Been towing for years and recently have a car under the motability scheme. Car is covered through motability with the RAC but no cover for caravan although RAC said that caravan would be recovered with car if car only broke down or was in an accident. Breakdown or damade to caravan would not result in caravan recovery. Separate breakdown insurance outside the motability scheme was considered but Motability told me that I would be responsible for any damage to car during recovery or if car also damaged the third party car recovery would not be recognised by Motability and any repairs to the car would also be my responsibilty. If the car was a write off I would have to pay full price of car.
A bit of a dilema here as Motability allow towing, but makes the recovery too much of a risk if anything involving the caravan occured.
Anyone have any ideas or suggestions as I am sure that many of us are in the same uncertain situation.
Thanks in anticipation.
Do a search on this forum for a thread called " Mobility Caravaners". There is a lot of information there on the add on which can be purchased from the RAC to cover problems with the caravan. There were some limitations to the recovery part but the policy claims to cover the caravan to the same level as the car is covered but you do need to check all the small print.
The annual price is still £40 as far as I know and there is a discount for Camping and Caravanning Club members, European cover is also available.
It's a pity that Motability and the RAC don't advertise this add on, it's only other UKCS members that seem to know about it.
I'm fairly sure if you read the mobility small print that the caravan is covered for recovery if your car breaks down but only for a restricted distance which I think is 10 miles. In other words they will get your caravan off the road I to a layby and then take the car home.
When I had a mobility car my plan was always to stop with the van and let them take the car away to get repaired and then get the Mrs to drive the car back to the van when repaired.
The aim of the Motability scheme is for disabled people on the higher rate of the mobility allowance to get from A to B so they have the freedom and independence they need. The scheme receives 13 payments annually (every 4 weeks) over a period of the 3 year hire contract which covers annual servicing for the following 2 years, 3 years insurance, road tax and RAC breakdown cover. These costs are calculated which are covered for the said period, therefore Motability has no other commitment apart from the above mentioned so they do not have an obligation to assist regarding the addition of a towbar to tow a caravan other than they stipulate that you must inform 'Royal Sun Alliance' who insure the Motability vehicles of the modification. There is no restriction but any trailer towed by the Motability vehicle has to be independently covered in terms of insurance and breakdown cover which are both taken out annually and in no way incorporated with the Motability agreement.
However, the RAC have a specific type of cover called 'Arrival' which fully covers the caravan in the event of a breakdown even if the caravan is pitched on a field and your vehicle breaks down within a 75 mile radius but this specific cover can only be taken out by being valid members of the 'Camping and Caravanning Club'. However, approximately 4 years ago, Motability and the RAC somehow made a business arrangement specifically designed for Motability customers for an additional cover for those towing a trailer at an additional cost which was around £39 per year extra and Motability provided a direct contact telephone number for the RAC for those who wished to take out the extra cover. The problem was that when the contact was made it appeared there was a communication breakdown within their own department which even the managers were not informed of this extra cover so the call got passed from pillar to post without any results whatsoever. Even the RAC customer services were confused and even they couldn't find the specific department I needed.
When questioning Motabilty about the contact number they advised to contact the Camping and Caravanning Club in Coventry as they had no other contact number. Again, it was so complex that after the 3 year hire contract ended my wife decided to have our own car instead because we are guaranteed to get full breakdown cover for both car and caravan plus I can shop around for the best quotes.
I am not knocking the Motability scheme because it is an excellent service for disabled people just wanting to go shopping or on hotel or B&B holidays etc. but regarding trying to obtain extra cover for any additions such as a trailer can be a nightmare.
Hi i have a Motability vehicle and found the additional cover from RAC no problem at all. admittedly we have not had to use it in the past three yrs . Just Phone RAC tell them you are a motability customer and would like the caravan upgrade to your policy.
Just read the small print. It appeared to be a good deal and similar to that of the C&C mayday but £20.00 cheaper.
just read the terms and conditions tho with the rac arrival compared to the mayday cover, it clearly states that they will only recover you and take you to your campsite if a garage cant fix it in a reasonable time with mayday you get took straight to the campsite/home, then they sort the car out at a garage/ or if you get took home they drop the van off at storage and the car would be then took to a garage and the people are taken home
Quote: Originally posted by TrigGLX on 23/6/2015
Hi i have a Motability vehicle and found the additional cover from RAC no problem at all. admittedly we have not had to use it in the past three yrs . Just Phone RAC tell them you are a motability customer and would like the caravan upgrade to your policy.
Just read the small print. It appeared to be a good deal and similar to that of the C&C mayday but £20.00 cheaper.
Thanks for all the replies especially that from TrigGLX.
Made calls today to RAC motability who have no knowledge of add-on, so called motability customer services for advice who also had no knowledge. However they promised to look into it as they were interested in the problem of caravan recovery following disablement of caravan only. All the RAC could advise was to seek out separate third party cover for caravan. The left hand does not seem to know what the right hand is doing in this predicament.
Will report back with final Motability advice and any result I can achieve.
"arrival" is Rac's breakdown cover arranged with camping and caravan club specifically to cover the extras needed for camping,towing or motorhome.
It covers you for car and/ or caravan breakdown. Google RAC arrival. It's good cover.
Whether you can just pay a fee to "top up" from your existing breakdown cover with RAC motability scheme is another thing. It's the RAC you need to speak to. And yes you will probably go around in circles until you het an answer!
Edit to say I used to work for the RAC by way but on the commercial side.
Doug, you need to speak to the RAC corporate people on this number: 08000927119 like I mentioned in the other thread, if you speak to any of the normal staff they will not have a clue what you are talking about.
Quote: Originally posted by Rob and Tina on 23/6/2015
Doug, you need to speak to the RAC corporate people on this number: 08000927119 like I mentioned in the other thread, if you speak to any of the normal staff they will not have a clue what you are talking about.
Rob
I am currently in France and using the above number, you can extend the cover to the caravan and get european cover as well if you need it.
Off the top of my head, it cost £40 to cover the caravan and £70 for european cover which was for 18 months (end of lease).
I wrote off the car couple o weeks ago. Trouble is, we were in Wales at the llanwrst site.
The RAC wouldnt recover the van on our caravan policy because it was the car that got damaged. Dont blame em really. Recovery costs wouldve been triple the cost o the caravan. . . its still at the site in storage. And in good hands too! Grateful thanks to the proprietor!
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Topic: Breakdown caravan insurance and Motabilit
