Anyone got a recommendation ?

Been quoted £70 from Greenflag for a 1 week trip to Italy or about £120 for a year.

Anyone got anything better?

Check carefully with green flag (and everybody else) - they may give you a quote but most don't deal with cars over 10 years old.

Even if they do, you'll find you're in a situation where they won't recover the car if the cost of repair and/or recovery is more than the book value of the car... seriously ungood.

Best bet I found was the classic insurance including euro recovery from Sarah on here.

Give me a call

Ok will do. Cheers.

Greenflag will cover >10years, but the price goes up.

Go with ADAC the German AA. It's about £90 a year and they are excellent, you get the AA in the UK and it is the driver that is covered, not the car, so old heaps accepted!

Mr. barnacle wont be too pleased to be called an "old heap", or did you mean the Coupe?

Oi!

And, Oi!

I meant my 3 old heaps; T reg Merc V8, P reg 328 and '99 coupe...all worth less than £3k together.

Around £60 a year Europe and UK from Sarah's firm for my 18.5 year old coupe with guaranteed repatriation irrespective of cost/car value.

Not keen on the AA's UK prices either, so gave them the heave for both cars last year.

Pete - do you have to take car Insurance out to get this recovery deal or can it be taken separately ?

It can be taken out separately Mike, it's just convenient to do the two together.

I have my Grande Punto on their UK breakdown and recovery cover even though it is currently insured elsewhere.

Thanks Pete, I think I will take this out, and not renew my RAC

Erm, how on earth did you manage that? I was a bit disappointed with the quote from Sarah. She told me that as my coupe is "an old car"' ( mine is a year 2000, so 4.5 years younger than yours), that the repatriation costs would be more than that value of the car. Therefore possibly not enough to cover repatriation. It was £67 which is only £3 cheaper than Green Flag. Obviously I'll need to check the policy wording.. but not quite what I was hoping for

It possibly depends on whether you have agreed value insurance or not.

Ah... I see. I would be going for a standalone BD cover.

Thanks Pete.

I am insured with Glynwood and enquired about their Breakdown Cover. They sent me through the European recovery policy document and it states - "Limited to the value of the vehicle being UK Glass’s guide"

If you have an agreed value policy this limit is £2000 max.

Now that figure should be good for most of Europe but it could become an issue if you were say going to Italy!

My German is rusty but my understanding of the ADAC rules are, if the car breaks down you’ll be recovered to the nearest garage. That Garage then has five days to fix the problem, regardless of cost. If the garage were unable to repair the car, in those 5 days, the car would then be repatriated.

There is also a company called ACE , in Germany. They offer a similar service but their garage limit is 3 days before repatriating. They are also a little cheaper.

What I can’t find in either of their small print is any mention of limits to the cost of repatriation of vehicles to their homes. I also need to clarify if both these services will also offer repatriation of vehicles to the UK.

I have asked a friend in Germany to look into this for us.

Just to be clear.....

The European Breakdown policy offered here at Glynwood for £67, currently,is:-

- vehicle specific, so only covers the vehicle insured under it
- has no vehicle age restriction
- provides Repatriation Cover upto £2000

Please remember that a Breakdown policy is what it says a Breakdown Policy - it is mean as something to get you back on the road to continue your journey following a breakdown. Yes they will repatriate you back to the UK if there is no option of repairing the car or the car can't be repaired within the specified timescales.

The policy wording obviously explains in more detail the cover benefits and limits and I would suggest that you familiarise yourself with this along with any other insurance documents before a journey so you are fully aware of the benefits and restrictions, regardless of who your insurance is with.

Regards
Sarah

Knowing what happened to one of our members previously, after a significant motor problem, I am just after ensuring that I would be covered, if possible.

Should I suffer a similar problem during the Italy trip I would hate to loose a car for not being properly covered.

My friend, a german garage owner and ACE agent, spoke to both the ADAC & ACE today. Both companies said they would cover UK based customers / vehicles.

They both cover the person - not any specific Vehicle.

Both would, in the first instance, recover a car to a garage for repair work. ADAC have a 5 day repair limit, ACE three days. Both said that they can decide sooner that a vehicle can't be fixed during those times and recover it to the owners home or a garage.

Should a vehicle require repatriation both stated they would limit costs, based on vehicle market values - in Germany.

So, it sounds like ADAC/ACE are more likely to repatriate our coupes?

All UK companies will just claim car is not worth repatriating and give you a train/plane ticket home which you can use to wave goodbye to your car with?

The mainstream ones - perhaps, much less likely with the specialist classic policies.

Can anybody identify a UK company that will not use 'market value' or limit repatriation costs? 'Up to £2000' or 'market value' may not be enough to repatriate from Italy and be used as a cheap get-out clause.

Call me cynical, but I know what the insurance company will prefer to do. And it won't involve your car coming back home.

