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AA breakdown cover - Fiat Ducato


Guest Mike C

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Guest Mike C
As a result of speaking to the AA about the free three year Fiat AA Breakdown scheme offered with new vehicles, I have discovered that the AA will not recover some vehicles which are on the scheme. "ANY vehicle over 18 ft in length or ANY Motor Caravan over 21 ft in length unless the coach builder has agreed a special deal with the AA and ANY vehicle in excess of 3.5 tons". They also stated that there "may be some height restrictions but they could not give a precise figure". This could effect Overcab Luton Motor Caravans. The AA will tow vehicles/trailers up to 26ft in length but the restrictions relate to an On Vehicle recovery which I understand is where the recovery requires that the damaged/broken down vehicle cannot be towed and needs to be carried on the recovery vehicle. In the case of a large Motor Caravan towing a trailer or caravan they will tow the trailer but not recover the towing vehicle if it is outside their size weight limits. In the case of Swift all their Motor Caravans are covered but this may not be the case with other coachbuilders using the Ducato. On contacting Fiat the answer I received from their Customer Service Department is that "They cannot discuss for legal reasons any matter related to the Fiat/AA breakdown cover" their staff do not seem aware of the AA restriction. Fortunately my Swift Sundance 590 is covered as it is under both the length and weight restrictions. All othe Swift Group vehicles should be covered but the AA recovery staff seem to need persuading that there is a special arrangement. My compliments to Swift Customer Relations Department who quickly responded to my questions. It may be worth checking that your Fiat based Motor Caravan or Camper Van or other vehicle is covered under the AA Relay and Relay Plus scheme. My reason for investigating this is that a friend had his Motor Caravan damaged in a motorway accident called the AA and they could not recover it as it was outside their length and weight specification. He had to call out a motorway recovery company and pay £250. He is currently taking action against the AA/Fiat for recovery of his costs and the replacement of his free breakdown cover with a scheme that will cover his vehicle. I am waiting for an answer from Fiat and will post it on this forum when received. Regards, Mike C.
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Guest David
Hi Mike, I am insured with Safeguard/AA recovery, interestingly my AA membership No is 000001 We broke down in france last year with our last M/home a Compass Clipper Fiat Ducato length 20ft We were transported on a recovery vehicle no questions asked. The service provided was excellant my only quibble was the cost of mobile phone calls, but that was to be expected as they were all routed via UK. We now have a new M/home Ace Milano this comes with Swifts breakdown cover ( so if I breakdown I will now expect two Vehicles to recover mine). I asked if we could have extra discount on the new vehicle as we did not need their breakdown cover. The answer was no you have got to have the cover. David
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Guest Derek Uzzell
I notice that Auto-Trail's 2005 brochure states that their new motorhomes have AA cover for the first 12 months. As some Auto-Trail Fiat-based tandem-axle models reach 28 feet in length with a GVW of 4500kg, it's to be hoped that Auto-Trail has liaised with the AA over the scope of their breakdown coverage.
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Derek, you are obviously an optimistic person. I reckon Auto-Trail just advertise the fact that Fiat UK have an agreement with the AA without realising (or caring) that it may not (will not?) cover motorhomes. David reveals that the cover (for motorhomes) is, in reality, worthless. He has his own cover and Swift tell him "no refund", the cover comes as standard. (Standard meaning standard car in this case!) My cynicism tells me DON'T TRUST THEM. Always, ALWAYS ensure that you have the level of breakdown cover that you require and that it really does cover your motorhome. Debates about length, height, weight etc. become very much more animated when you are on the hard shoulder (at night, in the rain?) with a motorhome that won't run. Simplistically, cover design to appeal to the much larger car market is unlikely to give everything needed to the motorhomer. Regards Neal
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Guest Derek Uzzell
Neal: Optimism runs very thinly in my veins. Auto-Trail's brochure actually says: "Your new Auto-Trail Motorhome is covered by the AA for the first 12 months. A membership card will show a freephone breakdown assistance telephone number. In the event of a breakdown simply telephone the AA operations centre and their staff will provide assistance and explain the service provided in more detail." Mike's initial posting suggests that all buyers of new UK-built Ducato-based motorhomes get 3 free years of Fiat/AA breakdown cover as standard, so I've no idea whether Auto-Trail's 12 months offering complements or duplicates this cover. Auto-Trail also build on the Sprinter chassis, but I don't know whether there is a standard Mercedes/AA breakdown cover arrangement similar to Fiat's. Presumably buyers of new Auto-Trail motorhomes get, amongst the documentation that comes with the vehicle, a comprehensive breakdown (ho ho!) of what the 12 months AA cover provides. Certainly I'd want to know in writing what was being offered and what limitations there were: I'd also prefer to know these things in advance rather than discover them in extremis via the AA's call centre. I think one needs to be wary of 'freebies' and this is essentially what the Fiat/AA breakdown cover is. Even if the standard scheme has been extended through a special arrangement between motorhome manufacturer and the breakdown-cover provider one can easily envisage potential difficulties. For example, it's not hard to imagine the recovery complications arising from a broken-down 8-metres-plus tandem-axle Ducato-based motorhome towing a trailer. As you say, it's wise for the motorcaravanner to be proactive in discovering the scope of insurance (and warranty) cover. What I find a mite startling about Mike's statement of the AA's recovery restrictions regarding the Fiat scheme is the 3500kg weight limitation. Although all Swift Group models fall below the 26' towing limit, the majority of their designs exceed 3500kg GVW. Perhaps the situation is that the AA won't 'carry' a vehicle above this weight but will tow it. If 3500kg is a genuine maximum weight beyond which the AA won't recover a motorhome even by towing, then the scheme's value is severely eroded as far as Swift is concerned. As a matter of interest, the Europ Assistance-backed breakdown scheme from Shield Total Insurance has vehicle restrictions of a) under 15 years old, b) GVW maximum of 4250kg, c) 8m length, 3.5m height, 2.5m width.
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Guest mervyn james
Reading the ietter from David who said he was insured with Safeguard, and his AA number was 000001 surprised me. As i am also insured with Safeguard, and have the same AA membership number.So i wonder how it works. MERV.
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Guest Derek Uzzell
Presumably it's a 'code' rather than a genuine individual AA membership number. So, when you quote the 000001 number to the AA's call-centre and it's entered into their system, it will select that section of their database that holds details of the people insured with Safeguard. Alternatively, it might be an identifier for the commercial-vehicle insurance part of the AA set-up. Who knows? You could always ask Safeguard if you are really interested, though, if it's an AA thing, they may not know.
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