Club 80-90 Forums

Hi,

Off to France in July for 2 weeks in my T25, I have UK breakdown cover (personal cover) with the RAC...But it looks as though they won't quote on Euro cover as its too old...

Any recommendations gratetfully received...

Cheers

DD

Had all this last year.

If you get it through Glynwood Insurance, Redditch branch, (Tel: 01527 591057) they have an arrangement whereby the RAC waive that "too old" clause Mention you are in the VW T25 club 80-90 by the way. Price was OK too

.

This (long) thread here = https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... lit=France" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; has a lot of useful info. (Esp my "check list" )

Do a search, this has been extensively covered. The only one I can personally recommend (and sadly it IS from experience not a 'I heard from a mate of a mate' or 'read it on a website' B.S. story) is Flux Rescue. You have to be insured through Adrian Flux and for £85/year (or £95?) at your renewal you get 30 days EU breakdown cover of up to £2,000 or similar for recovery/repatriation. We lost the 4/5 synchro hub in our gearbox near Brussels and Flux Rescue got us home safe and sound.

Your search will show you that most of the others have a scrapage clause where-by they 'value' your camper and compare their 'value' against the cost of repatriation and if the latter exceeds the former they give you the cash and scrap your pride and joy. The main problem is that they base the 'value' on Glasses Guide and as a T25 Transporter NOT as a cherished motorhome.

Ian

Ian, just to confirm, what would happen if I break down in southern Spain for example. Would the £2000 cover that? I guess if it didn't, you would have to make up the difference??
I'm with flux and am planning such a trip. All the stories are scary, but would appreciate your 'been there and done that' advice.

I guess the answer depends on how much recovery to the nearest ferry port costs ? Even if you have a Calais>Dover return booked and you broke down near to let's say Roscoff it would recovered to the nearest ferry port NOT neccesarily the port of your choice so YOU would be responsible to pay for the ferry and then (in my case) the AA could pick me up from Plymouth and take us home.

If you've seen this thread https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=112354 you will see what I carry abroad with us to help ourselves ... i.e. get recovered to nearest campsite and fix it myself. Obviously there are things which are too big to carry and can prove terminal ... engine, gearbox, radiator etc etc

Hope this helps ?

Ian

Appreciate the advice, thanks

thanks for the comments guys...some scary thoughts there....guess we better hope that is it breaks down it isn't anything terminal...!

better start looking into this...

I worried about this, but it's worth remembering that, say you do 2,000 miles in France. If you did that 2,000 miles at home in the normal course of things, say over 6 weeks of normal motoring, how likely is your van to breakdown ? (ignoring Murphey's law ) Did it break down any time in the last 2,000 miles ? Just give the van a good "once over" and drive steady and you very likely won't need the breakdown cover you bought

It is like John say's. We drive down the 304 miles to Bashtie every year, normally with zero incident (last year the alt. drive belt shredded and swiped the buzzer of doom wire off ... which was interesting ) therefore from us to Dover which is 240 miles and Calais to the Loire is another 300 miles so less than Bashtie and back the only real difference is that a) you're doing it on consecutive days not a week apart b) you've got better food and c) more chance of understanding the locals .

The key to foreign touring - especially the long distance stuff - is to have a well-maintained vehicle, I have a mechanic give our's the once over as if it was going for the MOT the week before we sail. Be self-reliant ... carry the spares you may need and the tools to fix what may go wrong. $ h!t happens ... anytime anywhere ... our starter signal wire terminal rotted off in Aldi carpark in Derby just before Christmas I bump started the van and replaced the crimp on a dry day at home ... easily fixed IF you have the bits and can diagnose what's wrong. That could've happened in Italy 1400 miles from home you can never tell with things like that but you CAN be ready for them.

Ian

cheers guys...we went to Cornwall and back in bus last year, with no hiccups....so i'm hoping that a trip to Brittany and back should be ok....just a bit daunting when across the water and you have your kids with you i guess....

With Brittany even should the worst happen you're never that far from a ferry port ... even if it isn't the one you wanted to use

Ian

£58 with RAC for 2wks cover in France....still looking, may try and combine with Bus insurance as that is now due...

D'Squared wrote:£58 with RAC for 2wks cover in France

Do they know how old the van is ? GET IT IN WRITING.

Ian

we cheated...we went to brittany in 2011 but rather than travelling all over we stayed at same site for the week (we had family already staying there anyway) - we got one day cover for travel down (Le Havre to Quiberon only 5 hours drive) then 2 days cover for coming back (we stopped overnight near Honfleur on way back)...cost was a fraction of the price for the full 9 days we were in France. Still used the van whilst there, but only for relatively short local journeys and with fingers crossed

Obviously no use if u plan on lots of travelling, but wife would only come if i agreed to NOT driving round France in the van...she never mentioned UK so on our return i managed to stretch the return drive from Southampton to Glasgow out for 7 days