malc d Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Browsing through my breakdown insurance policy before my recent trip to France I noted that the insurance company state that I should contact them FIRST - before any costs are incurred. Trundling along a motorway in France, I wondered what happens if you contact the emergency services ( tel : 112 ) - or use the phones at the side of the road FIRST, which would be the obvious thing to do. (It may be the case that your mobile phone is ' flat ' anyway - and you can't phone your insurance company). I wondered what the reaction of the insurance companies would be - would they use it as an excuse not to pay up ? Has anyone been in this situation ? ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 I put the wrong fuel into my MH at a motorway services in France and called my UK breakdown contact on my mobile. They were fantastic and had someone with me in less than 40 minutes. We got recovered to a garge where they drained the misfuel and put some deisel in and restarted us. Marvellously efficient. Only cost us about four hours or so and only 70€ for draining and putting some deisel in. I spotted the mistake before starting the engine and didn't want to start it, but fortunately a friend was with me in another MH so he towed me off the fuelling station into the parking area where we could wait without holding others up. We had a trailer in tow aswell, but the Call centre and recovery company coped without any hesitation, marvellous. On another occassion we had to call them one morning from an Aire in France when the starter battery suddenly failed. Recovery came and jump started us but it was a holiday in France so the garages were closed so no chance of a repacement battery. Recovery man suggested buying one in the Auchan in the next town )open that morning only) so we drove there, phoned a contact in UK for advice about which battery to buy and bought one. The UK Breakdown people would have sent someone to fit it for me once I'd got the repalcement battery but I managed that bit myself. Marvellous. No bad experieneces to relate at all. Britannia Rescue both times, absolutely top notch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 You can always call them to confirm, but AFAIK your first duty is to contact the emergency services to get you out of harms way, any condition which countermands that would, I guess, be viewed in a very poor light by the insurance ombudsman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted October 6, 2014 Author Share Posted October 6, 2014 StuartO - 2014-10-06 12:50 PM No bad experieneces to relate at all. Britannia Rescue both times, absolutely top notch. But in the experiences that you mention, you called your breakdown insurance people first - NOT the emergency services. ( I have been in that position myself, with excellent service via the Camping and Caravanning Club insurance ). My question is the reaction of breakdown insurance companies if you don't / or can't ,call them first - such as breakdowns / punctures on motorways. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Sorry, didn't take enough care to ensure I understood what you were getting at. I haven't had to ring in an emergency abroad but I did suffer a broken front road on a UK motorway and had to pull onto the hard shoulder. Only about 30 miles from home as I recall. Used my mobile to ring my breakdown service, they sent someone out and recovered me to my home local garage, whom I also rang to see if they could order the part to fix it that day, which they did. We were on our way again within a few hours. Can't remeber seeing a policeman or a traffic womble, but I had got myself onto the hard shoulder so maybe it wasn't "an emergency". With a mobile phone available i think it makes sense to ring your own breakdown people if you can. Of course if you are unable to do so and the emergency services take charge maybe you wouldnt have any choice - although as I recall they would ask you if you had breakdown service cover anyway if they could, wouldn't they? Whenever I have had to ring Britannia they have been extremely helpful and have never quibbled. I cannot imagine they would quibble if I hadn't been able to ring them if it was a valid claim and I had a valid reason for not ringing them first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 In France if you breakdown on the Autoroute you can only be recovered by their services and have to pay & then reclaim from your breakdown insurance, obviously wise to inform them as it may be in their T&C . Some years ago I broke down when towing a caravan I was at a service area at time so made things a bit easier. Phoned my breakdown insurance the said get the French services to recover you off the Autoroute and then phone us. After waiting well over an hour with a no one turning up I found back entrance to service area unlocked car was driveable for short distances, opened gate, drove out onto a back road phoned insurance a man from local garage was there in 10 min. -result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 malc d - 