Stargeezer Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 Well tomorrow is the day... the van has to be moved. I'll try the breakdown cover (supposedly provided by RAC) and if they won't bring the motor(home) back home, I'll have to risk driving it. It's difficult to actually work out what is and isn't covered. RAC don't recognise me as a customer and "aviva" don't seem to be the ones providing the service for "motorcaravan gold plus". From what I can see breakdown assistance is provided by the RAC and there is also Accident recovery, but it doesn't mention who provides that... The paperwork says they will take the vehicle to a local garage, but do they know a garage in Leighton Buzzard that will change a Boxer gearbox at a fair price in a month or two (three or six) when I can afford it? They don't even imply they will take you and your vehicle home... pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 The terms and conditions of a "Motorcaravan Gold Plus" policy are described here: http://www.vminsurance.co.uk/media/downloads/motorcaravn-plus.pdf If that's what you've got, there's an "MC Assist" freephone number to ring (0800 0280038) if you require breakdown assistance and a 'Personal Incident Manager' will then contact the RAC on your behalf. Your situation is probably not that unusual, in that you require the vehicle to be recovered to your home rather than to a garage for immediate attention. I doubt that a request by you for this to happen would present any problem, particularly as the distance to your home is so short. Obviously you'll then need to consider how you get the motorhome from your home to whoever will be carrying out the repair. I don't think your breakdown/recovery policy will cover that journey, but you could always ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stargeezer Posted January 12, 2013 Author Share Posted January 12, 2013 It was all RAC, and they were excellent. Called them they said they were very busy and someone would call back when they knew what time they would be able to get to me. Got a call a few minutes later "I'll be there in half an hour" Twenty minutes later he turned up, had a quick look said he wouldn't take a chance by agreeing I could/should drive it and after checking my cover got on his computer to arrange a recovery. A few minutes later got a call asking me the length of my van (20' 3" as it happens). Two minutes later another call "my sat nav says 22 minutes". We had to roll the van down the hill as it was a big truck and he couldn't make the turning into the drive as it a very narrow single track lane with high banks on both sides. Five minutes later and it's sitting on my drive. I have to say that considering the breakdown cover was a "Freebie" on my insurance... the service was amazing the chaps were nice. Honestly couldn't have been an easier experience and a lot less stressful than risking driving it home. Now all I have to do is save up some money to get the gearbox done and in the meantime warn everyone I know or see with a motorhome on an older Boxer to be aware of this potential problem. A quick run to Tesco's and I can relax for a bit. Thanks again to you all for your help and advice. Pete the Stargazer geezer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul- Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 I'm with the caravan clubs Mayday recovery service. The price of a second vehicle is very good & the CLs are good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 The insurance policy Pete (Stargeezer) has is called "Motorcaravan Gold Plus", presumably obtained via Victor Millwell. The Key Facts are shown here: http://www.vminsurance.co.uk/media/downloads/MCP-Key-Facts.pdf This AVIVA-backed policy has two levels of cover - "Motorcaravan Plus" that does not include UK and European breakdown/recovery cover and "Motorcaravan Gold Plus" that does. (The Victor Millwell policies' scope is the same as Comfort Insurance's except, in the latter case, the policies are called "Horizon" and "Horizon Advantage".) It's inaccurate to refer to the breakdown cover provided by a Motorcaravan Gold Plus (or a Horizon Advantage) policy as a 'freebie', as the premium for a Motorcaravan Gold Plus policy (with breakdown cover) is higher than for a Motorcaravan Plus policy (without breakdown cover). When I last renewed my Comfort Insurance "Horizon Advantage" policy last year, opting for breakdown cover added about £60 to the standard policy's price. The Caravan Club's "Mayday" breakdown/recovery scheme has three levels of cover as shown here: http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/insurance-and-finance/insurance/uk-breakdown-and-recovery/ but it should be noted that it just applies to the UK (and, of course, the Mayday scheme is only open to Caravan Club members). For a member of the Caravan Club restricting their driving to the UK, Mayday could be the best bet, otherwise an AVIVA insurance policy with integrated UK/European breakdown cover may be preferable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stargeezer Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 Yes you are right. however my intention, when I put "freebie" in inverted commas, was to indicate that I did realise I was paying for it, but I (rightly or wrongly) consider breakdown