European breakdown for older cars

[skattrd]

I need breakdown cover for continental Europe for cars upto 26 years old, multiple cars and trips as I might be making several trips in different cars.

My current options seem to be:

 

1. RAC through my insurance company - £130 extra (I've not got full details atm)

2. Britannia - £190

3. ADAC plus - 84 euro. I've seen mixed reviews about this.

 

I did see msm recommended (on PH) but it looks like that policy covers individual cars, not personal or multiple cars

http://www.msminsurance.co.uk/personal-insurance/motor/breakdown-recovery

 

Any suggestions people?

[Tamworthbay]

Whoever you go with be aware that most will only recover the vehicle if recovery costs are less than the value of the vehicle. You can usually specify full recovery but at extra cost. One of the members of our local club fell foul of this with a Spitfire that died in Italy.

[N Dentressangle]

If you bank with Nationwide (or don't mind switching), their FlexPlus account gives you it plus travel insurance and a few other bits for £13 per month. Also pays 3% interest, so if you keep a decent balance in your current acc then the cost is offset:

 

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/products/current-accounts/flexplus/features-and-benefits

 

ADAC won't cover Brits any more, as far as I know. They cancelled my insurance with them as I had the temerity to call them out twice.

[lesapandre]

Footman James Insurance Policy for classic cars includes European breakdown. You could check with them see what they could do. I find them very good*

 

*opinions  may vary.

 

The Britannia is about the cost of insuring a modest classic car.

 

Do you need breakdown insurance? My alternative approach is to take a good tool kit, and spares...but I am willing to risk it, vehicles are low value and French and I am in France. Usually don't have passengers tho.

[skattrd]

Footman James Insurance Policy for classic cars includes European breakdown. You could check with them see what they could do. I find them very good*

 

*opinions  may vary.

 

The Britannia is about the cost of insuring a modest classic car.

 

Do you need breakdown insurance? My alternative approach is to take a good tool kit, and spares...but I am willing to risk it, vehicles are low value and French and I am in France. Usually don't have passengers tho.

 

I am with Footman James, and it's £130 extra to add European cover to my mixed modern/classic policy.

 

I do take a reasonable toolkit with me, but I am not happy without decent breakdown cover.

[capsuleboy]

Having the same problem before a French trip this summer.

Now the Avantime is 17 years old! Most regular companies wont offer cover, still investigating so watch this space.

[skattrd]

For one vehicle, msm, who I've linked above, cover up to 30 yrs old and get good reviews on PH.

[richardmorris]

I have footman James eu cover for the 2cv and fiat.

The merc is on an aviva standard car policy with eu extension for I think £60 ( including green card insurance and full breakdown cover) . No age limit. In the eu I think they contract to local garages ( at least they did with the heap of junk of my previous c5) but uk it is with the RAC.

 

I’ve had to call on them twice in the last seven years in the uk. A fail to proceed with my dad driving got them transported to the merc dealer in Chester. I had to call them when the alarm went off and wouldn’t reset at home. Found I didn’t have the immobiliser key! Fixed that problem for good.

[DSdriver]

We've got the DS and the Saab floppytop on a joint classic policy through Footman James which includes continental breakdown.

It came in handy when I managed to lock the keys in the boot of the Saab last year.

 

Whatever you choose to sign up to just make sure they will not say 'not our problem' when whatever happens to Brexit finally makes up its mind.

[catsinthewelder]

I'm paying about £200 to cover 3 cars fully comp with Peter James with free European cover,  I think its with ADAC its with DAS.

[Eddie Honda]

Whoever you go with be aware that most will only recover the vehicle if recovery costs are less than the value of the vehicle.

^^^^ can't stress this enough.

 

The easiest way to do is sod the breakdown cover and do what I did - self insure.

 

I've done spannering in the street in Paris, buying tools in Norauto. CVT belt tensioning in hotel car park in Nevers. Exhaust swap in Eindhoven. Carb swap in Suffolk.

 

And that was with a 33 year old Volvo 343 that was a bit of a shed TBH.

 

Never needed roadside assistance despite running out of petrol too.

 

Who the fuck needs "peace of mind"??? All you need is MasterCard.

[catsinthewelder]

In fairness I've had European breakdown cover for 10 years now and the only foreign driving I've done was in the Dacia that wasn't covered.

[bangernomics]

Adac great but if you’ve a uk mobile the calls can mount up. £130 when we broke down in France the year before last.

 

They did recover us miles and reciprocal aa here but German telephone number

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wuvvum]

Tssk, where's your sense of adventure man? I drove from Norwich to Grenoble and back, via Clermont-Ferrand, in a Y reg Mk3 Escort van, didn't bother with breakdown cover and had no issues at all (apart from a rear shock mount snapping, but that just made it a bit bouncier).

