Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms France tour - breakdown and recovery insurance

We are off on a three week tour of France in June, the last thing to arrange is breakdown and recovery insurance for our Plus Six. The cars UK insurance does include breakdown cover for France, but we are thinking it may be wise to arrange secondary insurance with a known company that provides good coverage/customer care and with a full recovery to the UK if needed. Any recommendations or thoughts on providers to avoid pls..
Dave

IIRC Gott and Wynne used to offer a full repatriation policy as an addition to their Mog policies

They still do 👍

I took out the AA international cover for my last run down to Italy last year.

100% fail on the main motorway, not even out in the sticks.

I broke down not far over the border from France to Italy.
It started to run rough and so I pulled into one of the off road rest areas and used my mobile.
"we will send someone about 45 mins"
One hour later I called again, oh they are on their way

Anyway after getting pushy with them after three hours they admitted they did not have coverage there (main motorway, M23 equiv?)

They "suggested" I called from the roadside emergency phone and get a local company to recover me and they would repay it.
I called the roadside assistance and had someone there in 20 minutes. The man on the phone said he had been keeping an eye on things for the last three hours just in case and it was a beautiful car.

I had the car recovered off the motorway and then asked about getting it fixed or looked at (I figured fuel contamination?) and the AA said they would get it recovered, did not even offer a hire car which was in the package I took out.

I later got an offer from them for 80% refund.

It was a farce. I cannot recommend them at all.

Jeez, that is a sad story indeed Alistair...!

Dave, I would check your insurance coverage carefully, as it is not unknown for those with UK fully comp insurance to expect that the same level of cover follows them when driving in France or elsewhere, but it is possible that the cover may be reduced while driving abroad to the minimum legally acceptable coverage in whichever country one is visiting... In the UK min cover was RTA which as best I can remember, was a fig leaf at best.. Worth checking..?

I just checked my cover with Admiral platinum & recovery is included viz:-
European assistance
If you have broken down on a European motorway or public road, we are sometimes unable
to assist you and you may need to obtain assistance via the SOS phones.
The local services will tow you to a place of safety and you will be required to pay for the
service immediately. You can then contact us for further assistance. We will pay a maximum
of £200 towards reimbursement of the costs, but we will only reimburse you when we
receive a valid invoice/receipt. Payment will be made in accordance with the exchange rate
on the date of the breakdown.
If, in the opinion of the patrol, they are unable to repair the vehicle at the roadside we will
assist in the following way:
y arrange and pay for you, the vehicle and your passengers to be recovered to the
nearest garage which is able to undertake the repair
y if the vehicle cannot be repaired within 48 hours or by your intended departure date,
whichever is the latter, we will arrange for you, the vehicle and your passengers to
be transported either to your home address or if you prefer and it is closer; your
original destination

As a retired Road Policing Officer I could tell of many AA fails and that's in the UK. I would not touch them with a barge pole. Better to use someone like Auto Aid in UK They use use local recovery firms so attendance time is quick, much cheaper than AA/RAC covers all cars you own or are a passenger in wife as well hotel accommodation etc etc. £69 + £10 for the wife. RAC wanted over £600 for my 3 cars and wife.

However, at risk of having this thread drift, as the subject is regarding breakdown cover in France, my own experience with the AA in the UK has been excellent. Just before Christmas, my wife had to call the AA to help start her VW Up! away from home. The patrolman arrived in 20 minutes and quickly, correctly diagnosed a pretty obscure fault (malfunctioning temperature sensor not enriching the start mixture), escorted her to our VW dealer, ensured that they accepted the car for repair and then took her back to our house - fantastic service!

After many years as a fully paid up AA member, we now get the service free through our bank account.

We've not been unlucky enough to need help outside the UK, so I can't comment on that score.

Absolutely correct George! We have just returned from a 12 day trip to the south of France in the Audi which is insured through Audi insurance. We had to pay £46.00 to get the same level of comprehensive cover we have in the UK.

After many trips on the continent and never having cause to make a claim, it makes you wonder how good your insurance is. with a trip coming up to Northern Spain in July . I will get in touch with my insurance provider (Classic Line) to confirm details.

just remembered , I was disembarking from a Ferry after a trip to France we were sat in the car waiting for the deck to tilt down and I said to my wife that the car behind looked a bit iffy, the driver hadn't got in yet and it was an old Renault 5, and sure enough when the deck tilted it rolled into the back of my car. she either didn't put the handbrake on or it didn't work and it wasn't left in gear. I could not move my car till she got her act together otherwise her car would have followed me down the ramp.

The insurance paid out straightaway for a new suitcase and luggage rack which was the only damage due to the angle of tilt on the deck. This happened about 30yrs ago,
Tempus fugit.

DB.