Surely Joe (FCSS) will bring an entire set of replacement parts (including new engine) in the boot of his Coupe?

Problem solved.



Or, are we taking the "Top Gear Approach" and leaving our Coupe colleagues on the side of the road in a cloud of steam and dribbling oil?

Seriously though, could we consider sharing phone numbers for the trip and bring a few spares with us so that if the worst happens (and we are close by), we could help eachother out? I'm talking about small items like spare injectors, coil packs, CHOD, belts (not cam obviously since the engine would be toast), crank positions sensors etc. I can bring a semi-functional MAF for a VIS which would get someone back on the road. Plus my old cam position sensor which works most of the time !

Like another famous trip to Turin, we'll also be a "Self-Preservation Society"

Exactly. Keep away from coaches and mountain passes though.

Still looking for a company offering EU breadown and repatriation without using the market value cost of the car.

Anyone found one yet? I bet some of the classic car places offer it.

Have you tried Equity Red Star?

I have looked at this many times for the Club and there appears to be nothing in the UK out there that offers unlimited repatriation cover. Which sounds to me like you are after. All policies have limits.

Like I have said before a Breakdown policy is taken out to get your car repaired and back on the road in the event of a breakdown, so with this in mind this IS what the policy offers. Repatriation cover is there should the car not be able to be repaired, the policy shouldn't just be taken out based on this cover as this is not what it is there for.

Hi Sarah, thanks for the help.

The difficulty I (and others) will have is that the Coupe isn't worth enough to get it repatriated. It seems a shame (and a gap in the market perhaps) that you can't pay a slightly higher premium to have unlimited repatriation. I am not insured with Glynwood - since I have a multicar policy elsewhere, so I am probably stuck.

With EU cover, I always look for repatriation cover, so for me, it is a proportion of what the cover is for. Breakdown cover is just another form of insurance after all. So I am not sure I agree that breakdown cover shouldn't be judged on repatriation as well. Unless I'm misunderstanding.

Not all policies are Market Value, but all have either market value or a specified amount limit.

We have access to two policies - and can offer as a stand alone policy, so you don't need to have your insurance cover with us, without going into too much detail, although neither are age restricted, one states that cover is limited to the UK market value of the car and the other states a limit of £3000 per year.

Both are breakdown policies, so the repatriation would only kick in once a vehicle could not be repaired in a specified timescale, as detailed in the actual policy wording. There is usually also the option to leave the car with the garage to be repaired, be flown home (at the expense of the insurers) and then fly back (again at the expenses of the insurers) or be put up in additional accommodation (again at the expenses of the insurers) until the car is repaired if it will be after your scheduled return date. More details of this can be seen in the respective policy wording.

Personally I don't think it is all that common that a car can not be repaired. I appreciate that chances are it will probably be more expensive to put a car back on the road following a breakdown, when you are restricted by the country/garage you are using and these costs would need to be met by you. So the costs to repair the car after a breakdown will probably be more when we are talking about emergency repairs. But, with this is mind if the car can be repaired then they will not repatriate the car because you want to repair it yourself or use your usual garage, or save on repair costs. If it can be repaired then it will be repaired.

If the breakdown was following an accident then your motor insurer would pick this up, so this would not fall under the breakdown cover.

Sorry, if it sounds like I am not being very helpful and maybe a little negative, but I am failing to see where the problem lies.

Please give me a for-instance of when the damage could be so catastrophic that the car could not be repaired just so I can try and help.

Regards
Sarah

Hi Sarah,

If we take the policy with £3000 limit, can you/the policy provider confirm & guarantee this will be adequate to all repatriate occupants of the car AND the car from Turin to our home address in UK? This would be worse case scenario for us going there.

A typical 'catastrophic' failure would be, dare I say it, cambelt failure. I doubt very much this would get repaired (complete engine/rebuild) under the policy. But I would still want the car repatriated back home for me to decide what to do with it.

Thanks

Yes my thoughts too. Cam belt or serious overheating or something similar could render the car unrepairable.

Don't get me wrong. I am not a pessimist but I like to be covered when I am abroad. In the past I've always been In a car worth more than £5k so repat cost was never a problem.

The £3k policy sounds promising.

I am in discussions with insurers regarding the cover. but can happily say that the outlook appears very positive.

I have had a conversation regarding the repatriation limit and the insurers involved have told me they have NEVER had a situation arise where they have left a car in Europe. The limit they believe is very wide and should the situation arise where the £3000 is not enough they will always discuss different options to get the car home; like being transported on a 'slow boat' or asking for a contribution towards the costs. You would be involved in all decisions as and when if needed. I am awaiting confirmation but I believe this will put your minds at rest

I am also in discussions with regards to the price for the cover, as I am hoping if a large amount of people take it out we could offer the cover at a lower rate. At worst it would be £69.00 for 12 months cover, which can be taken out as a stand alone policy.

I will update further when I know, hopefully a matter of days, a week at most.