2014-10-06 1:15 PM StuartO - 2014-10-06 12:50 PM No bad experieneces to relate at all. Britannia Rescue both times, absolutely top notch. But in the experiences that you mention, you called your breakdown insurance people first - NOT the emergency services. ( I have been in that position myself, with excellent service via the Camping and Caravanning Club insurance ). My question is the reaction of breakdown insurance companies if you don't / or can't ,call them first - such as breakdowns / punctures on motorways. ;-) Best answer, surely, is to ask the breakdown insurer themselves? Your insurance is a contract, and from what you say the contract terms require that you first notify them of the circumstances. So, that is what I would do, and then take their further advice. But, if unsure, phone them first and get their general guidance. We can offer all sorts of opinions, but they won't alter what your insurer requires under your contract, or what the emergency services expect. I suspect there will be differing advice depending on whether your breakdown were on a toll, or non-toll, motorway - as commonly only specified recovery firms are authorised to recover vehicles from toll motorways, often only to an off-motorway compound from which a commercial recovery firm will collect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted October 6, 2014 Author Share Posted October 6, 2014 Brian Kirby - 2014-10-06 6:23 PM malc d - 2014-10-06 1:15 PM StuartO - 2014-10-06 12:50 PM No bad experieneces to relate at all. Britannia Rescue both times, absolutely top notch. But in the experiences that you mention, you called your breakdown insurance people first - NOT the emergency services. ( I have been in that position myself, with excellent service via the Camping and Caravanning Club insurance ). My question is the reaction of breakdown insurance companies if you don't / or can't ,call them first - such as breakdowns / punctures on motorways. ;-) Best answer, surely, is to ask the breakdown insurer themselves? Your insurance is a contract, and from what you say the contract terms require that you first notify them of the circumstances. So, that is what I would do, and then take their further advice. But, if unsure, phone them first and get their general guidance. We can offer all sorts of opinions, but they won't alter what your insurer requires under your contract, or what the emergency services expect. I suspect there will be differing advice depending on whether your breakdown were on a toll, or non-toll, motorway - as commonly only specified recovery firms are authorised to recover vehicles from toll motorways, often only to an off-motorway compound from which a commercial recovery firm will collect. I agree with all that Brian, but, in original posting I wasn't asking for opinions, I was asking if anyone had been in that position - and what there insurance companys' attitude was. :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 malc d - 2014-10-06 12:23 PM Browsing through my breakdown insurance policy before my recent trip to France I noted that the insurance company state that I should contact them FIRST - before any costs are incurred. Trundling along a motorway in France, I wondered what happens if you contact the emergency services ( tel : 112 ) - or use the phones at the side of the road FIRST, which would be the obvious thing to do. (It may be the case that your mobile phone is ' flat ' anyway - and you can't phone your insurance company). I wondered what the reaction of the insurance companies would be - would they use it as an excuse not to pay up ? Has anyone been in this situation ? ;-) You like to plan for all eventualities don't you Malc ;-).............Not having broke down abroad I have no experiences to offer :-|............ Although I reckon a spare phone and a in car charger would solve your potential problem B-)......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted October 6, 2014 Author Share Posted October 6, 2014 pelmetman - 2014-10-06 7:20 PM malc d - 2014-10-06 12:23 PM Browsing through my breakdown insurance policy before my recent trip to France I noted that the insurance company state that I should contact them FIRST - before any costs are incurred. Trundling along a motorway in France, I wondered what happens if you contact the emergency services ( tel : 112 ) - or use the phones at the side of the road FIRST, which would be the obvious thing to do. (It may be the case that your mobile phone is ' flat ' anyway - and you can't phone your insurance company). I wondered what the reaction of the insurance companies would be - would they use it as an excuse not to pay up ? Has anyone been in this situation ? ;-) You like to plan for all eventualities don't you Malc ;-).............Not having broke down abroad I have no experiences to offer :-|............ Although I reckon a spare phone and a in car charger would solve your potential problem B-)......... When I broke down in Spain a few years back I had things very well organised. I had a very serious fuel leak but managed to limp to a campsite in a town with a Fiat workshop. I then rolled out the awning to protect me from the scorching sun shine, and settled down in the shade with a cold beer in one hand and my mobile phone in the other. I phoned my breakdown insurance people, and everything got sorted very efficiently. My query this time arises from a thought I had last week on a French motorway. Imagine you are bombing along nicely when there is a loud bang from one of your tyres exploding. You manage to roll safely onto the hard shoulder and stop right next to an emergency telephone. Your instinct might be to use the emergency phone, 'cos that is what it is for - but would that upset your insurance company ? (The question of " who to phone FIRST " would not be solved by having a spare phone and a charger). If no-one has had that kind of experience, I'm very pleased to hear it. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 malc d - 2014-10-06 7:38 PM The question of " who to phone FIRST " would not be solved by having a spare phone and a charger. If no-one has had that kind of experience, I'm very pleased to hear it. ;-) Maybe its just me............but based on my experience of breaking down in the UK when insured by ADAC so technically abroad to them............... I'd ring my breakdown insurance company first :D................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 pelmetman - 2014-10-06 7:46 PM malc d - 2014-10-06 7:38 PM The question of " who to phone FIRST " would not be solved by having a spare phone and a charger. If no-one has had that kind of experience, I'm very pleased to hear it. ;-) Maybe its just me............but based on my experience of breaking down in the UK when insured by ADAC so technically abroad to them............... I'd ring my breakdown insurance company first :D................ But the question is about breaking down on a motorway, in uk breakdown companies advise that you should first use the road side phone to contact ha/police. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 colin - 2014-10-06 8:47 PM pelmetman - 2014-10-06 7:46 PM malc d - 2014-10-06 7:38 PM The question of " who to phone FIRST " would not be solved by having a spare phone and a charger. If no-one has had that kind of experience, I'm very pleased to hear it. ;-) Maybe its just me............but based on my experience of breaking down in the UK when insured by ADAC so technically abroad to them............... I'd ring my breakdown insurance company first :D................ But the question is about breaking down on a motorway, in uk breakdown companies advise that you should first use the road side phone to contact ha/police. Do they? :-S........................Having broken down in the works van on such a regular basis *-).........I would not bother hiking down to a roadside phone.......... because I wouldn't be able to hear, as the noise on the hard shoulder is horrendous :-|................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocro Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Cast a drive shaft in Holland, Copper on bike arranged to tow to safe area, then phoned Adrian Flux who arranged everything and reimbursed for the first recovery, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted October 6, 2014 Author Share Posted October 6, 2014 gocro - 2014-10-06 8:58 PM Cast a drive shaft in Holland, Copper on bike arranged to tow to safe area, then phoned Adrian Flux who arranged everything and reimbursed for the first recovery, Thanks for that gocro - at least you and colin understand what I'm on about.. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 malc d - 2014-10-06 7:07 PM................I agree with all that Brian, but, in original posting I wasn't asking for opinions, I was asking if anyone had been in that position - and what there insurance companys' attitude was. :-| Accepted, but unless they have the same insurance as you, issued on the same 2014 conditions, such an response would be as likely to mislead as to prove useful. That is all I am saying. It would be better to get the advice at first hand from the provider. Otherwise, just do as the insurance says, phone them first, and take their advice. It is even possible they may take on responsibility for the necessary notifications as well as actual recovery and/or repairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Advice from the AA site given below, and this certainly backs up my breakdown covers advice that you need to get towed off by the French recovery services, around 120/ 150 Euros . Peage Motorways in France are privately managed, even if it's at a motorway service area. Instead, call one of the French assistance numbers below: an emergency telephone Press the button and the French police will send assistance to your location a public phone Dial 17 a mobile phone Dial 112 Once you've been towed off the motorway/service area, call the AA's 24-hour helpline for assistance if you have AA European Breakdown Cover. Oh and don't forget your high viz jacket, and warning triangle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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