[Schaefft]

Can you get European breakdown cover from ADAC here in the UK? They downgraded my premium membership after I needed them several times outside of Germany (not before I got my money out of the membership about two dozen times over), up until then they've been great though!

[dollywobbler]

No, ADAC has stopped allowing Brits cover.

 

I don't have Euro breakdown at the moment. 2CV mission coming up. I think I'll just be hoping for the best.

[lesapandre]

Having had a few foreign 'breakdowns' its usually the obvious - two punctures in succession and part of an exhaust suddenly disintegrating. My cars are mostly French and its just as easy to get them fixed there as long as you have time, money and are not completely in the middle of nowhere with vulnerable passengers. 

 

But if time limited its a different world. 

 

The exhaust I ordered online and fitted myself. Fell off on the M2 on the way home but thats another story.

 

I try and carry two spares these days.

[skattrd]

But if time limited its a different world. 

 

 

This, as I might be working over there, so losing a day or two with a breakdown whilst waiting for parts or whatever isn't really an option.

 

If I was on holiday travelling in the Beta for example, it's part of the adventure*

[dollywobbler]

This, as I might be working over there, so losing a day or two with a breakdown whilst waiting for parts or whatever isn't really an option.

 

If I was on holiday travelling in the Beta for example, it's part of the adventure*

 

That said, my experience of Euro breakdown cover is that it can be horrifically slow. I think it took four hours to get our H van recovered after the windscreen exploded in Germany. Then it was four days to sort it out, so we ended up just hiring a car anyway. I think I'd just wing it, but keep local car hire firms in my contact list.

[lesapandre]

Is it work or fun? With a 2CV you'll find a lot of help of course anyway. With a smartphone easy to track down specialist garages or parts or even helpful enthusiasts. I was in an '88 Renault Master van and a new exhaust back box was delivered to the van in 24 hours!

 

Ps I greatly enjoy you car vids online. It is you I assume?

[loserone]

That depends, are you talking about project Binky? That's not him

[stephen01]

Last year i added my breakdown while sat waiting to board the tunnel, cost me over the odds really, £145 for 15 days cover. Still half the price my, then, insurance company wanted. 

This year I added it to our insurance policy, we're with the RAC now, chucked lots at the policy, Euro breakdown cover, legal, NCD protection, green card for euro so fully comp cover. Okay our insurance is more expensive as a result, but overall with all the benefits it's cheaper. 

 

I'd normally take the approach that I have my credit card and can hire a car if needs be. 

[sierraman]

Let’s say you broke down in Spain. Cost to recover the vehicle is more than the value of the car. What happens then? You couldn’t scrap it because you wouldn’t have the right documents?

[loserone]

I expect you'd export it, since you need the v5 with you.

 

Am watching this quite closely since I'm dragging the family camping round France in the summer. And we'll probably leave the EU whilst we're out..

[lesapandre]

Last year i added my breakdown while sat waiting to board the tunnel, cost me over the odds really, £145 for 15 days cover. Still half the price my, then, insurance company wanted. 

 

This year I added it to our insurance policy, we're with the RAC now, chucked lots at the policy, Euro breakdown cover, legal, NCD protection, green card for euro so fully comp cover. Okay our insurance is more expensive as a result, but overall with all the benefits it's cheaper. 

 

I'd normally take the approach that I have my credit card and can hire a car if needs be. 

There should be no charge for a green card. I've just got mine for a month in case I need it. Free of charge from Footman James. 

[sierraman]

Unless I had a new car and top spec breakdown cover I’d not contemplate driving round Europe. Either that or something completely worthless if it failed you could just take the plates off and grind the chassis number off and leave the fucker at the side of the road. If you’d got something say 5 years old on the Chucky you’d be totally fucking fucked.

[loserone]

I was going to take a thirteen year old Subaru, is that alright by you?

[Schaefft]

Let’s say you broke down in Spain. Cost to recover the vehicle is more than the value of the car. What happens then? You couldn’t scrap it because you wouldn’t have the right documents?

 

When my Senator broke down on top of a mountain in the Italian alps, ADAC would offer me to get the car fixed locally (if that is possible in a reasonable amount of time) or have it towed back home if that doesnt work out. I had to be back at work Monday morning so I was praying for the car to be not repairable so I can just leave it there and have it towed back to Germany whenever possible (we actually had to find the garage it was towed to because nobody would answer any calls there on Sundays, left a note in German, English and google translated Italian telling them not to fix it). It would have been an absolute pain to collect it from there a week after I returned the Newcastle otherwise. As you can imagine the tow probably cost twice as much as I paid for the car.

[sierraman]

I was going to take a thirteen year old Subaru, is that alright by you?

See my point above about leaving the fucker by the roadside if it packs in.

[stephen01]

There should be no charge for a green card. I've just got mine for a month in case I need it. Free of charge from Footman James.

Basic cover yes, but I like fully comp when abroad.