Hi Sarah - thanks for looking into this.

Sounds good to me.

Toby

This sounds good Sarah, I look forward to your next update

Me too..

Sarah - Some NEW parts for the Coupé are becomming hard to obtain. It's quite possible that a simple breakdown could render a car unrepairable. Accross Europe the UK is often regarded as one of the only sources for second hand Fiat Coupé parts!

NOTE
For those persons choosing the Foreign alternatives (ADAC) etc.

Through a German contact I contacted the ADAC and another German company. Despite both these companies initially saying, over the phone, that they would repatriate cars to the UK they have both said, in writing, that they wouldn't!

They will provide full breakdown cover and recovery to a local garage for repairs but they will not recover the car to the UK. One could register at a German address and have a car recovered there. I'm thinking of this option but I think I'll wait and see what Sarah comes up with first.

I too await what Sarah can offer.

However, all reviews from UK residences of ADAC suggest they have been repatriated if necessary, even with caravans!

So, unless ADAC have changed their policy recently and have also not updated their T&Cs, repatriation to UK is still included. Their T&Cs state repatriation will be "to your home address" (full stop).

Having the car recovered to anywhere but my home address will only then cost *me* time/money getting it back myself. i.e. what are we paying the insurance premium for?

Hopefully we're not being too pessimistic! But *I* want to be the one who decides what happens to my car if repair is not possible. Not somebody who has taken money off me to then decide (determine) giving me a train ticket home is cheaper for them. Who then deals with all the local aspects of leaving a car abroad? Nope, I want my car to come back home, thank you very much. If I am paying (extra) premium for an older car then this is what I expect. There should be no biased get-out-clauses like 'Market value' involved.

Hopefully Sarah can sort us something out that guarantees our cars will come back *home* if they can't be repaired....

Exactly mate. I am hopeful Sarah can sort something.

Just checking in ... this is taking a little longer than expected, will give you an update asap. I am mindful that this is to be in place before the end of May, but may not have an answer until next week.

Sorry

Hopefully will be worth the wait

Top work SarahJayne

I have been using ADAC on and off since 1986! I first used them when living in Holland and have continued to use them in the UK as I travel into Europe every year. I have used their breakdown and even recovery in the UK (They Contract the AA) with no problem. However I had noticed some changes in their T&Cs but my German is rusty. This is why I asked a former German colleague and German garage proprietor, based in Hamburg, to look into this for me.

As you are sure UK peeps are still covered I will challenge him to look into this again..

I/we are waiting for SarahJayne to hopefully provide a policy that will guarantee to bring our car home if it cannot be fixed. i.e repatriation not based on 'market value'.

Otherwise, I think ADAC still are the most likely to. But would have to do more investigation first. Your German colleagues may prove helpful in this.

I was sent 2014 English T&Cs from ADAC in which it states:

"Following a breakdown or accident of after your stolen vehicle is found, ADAC will organise recovery or repatriation. Experienced ADAC contractors will return your vehicle to your place of residence."

No mention of 'market value' or 'excluding UK'. If you want the PDF let me know...

Thanks, I already had the PDF documents

After quite a lot of discussion with my friend Lars I got him to get back in touch with the ADAC... It seems he has indeed made some errors

You can still be covered, if living in the UK.
You must take "PLUS" membership €89.50
They will recover the car "HOME" (Within a week, or two).

More info to follow.............

The German PDF documents for ADAC make no mention of the Vehicles age or it's value, just that it must be a regular vehicle which is not used for business.

Much of the remaining documents are regarding how they deal with personal data, transportation of you and your passengers, cover for sickness, legal assistance and even provision of a translator, German I guess

OK. So unless SarahJayne finds us a policy worth considering, then ADAC do appear to offer something that is(?) for about £74.

i.e. our car will be repatriated home (regardless of cost) *if* it cannot be fixed.

I will give SarahJayne a bit more time before pulling the ADAC trigger.

Right, I have negotiated and have had it confirmed...... I can offer a European Breakdown Policy at an annual premium of £69.00, which will provide up to £3000 towards Repatriation costs in any one insurance year regardless of age or value of car if the car cannot be repaired

Just to recap, the insurers involved have told me they have NEVER had a situation arise where they have left a car in Europe. The limit they believe is very wide and should the situation arise where the £3000 is not enough they will always discuss different options to get the car home; like being transported on a 'slow boat' or asking for a contribution towards the costs. You would be involved in all decisions as and when if needed.

So give me a call on 01527 591057 or email me at Sarah@glynwoodinsurance.co.uk or PM me and I can forward to you a copy of the policy for your consideration and/or arrange for the cover to be issued.

Excellent Sarah Jayne !

Sarah, that is a fantastic price & great cover or the Coupé, well done

Unfortunately, we plan to make a couple more trips into Germany and Holland this year, and with different vehicles to. We have therefore, after much research, decided to take ADAC cover this year.