We are going to France for first time and I have been told we need personal insurance. We already have caravan insurance and car insurance (with breakdown etc) so what do we need to cover as well. I looked at some holiday insurance but it all looked to be about flying and hotels. Can anyone advise please?
We are going to France for first time and I have been told we need personal insurance. We already have caravan insurance and car insurance (with breakdown etc) so what do we need to cover as well. I looked at some holiday insurance but it all looked to be about flying and hotels. Can anyone advise please?
please check that your car insurance gives the SAME cover as in the UK,as many only give the basic cover rquired in the EU
You will find that most CAR BREAKDOWN cover will only cover the car or the caravan while the caravan is actually hitched to the car it will usually not attend repairs to the caravan it's self,if the car is involved in an accident they usually will not repatriate the van.Your caravan insurers will not attend or repatriate the van unless it is damaged & unroadworthy
you would need personal cover in case of accident or illness requiring someone else to drive the van & car home or the need to fly some one back to the uk.
in the case of illness/accident a form E111 will not cover all your costs
I suggest you study the CC's red pennant 's policy on their website. You may not need cover for personal effects though as these may well be covered by your home policy
If you are taking your caravan to Europe you need cover that will take account of all eventualities. Even if your current insurance will cover you whilst in Europe will it cover the caravan as well. Red Pennant, as mentioned by Old Chap, is a comprehensive policy and well respected. We would not go abroad without it. I think the CC&C must have a similar insurance scheme.
You appear to be looking for travel insurance, ie if you get ill or have an accident. Go on any insurance company website or confused.com, click travel insurance & take it from there. You also need to get E111 cards(google for info) The E111 covers you for health care within the EU at the level of the country that you are in, but it does not repatriate you in case of serious illness/injury which is why it is advisable to take out travel insurance even in the EU.
take a look at your bank account, you may be able to get a "packaged account" that includes free travel insurance for around £13 per month. Check the details of cover also.
I have done this as it also covers possible risks on hols in the UK also.
if you upgrade your account, just downgrade it when you get home...although you might find it worth keeping for some of the other benefits.
To expand on what David said,and reinforce what old chap said, you need a mixture of policies.
Your car insurance....check it gives full cover when abroad.
Your caravan insurance....again check for cover abroad.
Breakdown/recovery for the car/caravan/yourselves!
The latter is all covered by Red Pennant or its equivalent from the C&CC or similar. You also need your EHIC for medical treatment.
You say you have breakdown insurance, but will it cover you if it is the caravan that has the problem? And what if one of you takes ill? These are the sort of things that the Red Pennant will cover.
The EHIC card replaced the E111. Insurers such as Red Pennant ask that you have it because it will reduce some of the costs in the event of you needing medical assistance.
I had a burst appendix in France in 88, and spent 10 days in hospital.
Red Pennant were fantastic, took care of all the bills, rearranged ferries etc, which took a great deal of pressure off my wife. We always use it now.
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Many thanks for all replies. I have checked the insurance that I already have. The car has a package which covers accidents breakdowns and bring back to this country, the caravan guard insurance covers caravan in same way, I will get the EHIC so presumably I will just need travel insurance. My car has cover for three years fromMitsubishi so I did not want to buy any unnecessary insurance.
It is brilliant being able to ask a question and get so much feedback on a forum like this.
If I were you I would still ring both the car and the caravan insurance/breakdown providers and ask specifically about recovery of the caravan if the car breaks down/is involved in an incident but the caravan is ok, and roadside assistance if the problem is only with the caravan. These are often excluded unless specifically mentioned.
Covering a caravan problem is not usually something a car breakdown policy includes even in the UK.
Also about continuation/alteration of your holiday should anything go wrong with car or caravan. Again something that often is not covered.
This is quite a specialist area, there are not many companies that will give you the type of cover you should have for complete peace of mind. Yes, it can add a fair bit to costs, but it is only if you need to use it that you will realise just how essential it really is.
Betty To add a bit more to all this I have Brittania premium cover via the CSMA This appeares to cover & i was informed by them that they cover the caravan independantly of the car .It came to light that in the event of a RTA britannia leaves the recovery /repatriation of the car to my car insurers, my car insureres will not bring the caravan home as they only cover the car (M&S) my caravan Insurers (C&CC) will not recover the caravan because it is undamaged & still roadworthy
cost to get the van home from mid france is aprox £1500 down to me
some times car recovery firms have a limit on caravan length (green flag)
What I am trying to point out is Insurers have often a way out & you are not always covered for what you think you are covered for
the only 2 recovery services that seem to cover all bases are CC red pennant & the C&CC scheme as they are designed for caravaners
Many thanks for all replies. I have checked the insurance that I already have. The car has a package which covers accidents breakdowns and bring back to this country, the caravan guard insurance covers caravan in same way, I will get the EHIC so presumably I will just need travel insurance. My car has cover for three years fromMitsubishi so I did not want to buy any unnecessary insurance.
It is brilliant being able to ask a question and get so much feedback on a forum like this.
My individual insurances do as yours do BUT I still wouldn't go without Red Pennant - can you imagine the rigmarole of dealing with all those different people? With RP you get one person who deals with the lot and help will be at your side often within 90 minutes if reports I have read are anything to go by. As has been said repatriation of car, caravan and or people is expensive, better safe than sorry.
"some times car recovery firms have a limit on caravan length (green flag)"
Are you sure about this old chap? We have MayDay for breakdown in the UK (i.e. Green Flag by the back door) and have used Red Pennant for the E.U. I thought we were covered for any size of van? I thought it was other companies that put restrictions (i.e. RAC and AA)? This is not an issue for our particular van (I have been recovered before), but it may be an issue for some.
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Topic: confused about insurance
