European breakdown cover

So, what's the score with breakdown cover for older bikes in mainland
Europe then?

I'm sure others have discovered the limitations and pitfalls so I thought
it best to ask rather than repeat the legwork

 

Auntie Carole. Seems to offer it for all SOBs.

 

Quoteline Direct according to wessie's post elsewhere.

 

And a useful thing about them is that you can switch the policy between
bike and car for example without any admin fee.

 

Now that's bloody useful. I wonder how many times one can do that?

"Well, next week I'm taking the Triumph, and the week after the Triumph.
The first is a Bonneville and the second is a Spitfire. Then two weeks
after that, I'm taking the Spitfire..."

<Pause>

"No, that one's a BSA."

<Pause>

"Another motorcycle, yes."

 

I think it used to be 'several', but not anymore. From their Key Facts
- "Any change to the vehicle on cover must be permanent".

 

One of the reasons I'm with Carol Nash is they don't seem to care how
old the bike is they still give Euro breakdown cover, there was a caveat
that the bike had to be 250CC or above I think.

 

Hmmm - Auntie Carole's recovery service refused to repatriate my lightly
crash damaged SFC after a cloggie Yamaha dealer (who'd never seen a
Laverda before) told them it was a write-off.

I was particularly peeved about this because I'd been told it was being
recovered to Gijs, the Dutch Laverda specialist - he was 40 miles from
the accident site & the Yamaha dealer was 5 miles away, so once they'd
waved me off in the courtesy car they changed all the arrangements.

The same year I was talking to a bloke whose Dramah had spat the dummy
somewhere in northern Italy - rather than recovering him & it they
announced they'd booked him a flight home. When he asked about the bike
they said it something would be sorted "at a later date" - given it was
in a hotel car park he argued. After a couple of days, they relented &
took it to a bevel specialist who got it running the same day.

 

That's the trouble with using Carole Nash - if you've binned it, it's
not a breakdown, it's an insurance claim. So standard practice is to
get the vehicle to the nearest dealer to be assessed. Hence if you've
got something a bit unusual, you're better off taking out separate
breakdown cover. Even that's no guarantee though as the breakdown
company may say "it's an insurance matter" if you've crashed rather
than broken down.

 

The cover you get with new Hondas stipulates you'll have the bike
taken tothe nearest Honda dealer, not some under the arches grease
monkey.

Consequently, Auntie Carole's just forthe old snotters.

 

With the benefit of hindsight I should have called Mazda assistance when
I had the French autoroute parking area kerb incident not the RAC. I
forgot that it was still new enough to be covered. The local autoroute
vultures have a monopoly on towing you off it anyway and it was classed
as an accident not a breakdown. Tired and hungry we were happy to leave
the car in his clutches after being dropped at an Ibis. Not until later
did we discover there was a Mazda main dealer just a few miles away.

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+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Granted - but back then the paperwork referred to it as "European
Recovery" rather than "European Breakdown Recovery".

Actually, if they'd been honest & told me it was going to the nearest
grease monkey I could have sorted something out there & then. Instead
they told me it was going to northern Europe's premier Laverda workshop
so I was very relaxed about it. I spoke to them just before I got the
ferry home (Sunday) & they said then that the bike would be back with me
on Tuesday or Wednesday. When I spoke to them on Tuesday they told me
the bike wasn't going to be repatriated, then on the Wednesday it was
"written off".

If you've got something a bit unusual IMHO you're better off telling
Auntie Carole to ram it & taking your business elsewhere - the whole
incident was a frigging nightmare of lies & incompetence. The bloke that
hit me was comparing notes with me throughout the process & Carole Nash
were telling us mutually contradictory things. They knew we knew each
other so they should have known to keep honest.

The other thing I learnt that weekend was that having your arm broken &
your bike written off by a friend's inattention isn't good, in the long
run, for the friendship.

 

Having finally got to a PC so I don't have to try and look at everything
on my phone, I've started having a look around.

Auntie Carol only seems to do breakdown as a bolt-on to a policy, but as
last year they they charged me £330 for my insurance (without breakdown)
and the best quote I've had this year is about a third of that, I doubt
I'll be renewing with them.

The quoteline direct quote of £59 for annual cover seems pretty good
though. OK, I'd be responsible for getting myself back by the looks of
things but on balance that's pretty good.

 

Have you tried Footman James (though you may need to pick up that
strange device called a telephone and speak in to it)?

Over 15 years old is 'classic' to them and you get euro breakdown cover.
Not read the fine print of my policy though, but I know from personal
experience that the UK cover will "get you home".
--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

My first insurance was 30s P/a, third party only. This was for a 350cc
comlot. When I took the chair off, the cost rocketed to £3

 

I've not

I might

 

They repatriated my Ducati from France without any questions or hassle. No
faffing with French dealers or assessment of level of damage. They paid the
storage charge.