You have PoA for a family member, because perhaps they are passed being able to do things for themselves? Don’t want you take this the wrong way, but should they be driving?

Breakdown cover is for passengers as well, so any car they are in would be covered.

As for the RAC, the AA is much, much better at responding to incidents in my experience. Mrs Penguin's parents have been left at the side of the road for 5 hours then just told to get a taxi home whereas I have never waited for more than an hour, at any time of day or night, including when at home or in a supermarket car park.

[geeks]

Mr Penguin said:

languagetimothy said:

Not sure I quite understand this. You have PoA for a family member, because perhaps they are passed being able to do things for themselves? Don’t want you take this the wrong way, but should they be driving?

Breakdown cover is for passengers as well, so any car they are in would be covered.

As for the RAC, the AA is much, much better at responding to incidents in my experience. Mrs Penguin's parents have been left at the side of the road for 5 hours then just told to get a taxi home whereas I have never waited for more than an hour, at any time of day or night, including when at home or in a supermarket car park.

Where as I have had RAC cover for years mainly because on the few occasions I have had to call them out they have been superb!

As always, sometimes recovery companies are good and sometimes they are not

[Ron240]

deckster said:

for things like breakdown insurance I wouldn't even bother telling them. Just renew and pretend that you're the person in question.

Exactly this.
I renewed my dads cover many times over the phone and paid using his card while he was sitting next to me.
He didn't like haggling to get the price down so I did it for him.

[alscar]

Getting anything done these days always seem to take an age - I blame “ not “ wfh.
I would email their own complaints dept and again cc their CEO.
Or try the AA although if you’ve already requested renewal I can see issues when the RAC bothers to respond.

[sherman]

Phone them up and ask to get put through to cancelations. They should sort it out or just cancel and go with the AA.

[The big yin]

WOW thanks for all the replies
Dexter The poa had been done since 2011 so already registered etc just had no need to use it yet.
Language .Timothy
It is in place for emergencies but also for this type of issue , and she is still capable of driving safely.
I will phone cancellations , never thought of that. DOH!!!!
Thanks again

[Fore Left]

In my - admittedly a bit out of date - experience, most companies will add an authorised contact to the account if the account holder calls and requests it. Alternatively get your mum (?) to call them, go through security, explain she's authorising you to speak on her behalf and hand the phone to you.

[InitialDave]

I've found that it's a lot cheaper with the RAC to cancel/not renew, and buy a new policy while simply ignoring their "new customers only" claims about the pricing for doing so.

I'm somewhat interested why they're allowed to do that, actually - isn't it technically an insurance product?

[BertBert]

I am not at all surprised. Who would think that the RAC would be geared up to deal with PoAs? Not a hope.

[languagetimothy]

The big yin said:

WOW thanks for all the replies
Dexter The poa had been done since 2011 so already registered etc just had no need to use it yet.
Language .Timothy
It is in place for emergencies but also for this type of issue , and she is still capable of driving safely.
I will phone cancellations , never thought of that. DOH!!!!
Thanks again

Ok, my late mother put one in place for us kids too before it was needed. She drove ok into her early 80s but had a small scrape and called it a day after talking to me about it. She had many friends who took her out and I pointed out that the money she saves on services, insurance, road tax fuel etc over a year she could put towards taxis. That’s what she did.

[Hol]

BertBert said:

I am not at all surprised. Who would think that the RAC would be geared up to deal with PoAs? Not a hope.

This is a valid point and should not be summarily dismissed.

In my 20’s I ran the operational area of an Asset Manager which included a section dealing with legal documents like POA, Court of Protection, Probate etc. That company needed such experienced staff as the underlying products were transferable upon death and assets worth thousands.
Five-six business days was probably a reasonable turnaround for us - from the sender posting their letter to receiving a response from us.

RAC is in a totally different business and won’t have a huge team nationally to process the POA, as it’s an unusual event to them.


It’s likely gone to their legal team, because the people who change your address, or process changes of name, had no clue what to do. My guess is that they are scrambling to understand if your POA document complies with Company Secretarial Practice, especially if it’s a photocopy you sent.

Seven calendar/ five business days is there probably too short a time to expect a response for a non electronic activity.

You don’t have to tell me, but purely out of interest, did you send a certified copy of the original POA with the signature in ink, or was it a photocopy?

Edited by Hol on Thursday 10th August 07:40

[The big yin]

I sent two photos from my phone with all the details they required, so should have been enough.

[Miserablegit]

RAC

Really
Are
Crap

Just use someone else- the service won’t improve until it hits them in the pocket.

[Hol]

The big yin said:

I sent two photos from my phone with all the details they required, so should have been enough.

You might be lucky, but usual practice for court issued documents of that sort is to provideva paper copy certified by a commissioner of oaths.
https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney/certify


Rather than wait and see, it might be an idea to just send one in the post.

[rallycross]

You are just making things massively complicated no need at all