I have UK breakdown cover as part of the warranty on my car. I have checked and this only covers the UK, so I am looking for cover for the 2 weeks that we are in France in September.
Does anyone have any suggestions? We are only taking the car, not towing, and we are no longer CAMC members. Ideally, a service that you have practical experience of.
Thank you.
------------- Freedom is a light caravan and an open road.
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We use the service provided by Nationwide as part of the Flexi account.
Used to have ADAC. The Nationwide service worked seamlessly for a minor problem near Avignon.
It costs £13 for the package which includes travel insurance, mobile cover and so on.
I think other banks provide similar packages
I've always used AA European breakdown cover in the past (only for solo car), but thankfully never had cause to use it! I balanced cost against cover, and with the discount for being an AA member, it seemed to be fairly good.
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I'd second the Nationwide although I have yet to test them out. They now use the AA so should be OK.
Before the Nationwide I used the RAC and they were very good when I had a burst pipe on a Land Rover.
DaveS1
The only time we needed cover in France we were with Green Flag. They did pretty well I thought. Experience in the UK suggests that it's not who you're nominally with but who their local subcontractor is that matters though.
Thanks for the suggestions. As I only need cover for 2 weeks in September, I don't think that I am ready to change my bank account. My warranty runs out next March and I shall be looking for a new UK/European breakdown service then.
I have had a look at Eurobreakdown and this looks as if it might do, but it's quite expensive. I will keep it in mind, as there's no urgency just yet.
My car insurance renews in September, so I might look at doubling up the insurance and the breakdown.
Thank you everyone for your suggestions.
------------- Freedom is a light caravan and an open road.
Just had a look on compare the market and although you will need to wait a few weeks yet to put September dates in, I put some dates in for July/August and got 4 quotes back for between £30-£33 for single trip cover
Green Flag
Your rescue experience will be comparable to 'Ello 'Ello/Secret Army, you'll be transported to undercover garages in the middle of nowhere then dropped off a rather nice campsite with a swimming pool complex until your car is ready.
Remember to put a pin in the map at the garage where you leave your car or the taxi driver won't know where it is!
For those with older vehicles, check out the small print, the AA advertises that they will cover any age vehicle, but should the vehicle need repatriating back to the UK, then that will only be done if the repatriation cost is less than the market value value of the vehicle that needs repatriating.
So in effect most cars over say 12 years old, in a broken down state, will be worth less than the repatriation cost, even though the cover would have cost around £200 compared to say £80 for a 5 year old car.
To get an idea of the market value of your car, use we buy any car or car wow and enter non runner, if the value says £2,500 or under then your car will not be repatriated even if covered.
The thought of having paid for European break down cover which includes repatriation, only to find out that in the event of a serious mechanical, your car could be left stranded in Europe, if you do not have the time or funds to get it back on the road, when repatriation would be the obvious solution, does not bear thinking about.
To be fair I can see were the insurers are coming from, as it is a risk based business model, and the general rule is older cars are more likely to fail than newer ones, which are probably covered by the manufacturers warranty in any case.
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A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Breakdown cover
via mobile 03/7/2024 at 3:59pm
