European Breakdown Cover

[Ian_Fearn]

I've been trying to get good european breakdown cover over the last couple of weeks and found rather alarmingly that many will demand evidence of a full service history in full accordance with manufacturers requirements and a 'pre trip check'.

Common sense would say they are just protecting themselves against sh4gged out old motors being taken abroad by naive (or stupid?) owners but i wonder if they'd be prepared to pay up in the event of a claim??

How many of our cars have a FSH?

Just be aware of the small print if you take a policy out, also bear in mind most will only repatriate your car upto its market value, so most of us would get less than a mile

In the event i've gone with Europassistance for £64 for 12 months which seems damn cheap.

[Way2go]

Just be aware of the small print if you take a policy out, also bear in mind most will only repatriate your car upto its market value, so most of us would get less than a mile

Does the sale of goods act apply to insurance? Because surely this would contravene the "Goods must be suitable for the purpose for which they are sold" clause!

[Way2go]

Actually thinking about it I guess the act wouldn't help really in the circumstances if all you were entitled to was your money back. It needs to be an act to enable you to cause them to fulfil what you bought it for!

[Ian_Fearn]

Its a pain for those of us that use our old BX's for trips further afield.

It would break my heart to have to ditch the BX in Spain because of something I could fix at home but couldn't justify the expense of repatriation at my own cost.

[DLM]

As of last September, just about the only company I could find willing to offer European breakdown cover on a BX without considerable preconditions was the AA.

[Jaba]

I used to be with Europ Assistance but they have a 16 year age limit like most breakdown companies.
I am now with First Call, who have no age limit and paid around £75.
Obviously repatriation is not an option with any insurance. Its just there to have a number to call and some help with spares too I suppose in the event of a breakdown.
I have had two breakdowns in Europe in the last 3 years. One an LHM leak which a Cit garage fixed by replacing both octopii for about 400EUR and an alternator failure which I fixed myself, although the new one cost almost 100EUR.

The thing is you don't go on holiday to save money.

[Philip Chidlow]

Obviously this subject has been discussed and debated - away from the forum mostly - with regards to the BXagon. With a bunch of fellow BXers on the route - and between them carrying a fair few spares - together with combined knowledge and skills to do the oily bits and acquire spares from dealers/stores/scrappies the chances are that a BX that breaks down will be fixed by the participants. If that isn't possible then to be quite honest, the chances of repatriation are slim.

In 2007 I had a 1992 Toyota Town Ace (value around £1,250 at the time) repatriated to the UK from Normandy courtesy of the AA European cover I had taken out... and I had a 'free' rental car to replace it. I have used the AA European cover three times and each time it has been as hassle free as it could be in the circumstances.

My strong recommendation is go with the AA. If your BX breaks and can't be fixed locally (given what it is that's unlikely) - you pay for the parts if it can be - you get a rental car to replace it for the duration of your holiday up to a certain amount.

You pay a bit more but their support infrastructure, and telephone support are excellent.

[c90cassette]

hi what about classic insurance eg footman james which includes uk and eu breakdown cover for cars over 15 years old?