cover to be something of an add-on to the "normal" insurance. I do suspect many people who joined breakdown service such as the RAC don't realise they have cover on their "ordinary" insurance policy or is this usually only on motorhome type policies. As you may have spotted earlier in this long, sad tale of woe, I wasn't really sure if it was proper cover as it all seemed a bit understated. Even when I had read it through a couple of times I wasn't sure if I would actually get the thing taken home on a wagon as it was still theoretically drivable. And it is a Millwell product "underwritten by Aviva" and I got it through my brokers Houghton Insurance. It's worded rather vaguely as to what the name of policy is. The certificate has Aviva top and bottom and no mention of Millwell, but studying carefully see it does say Motorcaravan Gold Plus in tiny letters (maybe 6 point) to the right of the HUGE Aviva logo, but doesn't refer to that name on the policy anywhere else.It talks about "Comprehensive Gold". Again double checking there a line in the Schedule saying: "Endorsement 221 RAC Motorhome Gold Plus" and that's it. Another Aviva document lists what you get with Plus and Gold Plus but doesn't say which one I've got except in that one place. Having left it all to Houghton Insurance perhaps I'll remember to carefully read, understand and set to music, my next policy. Anyway it worked out good for me - maybe I should ask if they'll now pay to fix the gearbox, they seem like nice people... Have good week y'all Pete (the broken Stargazer geezer :-() Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stargeezer Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 Just a thought, I now know I have breakdown/recovery cover provided by the RAC, but I'm not a "member" of the RAC... Why not spend the percentage of the money that goes towards the cost of the breakdown service (rather than the "ordinary" insurance) and sign me up to the RAC? Sorry I don't quite understand. What am I missing here... or should I just get out more? Sad Daft Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerC Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 Stargeezer - 2013-01-13 4:30 PMJust a thought, I now know I have breakdown/recovery cover provided by the RAC, but I'm not a "member" of the RAC... Why not spend the percentage of the money that goes towards the cost of the breakdown service (rather than the "ordinary" insurance) and sign me up to the RAC? Sorry I don't quite understand.What am I missing here... or should I just get out more? Sad Daft Pete It is possible, although I am not 100% certain, that your insurance based RAC recovery covers only your insured vehicle.....ie your motorhome. Therefore you are getting cover restricted to one vehicle as opposed to the RAC 'full cover' applicable to you in any vehicle you are driving or a passenger in. Also I suspect your insurance company gets a kick back from this type of cover they offer. It might be worth asking your insurance company exactly what cover 'RAC' element of your cover provides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 The scope of Pete's insurance policy is fully described in the link I provided earlier http://www.vminsurance.co.uk/media/downloads/motorcaravn-plus.pdf with Section 10 (Pages 16 to 19) dealing with the UK/Continental breakdown aspects. Various organisations specialise in providing vehicle breakdown/recovery services http://www.knowyourmoney.co.uk/breakdown-cover/?gclid=CJ_y8tyi6LQCFXDLtAod91oAPA and AVIVA motorhome insurance policies happen to use the RAC. Pete's AVIVA policy covers his motorhome and the element of the policy that deals with breakdown/recovery applies to that motorhome alone. That the RAC is involved is largely academic. It would, of course, be possible for Pete to choose a cheaper policy with a lesser level of cover (eg. "Motorcaravan Plus" not "Motorcaravan GOLD Plus") that does not include breakdown/recovery insurance. He could then take out a completely separate policy to provide breakdown/recovery insurance from providers like Green Flag, RAC, AA, etc. It should then be possible to tailor the breakdown/insurance policy to be 'vehicle related' or 'person related'. However, it would need to be decided whether doing this would make financial sense and, when a large vehicle like a motorhome is involved, great care would be required to ensure that the policy did not have prohibitive dimension/weight restrictions (as quite a few motorcaravanners have found out the hard way!) AVIVA will undoubtedly have negotiated a good deal with the RAC regarding specifying RAC as the provider of breakdown/recovery services within their policies, but I can't see why that should matter to the motorists insured. I'm sure (well, fairly sure!) that people are aware of this, but breakdown/recovery insurance is just that - it does not cover the cost of spare parts or garage labour. If the RAC chap diagnoses that your vehicle needs a new battery, you'll still have to pay for the battery. Plenty of firms offer 'mechanical breakdown insurance' (eg. WarrantyDirect) to cover repair costs, but such policies aren't cheap and can turn out to be minefields if a claim needs to be made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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