Vehicle Breakdown Recovery Insurance - A Cautionary Tale....
Nov 30, 2018 12:49:52 GMT 1
dave1963, ian350n, and 1 more like this
Post by muttsnuts on Nov 30, 2018 12:49:52 GMT 1
so, last weekend John (Dynostar on here) and I travelled to Holland with my dyno in the van for a major upgrade and refit etc, that all went fine (except the huge expense of course 
), anyway, by Tuesday afternoon its all done and we set off from Holland for the eurortunnel, halfway through Belguim we stop for some fuel and a pee break.
When we start to set off, there is a smell of burning, loss of power steering and the battery light comes on, I stop the van immediately, lift the bonnet to see the fan belt has come off, but then see that the bottom crank pulley has sheared off - oh bugger
No problem, I have breakdown cover, so I make the call only to find I don't have cover (oh brilliant I think) at some point in the 35+yrs I've been with CSMA they have changed my policy and dropped the cover I thought I had
, well nowt I can do, so John says no problem, I am covered, so he makes the call, goes through all of the questions and everything is looking great until they say, "oh you didn't tell us you was travelling to Europe in another vehicle" so your not covered ! - John replies with "since when have I had to do that!" - at this point John and I burst out laughing as basically what else can you do !
So we are now stuck, no recovery service and refusal to assist us , so we end up calling the Belguim police as it turns out thats what you do, they organise a recovery vehicle and 30 mins later we are being pulled onto a recovery lorry - brilliant service.
We get back to the recovery compound and thankfully the driver is into motorbikes and the mechanic is still about and agrees to look at the van with us, so we all set about stripping the knackered parts off, once done they find us a hotel and drop us off, TBH they where brilliant and I think we was fortunate to have this recovery company.
Wednesday morning I call the recovery firm, they have ordered the parts for us (again, great service considering they are NOT a garage, just a recovery firm) and tell me the parts will be there around 2pm, so we make our way there for around 2pm, by 3:30pm the van is up and running and we are on our way again - I am 1000 euro's lighter by this point
, but what can you do
So, once back in the UK, yesterday I spoke to CSMA or whatever they are called these days and John checked his policy, what we both found out is very interesting and something I think most people will be unaware of
1. I have personal cover (so I can be in any vehicle and be recovered) - but it transpires this only covers the UK - NOT Europe
2. My wifes car is the primary vehicle on the policy, so even though they have the van down as a vehicle its NOT covered for Europe unless I changed it to be the Primary vehicle before I set off and ideally a week or so befiore hand they told me!
3. There are limitations on the size and weight of the vehicle, which YOU need to tell them what it is before travelling as they may NOT cover it anyway!
4. They do not do "recovery relay", they will only organise recovering you to a recovery depot in that country, after that you have to sort out repairs etc - depending upon the policy they may cover a hire car and hotel/accommodation expenses but only to a certain amount, interestingly when I challenged them about the van, they would NOT cover the hiring of a van only a car !
Also in the case of John who has a very good policy, on page 15 of 26 it says he has to tell them before hand if he is travelling to Europe in a vehicle which is not is and I suspect, if he dug into it more, we would find the same situation as above that there are limitations and clauses that effectively leave you stranded !
So, word to wise, if driving in Europe, be sure to check exactly what you are covered for and challenge them on exactly what will happen if you need them, its been a real eye opener for me, needless to say I will not be renewing with CSMA after 35yrs and any new cover will be scrutinised to death
), anyway, by Tuesday afternoon its all done and we set off from Holland for the eurortunnel, halfway through Belguim we stop for some fuel and a pee break.When we start to set off, there is a smell of burning, loss of power steering and the battery light comes on, I stop the van immediately, lift the bonnet to see the fan belt has come off, but then see that the bottom crank pulley has sheared off - oh bugger
No problem, I have breakdown cover, so I make the call only to find I don't have cover (oh brilliant I think) at some point in the 35+yrs I've been with CSMA they have changed my policy and dropped the cover I thought I had
, well nowt I can do, so John says no problem, I am covered, so he makes the call, goes through all of the questions and everything is looking great until they say, "oh you didn't tell us you was travelling to Europe in another vehicle" so your not covered ! - John replies with "since when have I had to do that!" - at this point John and I burst out laughing as basically what else can you do !So we are now stuck, no recovery service and refusal to assist us
, so we end up calling the Belguim police as it turns out thats what you do, they organise a recovery vehicle and 30 mins later we are being pulled onto a recovery lorry - brilliant service.We get back to the recovery compound and thankfully the driver is into motorbikes and the mechanic is still about and agrees to look at the van with us, so we all set about stripping the knackered parts off, once done they find us a hotel and drop us off, TBH they where brilliant and I think we was fortunate to have this recovery company.
Wednesday morning I call the recovery firm, they have ordered the parts for us (again, great service considering they are NOT a garage, just a recovery firm) and tell me the parts will be there around 2pm, so we make our way there for around 2pm, by 3:30pm the van is up and running and we are on our way again - I am 1000 euro's lighter by this point
, but what can you doSo, once back in the UK, yesterday I spoke to CSMA or whatever they are called these days and John checked his policy, what we both found out is very interesting and something I think most people will be unaware of
1. I have personal cover (so I can be in any vehicle and be recovered) - but it transpires this only covers the UK - NOT Europe
2. My wifes car is the primary vehicle on the policy, so even though they have the van down as a vehicle its NOT covered for Europe unless I changed it to be the Primary vehicle before I set off and ideally a week or so befiore hand they told me!
3. There are limitations on the size and weight of the vehicle, which YOU need to tell them what it is before travelling as they may NOT cover it anyway!
4. They do not do "recovery relay", they will only organise recovering you to a recovery depot in that country, after that you have to sort out repairs etc - depending upon the policy they may cover a hire car and hotel/accommodation expenses but only to a certain amount, interestingly when I challenged them about the van, they would NOT cover the hiring of a van only a car !
Also in the case of John who has a very good policy, on page 15 of 26 it says he has to tell them before hand if he is travelling to Europe in a vehicle which is not is and I suspect, if he dug into it more, we would find the same situation as above that there are limitations and clauses that effectively leave you stranded !
So, word to wise, if driving in Europe, be sure to check exactly what you are covered for and challenge them on exactly what will happen if you need them, its been a real eye opener for me, needless to say I will not be renewing with CSMA after 35yrs and any new cover will be scrutinised to death
